Gosechi 五節
をとめ子が袖ふりそめしをみ衣とよのあかりにたえせざりけり
otomego ga
sode furisomeshi
omigoromo
toyo no akari ni
taesezarikeri | The maidens
Have begun to wave the sleeves of
Their purification robes;
The Festival of New Grain
Has endured for ever! |
Nakazane
Gosechi 五節
をとめ子が雲のうへにて袖ふれば日影にまがふあまの羽衣
otomego ga
kumo no ue nite
sode fureba
hikage ni magau
ama no hagoromo | The maidens are
Above the clouds
Sleeves waving, so
Indistinguishable from sunlight are
Their heavenly gossamer robes! |
Akinaka
霍公鳥鳴く声聞くや卯の花の咲き散る岡に葛引く娘女
pototogisu
naku kowe kiku ya
unopana no
sakitiru woka ni
kuzu piku wotome |
The cuckoos’
Echoing call, did you hear?
Where deutzia
Bloom and scatter on the hill
You maidens gathering arrowroot… |
松浦なる玉島川に鮎釣ると立たせる子らが家道知らずも
matura naru
tamasima ni
ayu turu to
tataseru kora ga
ipedi sirazu mo |
On Matsura’s
Jewelled islets
Catching sweetfish
Stand many maidens:
Their route home I do not know… |
Ōtomo no Tabito
Envoy
白髪し子らに生ひなばかくのごと若けむ子らに罵らえかねめや
sirokamisi
kora ni opinaba
kaku no goto
wakakemu kora ni
norapekaneme ya |
Should white hairs
These maidens grow, then
In this way
Would these young maidens
Tease me? |
Envoy
死なばこそ相見ずあらめ生きてあらば白髪子らに生ひざらめやも
sinaba koso
apimizu arame
ikite araba
sirogami kora ni
opizarame ya mo
|
If I should die
With no meeting, all would be done, but
If I should live,
White hairs, o, maidens,
Would you not grow at all… |
A poem in reply to the celestial maidens of Pine Tree Bay.
君を待つ松浦の浦の娘子らは常世の国の海人娘子かも
kimi o matu
matu’ura no ura no
wotomera wa
tokoyo no kuni no
ama wotome kamo |
Awaiting My Lord,
On the shore of Pine Tree Bay,
The maidens,
Paradise ‘s
Diving girls do seem to be! |
A poem composed on the banks of the Ogami, in the district of Tonami.
雄神川紅にほふ娘子らし葦付[水松之類]取ると瀬に立たすらし
ogamigapa
kurenawi nipopu
wotome rasi
asituki toru to
se ni tatasurasi | Upon the River Ogami
Glowing safflower scarlet
Do the maidens seem;
Harvesting ashitsuki
Standing in the shallows… |
Ōtomo no Yakamochi
大伴家持
'Simply moving and elegant'