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おもひわびさてもいのちはあるものをうきにたへぬは涙なりけり
| omoi’wabi sate mo inoti Fa aru mono wo uki ni taenu Fa namida narikeri | Burning with the pain of love, At least life is Something that I have, but Unable to endure her cruelty Are my tears. |
Monk Dōin
I had asked that Master of Discipline Kōkaku be accorded the honour of the role of reader at the ceremony for the recitation of the Vimalakīrti nirdeśa Sutra, and when he was constantly passed over, had complained to the Hosshōji Lay Priest and former Palace Minister; even though he mentioned ‘Shimeji plain’, the following year Kōkaku was once more passed over, so I composed this and sent it to him.
契りおきしさせもが露をいのちにてあはれことしの秋もいぬめり
| tigiri okisi sasemo ga tuyu wo inoti nite aFare kotosi no aki mo inumeri | A promise dropped, as Dewfall on the mugwort— Such is life, so Miserable, this year’s Autumn must arrive. |
Fujiwara no Mototoshi
Sent on returning home from a woman’s residence.
君がためをしからざりしいのちさへながくもがなとおもひけるかな
| kimi ga tame wosikarazarisi inoti saFe nagaku mogana to omoFikeru kana | For your sake, my love, I would not have regretted Even my life, but O, to live long With you in my passionate heart! |
Minor Captain Fujiwara no Yoshitaka
At about the time the Naka Chancellor began visiting her regularly.
わすれじの行末まではかたければけふをかぎりの命ともがな
| wasureji no yukusue made wa katakereba kyō o kagiri no inochi to mogana | Never to be forgotten In all the days to come is Hard to believe, so If only today was the limit Of my life… |
The Mother of Gidō Sanshi
Among poems composed with a character from the Tang poem ‘Looking at my life, ‘tis but a rootless grass upon the shore’ as its initial sound.[1]
つゆをのみくさばのうへとおもひしはときまつほどのいのちなりけり
| tsuyu o nomi kusaba no ue to omoishi wa toki matsu hodo no inochi narikeri | Simply as a dewdrop, Resting atop a blade of grass— So I did think; Such a short thing Is life. |
Izumi Shikibu
[1] The kanshi in question appears in Wakan rōeishū (II: 789): 観身岸額離根草 論命江頭不繋舟 ‘Thinking on my life, ‘tis but a rootless grass upon the shore; / Thinking on my fate, ‘tis as uncertain as an unmoored boat upon the bank.’ If read as Japanese, this poem would be: mi o kanzureba kishi no hitai ni ne o hanaretaru kusa / mei o ronzureba e no hotori ni tsunagazaru fune. Izumi Shikibu’s poem links with the initial tsu of tsunagazaru, beginning as it does with tsuyu ‘dew’.
Among poems composed with a character from the Tang poem ‘Looking at my life, ‘tis but a rootless grass upon the shore’ as its initial sound.[1]
つゆを見てくさばのうへとおもひしはときまつほどのいのちなりけり
| tsuyu o mite kusaba no ue to omoishi wa toki matsu hodo no inochi narikeri | As a dewdrop it appears Resting atop a blade of grass— So I did think; Such a short thing Is life. |
Izumi Shikibu
[1] The kanshi in question appears in Wakan rōeishū (II: 789): 観身岸額離根草 論命江頭不繋舟 ‘Thinking on my life, ‘tis but a rootless grass upon the shore; / Thinking on my fate, ‘tis as uncertain as an unmoored boat upon the bank.’ If read as Japanese, this poem would be: mi o kanzureba kishi no hitai ni ne o hanaretaru kusa / mei o ronzureba e no hotori ni tsunagazaru fune. Izumi Shikibu’s poem links with the initial tsu of tsunagazaru, beginning as it does with tsuyu ‘dew’.
つゆをみて草葉のうへとおもひしは時まつ程の命なりけり
| tsuyu o mite kusaba no ue to omoishi wa toki matsu hodo no inochi narikeri | As a dewdrop it appears Resting atop a blade of grass— So I did think; Such a short thing Is life. |
With the passage of the day, so life falls into decline.
けふくれぬいのちもしかとおどろかす入あひのかねの音ぞかなしき
| kyō kurenu inochi mo shika to odorokasu iriai no kane no oto zo kanashiki | The day has turned to twilight, and so Does life before you Notice it; The sunset bell’s Toll is sad, indeed. |
Monk Jakunen
On the same conception [blossom, when he presented a hundred poem sequence].
身にかへておもふもくるしさくら花さかぬみ山にやどもとめてむ
| mi ni kaete omou mo kurushi sakurabana sakanu miyama ni yado mo tometemu | It will cost my life, So painful to think of Cherry blossom Not yet in bloom deep within the mountains Where my lodging is to be. |
Monk Nyogan
Sent as a reply to someone who said he would visit, after failing to come for a long time.
おもひいでてたれをか人のたづねましうきにたへたるいのちならずは
| omoFi’idete tare wo ka Fito no tadunemasi uki ni taFetaru inoti narazu Fa | Thinking back, Who is this man Seeking to come a’visiting? Ever enduring cruelty is Not how I spend my life… |
Handmaid Koshikibu
