Monkeys 猿
さらぬだにおいては物のかなしきに夕のましら声なきかせそ
saranu dani
oite wa mono no
kanashiki ni
yū no mashira
koe na kikase so | Not even leaving—
Sunk in
Sadness
O, monkeys, this evening
Let me not hear your cries! |
Daishin
Monkeys 猿
あしびきの山べにあそぶ木の葉ざるおもふ心ぞありて鳴くなる
ashibiki no
yamabe ni asobu
ko no ha zaru
omou kokoro zo
arite nakunaru | On the leg-wearying
Mountain slopes play
Monkeys among the leaves—
Human feelings do
They have, and so they cry. |
Higo
Monkeys 猿
おもふことおほえの山に世の中をいかにせましと三声なくなり
omou koto
ōe no yama ni
yo no naka o
ika ni semashi to
mikoe nakunari | Deep in thought
Upon Mount Ōe,
‘In this mundane world,
O, what I am to do?’ cry
Voices three. |
Kanemasa
Monkeys 猿
三度てふ声だにきけばよそ人に物おもひまさるねをぞ嗚くなる
mitabi chō
koe dani kikeba
yosobito ni
mono’omoi masaru
ne o zo nakunaru | When three times
That call I hear,
A stranger in
Deepest depression is
Crying out! |
Tadafusa
Monkeys 猿
たかのみこいともあやしとみましけり猿まろをしも引きたてじとや
takano miko
ito mo ayashi to
mimashikeri
sarumaro o shimo
hikitateji to ya | Prince Takano
Really does have a strange
Appearance, I would say!
For a monkey does
Not stand upright, does he? |
Toshiyori
Monkeys 猿
ゆふづくひさすや嵐の山もとに物わびしらにさるさけぶなり
yūzuku hi
sasu ya arashi no
yamamoto ni
monowabishira ni
saru sakebunari | The twilight sun
Shines around Arashi
Mountain’s foot where
So sorrowfully
The monkeys howl. |
Nakazane
Monkeys 猿
あさまだきならのかれ葉をそよそよと外山をいでてましら鳴くなり
asa madaki
nara no kareba o
soyosoyo to
toyama o idete
mashira nakunari | ‘Tis not yet morn, but
The withered oak leaves
Rustle, as
To the distant mountains go
The monkeys hooting. |
Akinaka
Composed on the topic of monkeys howling from the mountain passes on a day when the Cloistered Emperor had gone to the Western River.
わびしらにましらな鳴きそ足引きの山のかひある今日にやはあらぬ
wabisira ni
masira na naki so
asiFiki no
yama no kaFi aru
keFu ni ya wa aranu |
So sadly,
O Monkeys, howl not!
Leg-wearying
The mountain valleys are, yet
Today, there is no point! |
Mitsune
On the first rains of winter.
初しぐれ猿も小蓑をほしげ也
hatsu shigure
saru mo komino o
hoshige nari |
In the first chill rains of winter
The monkeys, too, for a raincoat
Long. |
(1689)
On the autumn wind.
猿を聞人捨子に秋の風いかに
saru o kiku
hito sutego ni aki no
kaze ika ni |
Listening the heartbreak of a monkey’s howl,
Or an abandoned child’s weeping on the autumn
Wind-which is worse? |
(1684)
'Simply moving and elegant'