Composed when the Bodhisattva had arrived in the bay, having come from southern India for the consecration of the Tōdaiji.
霊山の釈迦の御前に契りてし眞如朽ちせずあひ見つる哉
| riyauzen no siyaka no omaFe ni tigiritesi sin’nyo kutisezu aFimituru kana |
At Vulture Peak Before the Buddha Did we swear That truth has broken not, and Now we meet again! |
Major Archbishop Yukimoto
In Michinoku, after my wife had died, I wrote this when Tsutsugimi put on trousers for the first time.
いにしへをけふにあはするものならばひとりは千代を祈らざらまし
| inisiFe wo keFu ni aFasuru mono naraba Fitori Fa tiyo wo inorazaramasi |
If she, now gone, To meet with this day Had been able, Alone, for a thousand years of health I would not be praying… |
Sent on the first day of the Fourth Month to Middle Captain Nobukata, while in mourning for my aunt.
薄しとや人のみるとて墨染のころもは夏もしられざりけり
| ususi to ya Fito no miru tote sumizome no koromo Fa natu mo sirarezarikeri |
How unlucky, it is For folk to see me so; Ink-stained Clothes, of summer are Quite unaware. |
When the Major Captain passed away, at around the same time:
人しれずぬれし袂は墨染にそめてもそへてものをこそ思へ
| Fito sirezu nuresi tamoto Fa sumizome ni sometemo soFete mono wo koso omoFe |
Secretly, unknown to all, Soaked were your sleeves, Upon Ink-dark Mourning shades: Black, indeed, I feel! |
After I had been seeing a certain lady’s daughter in secret for a while, she died, and feeling inconsolable I wrote to her mother:
契りありてまたはこの世にうまるとも面がはりして見もや忘れむ
| tigiri arite mata Fa kono yo ni umaru tomo omogaFarisite mi mo ya wasuremu |
A bond we had, and Once more into this world Will she be born, yet With a different face I may see and still forget her… |
After some time had passed, composed on the bridge at Nagara on the way to Naniwa.
親も子もつひのわかれのかなしきはながらへゆけど忘れやはする
| oya mo ko mo tuFi no wakare no kanasiki Fa nagaraFe yukedo wasure ya Fa suru |
For father and for son The final parting is So sad; I live on and on, yet Am I to forget it? |
The apartment where Fujiwara no Toshimoto had lived when he was Middle Captain in the Right Imperial Bodyguards became vacant after his death and, late one autumn night when Arisuke was returning to the palace he glanced inside, noticing that the gardens which had been planted were growing in disorderly profusion and, as he had been in service there himself, he recalled times long past and composed:
君がうへし一群すゝき蟲のねのしげき野邊ともなりにけるかな
| kimi ga uFesi Fito mura sususki musi no ne no sigeki nobe to mo narinikeru kana | My Lord, you planted A single clump of silver grass: The insects’ cries Are as profuse as the swath It has become… |
Miharu no Arisuke