Composed when he had lost his office.
ありはてぬいのちまつまの程ばかりうきことしげくおもはずもがな
| ariFatenu inoti matu ma no Fodo bakari uki koto sigeku omoFazu mogana | To reach the very end of Life—awaiting that I spend my time, but simply Upon its flourishing cruelties I wish I did not have to dwell! |
Taira no Sadafun
Composed on the conception of unmet love with varying emotions, when he was ordered to produce a hundred poem sequence.
ながらへてかはるこころをみるよりはあふにいのちをかへてましかば
| nagaraFete kaFaru kokoro wo miru yori Fa aFu ni inoti wo kaFetemashi ka ba | To live on and Your inconstant heart See—I’d rather For a meeting my life Exchange… |
The Regent and Minister of the Right
Left
かぎりなきおもひのほかになつむしのまどふをひとのうへとこそ見れ
| kagiri naki omoi no hoka ni natsumushi no madou o hito no ue to koso mire | Endlessly In sudden flames of passion are Fireflies Lost—upon Her do I see them! |
15
Right
ただひとつおもひをだにもなつむしのいのちをすててたのむなるかな
| tada hitotsu omoi o dani mo natsumushi no inochi o sutete tanomu naru kana | With but a single Passion’s flame, even A firefly Abandon’s his life— On that you can rely! |
16
Left
つゆばかりたのみおかなんことのはにしばしもとまるいのちありやと
| tsuyu bakari tanomi okanan koto no ha ni shibashi mo tomaru inochi ari ya to | Dewdrop fragile Is my trust that dripping On the leaves, your words A little longer might hold My life here, perhaps… |
66
Right
はるさめのよにふるそらもおもほえずくもゐながらにひとこふるみは
| harusame no yo ni furu sora mo omohoezu kumoi nagara ni hito kouru mi wa | Spring showers Fall from night time skies—living on Is not for me, I think, for Beyond the clouds lies The one I love… |
67
Love
Five poems, stopping at five
Left (Win)
なみだがはいかなるみづかながるらんなどわがこひをけすひとのなき
| namidagawa ika naru mizu ka nagaruran nado wa ga koi o kesu hito no naki | In the River of Tears What sort of water is it That does flow? Why is it that my love’s burn To extinguish is there no one? |
Okikaze
51
Right
みをもかへおもふものからこひといへばもゆるなかにもいるこころかな
| mi o mo kae omou mono kara koi to ieba moyuru naka ni iru kokoro kana | Staking my life is Often in my thoughts, but Within the fires of love, Burning, Does my heart lie! |
Okikaze
52
Third Rank Lay Priest [Minamoto no Yorimasa] summoned his retainer, Watanabe Chōjitsu.
‘Take my head,’ he ordered, but overcome with the sorrow of taking his master’s life, Chōjitsu cried, overcome with tears, ‘Such a service is unthinkable. I would only dare to do it afterwards, should my Lord take his own life.’
‘I see,’ Yorimasa replied, then faced the west and chanted the name of Amida Buddha ten times in a loud voice, before reciting:
埋木の花さく事も無かりしにみのなるはてぞ哀なりける
| umoregi no hana saku koto mo nakarishi ni mi no naru hate zo aware narikeru | On a drowned tree Blossoms flower Not a one— To reach the end of life Is sad, indeed! |
With these as his last words, he ran the tip of his great sword through his belly, collapsing over it and died. At such a time, one would not normally be able to compose a poem, but Yorimasa had loved the Way of Waka extravagantly since he was young, so at the last he did not forget it.
When Minamoto no Sane left her, saying that he was going to take a hot spring cure in Tsukushi, she composed this at Yamazaki, regretting their parting.
いのちだに心にかなふ物ならばなにか別のかなしからまし
| inoti wo dani kokoro ni kanaFu mono naraba nani ka wakare no kanasikaramasi | If life at least As we wished Would go Why, then, should parting Seem so sad? |
Shirome
A envoy in a certain book.
我が命は惜しくもあらずさ丹つらふ君によりてぞ長く欲りせし
| wa ga inoti wa wosiku mo arazu sani turau kimi ni yorite zo nagaku porisesi |
My life I do not regret, for My ruddy-cheeked Lord’s sake I wanted it to be long… |
Of the above poems, it is said, ‘Once there was a maiden. Her family name was Kurumamochiuji. Her husband went away and many years passed without his return. All that time, the maiden thought fondly of him, suffering, and eventually took to her bed, ill, wasted away day-by-day, and soon was close to death. Then she sent a messenger to her husband, asking him to return. After she did so, with tears streaming down her face, the maiden whispered these poems to herself, and finally died.’