わぎもこがひもゆふぐれのきくなればあかずぞはなのいろはみえける
wagimoko ga
hi mo yūgure no
kiku nareba
akazu zo hana no
iro wa miekeru | My darling girl
Both day and eve is
As a chrysanthemum, so
Never sated am I with this flower’s
Hues I see. |
Korenori
5
きくのはなふゆののかぜにちりもせでけふまでとてやしもはおくらん
kiku no hana
fuyu no kaze ni
chiri mo sede
kyō made tote ya
shimo wa okuran | Chrysanthemum blooms
In the winter wind
Scatter not;
Is it that up to today is when
Frost is said to fall? |
Korenori
6
かげさへやこよひはにほふきくのはなあまてるつきにかのそはるらん
kage sae ya
koyoi wa niou
kiku no hana
ama teru tsuki ni
ka no sowaruran | Even their shape
Fills tonight with a scented glow; Chrysanthemum blooms
To the heaven-shining moon
Seem to add their fragrance. |
Korenori
7
Round Sixteen
The Moon
Left (Tie)
今よりはふけ行くまでに月はみしその事となく涙おちけり
ima yori wa
fukeyuku made ni
tsuki wa mishi
sono koto to naku
namida ochikeri | From now
Until it set,
Did I gaze upon the moon
Had it not been there, then
Would have my tears fell. |
Lord Kiyosuke
31
Right
待つ人のこぬもおもへばつらからずねなばこよひの月をみましや
matsu hito no
konu mo omoeba
tsurakarazu
nenaba koyoi no
tsuki o mimashi ya | The man I await
Has failed to come, I think, but
I’ll not be downcast, for
Had I to bed tonight
Would I have gazed upon the moon? |
Kūnin
32
Both have deep feeling—it really is impossible to distinguish them.
をしむともこよひ明けなば明日よりは花のたもとをぬぎやかへてん
oshimu tomo
koyoi akenaba
asu yori wa
hana no tamoto o
nugi ya kaeten | I may regret it, yet
When tonight does reach its dawn,
From the morrow, shall
I my fair sleeves
Put off and change? |
Round Eleven
Tanabata
Left (Win)
七夕はたえぬ契りをうれしともこよひばかりやおもひしるらん
tanabata wa
taenu chigiri o
ureshi tomo
koyoi bakari ya
omoishiruran | The Weaver Maid’s
Unending vow is
A source of joy, yet
Is it only on this night
That she truly feels it? |
Shun’e
21
Right
天の河わたるこよひや七夕は中中袖をぬらさざるらん
ama no kawa
wataru koyoi ya
tanabata wa
nakanaka sode o
nurasazaruran | The River of Heaven
Does she cross tonight, so
The Weaver Maid
Truly, her sleeves
Dampens not, I think! |
Yorisuke
22
Composed on the conception of love at the end of the Third Month.
春はをし人はこよひとたのむればおもひわづらふ今日のくれかな
Faru Fa wosi
Fito Fa koyoi to
tanomureba
omoFiwazuraFu
keFu no kure kana | Regretting the departure of spring, and
Tonight, my man
Expecting,
Wracked with painful thoughts
Does today reach its dusk! |
The Minister of the Centre
Created with Soan.
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
'Simply moving and elegant'
