Around the last day of the Fifth Month, when she had been lying awake all night, filled with gloomy thoughts.
限りあればこよひにつきぬさみだれも身をしるあめはいつかをやまん
kagiri areba
koyoi ni tsukinu
samidare mo
mi o shiru ame wa
itsuka o yaman | All things have an end, so
This night’s endless
Showers—
The rainfall of my misery—
O, when might they cease to fall? |
Lady Aki, in service to the Empress Ikuhōmon’in
郁芳門院安芸
The Night of the Fifteenth of the Eighth Month
いつとても月見ぬ秋はなきものをわきて今夜のめづらしきかな
itu tote mo
tuki minu aki Fa
naki mono wo
wakite koyoFi no
medurasiki kana | When is there
An autumn without gazing on the moon?
Never, but
On considering, tonight
It is rare, indeed! |
Fujiwara no Masatada
逢ふ事やこよひこよひとかよふまに空忘れして月日へにけり
au koto ya
koyoi koyoi to
kayou ma ni
sora wasureshite
tsukihi henikeri | I wonder will we meet
Tonight, maybe tonight, I think, and
While I’m on my way,
Forgetful of the skies,
Days and months have passed me by. |
Kuninobu, the Minamoto Middle Counsellor
5
In reply.
あや莚をとなるまでも恋ひずしてまだきに床を忘るべしやは
ayamushiro
oto naru made mo
koizushite
madaki ni toko o
wasurubeshi ya wa | My patterned blanket
Lies far away, and yet
Lacking love
How swiftly my bed
Might you be able to forget? |
Daishin, in service to His Former Majesty
6
Spiders 蜘蛛
ささがにのしるしもいさやいかならんこよひにてみんくものふるまひ
sasagani no
shirushi mo isa ya
ika naruran
koyoi nite min
kumo no furumai | A tiny crab’s
Sign, well,
What to make of it?
Tonight will I attend to
The spider’s behaviour… |
Nakazane
The Seventh Night 七夜
おしてるや鵜のはぶきける昔もやこよひはちよと祝ひそめけん
oshiteru ya
u no habukikeru
mukashi mo ya
koyoi wa chiyo to
iwaisomeken | Bright shining,
Did the cormorants beat their wings
In times long gone, too?
Tonight, for a thousand generations
Shall we begin to celebrate! |
Kanemasa
The Seventh Night 七夜
たけならぬ二葉の松のおひ初めてこよひ七夜になりにけるかな
take naranu
futaba no matsu no
oisomete
koyoi nanayo ni
narinikeru kana | A tiny
New-leafed pine
Begins to age
From this seventh night that
It has reached! |
Tadafusa
The Seventh Night 七夜
君まして今夜七よになりぬればこれよりちよをかぞふべきかな
kimi mashite
koyoi nanayo ni
narinureba
kore yori chiyo o
kazoubeki kana | Truly, have you
This night your seventh night
Reached, so
Henceforth a thousand generations
Must I count for you! |
Nakazane
The Seventh Night 七夜
しらいとをむすべることぞこよひまでいく万代のかずつもるらん
shira’ito o
musberu koto zo
koyoi made
iku yorozuyo no
kazu tsumoruran | With threads of white
Have you been bound
Up to this night, that
Uncounted myriads of ages
May mount up for you henceforth |
Akinaka
Composed on snow.
霰降りいたく風吹き寒き夜や旗野に今夜我が独り寝む
arare puri
itaku kaze puki
samuki yo ya
patano ni koyopi
wa ga pitori nemu |
Hail falls, and
Fiercely blows the wind,
On this night, so cold;
At Hatano, tonight,
Must I sleep alone? |
A poem composed by the deceased Emperor on the occasion of a visit to the Yoshino Palace.
見吉野乃 山下風之 寒久尓 為當也今夜毛 我獨宿牟
み吉野の山のあらしの寒けくにはたや今夜も我が独り寝む
miyosino no
yama no arasi no
samukeku ni
pata ya koyopi mo
wa ga pitori nemu | Though in fair Yoshino
The storm-winds off the mountains
Feel so chill,
Yet again tonight
Will I sleep alone? |
Emperor Monmu (683-707; r. 697-707)
文武
'Simply moving and elegant'