Round Twelve
Left
冬の夜の月はとほくやわたりけんかげみしみづのまづしこほれば
| fuyu no yo no tsuki wa tōku ya watariken kage mishi mizu no mazu shi kōreba | On a winter’s night Does the moon distantly Pass by? For The waters where I saw its face Are the first to freeze… |
22
Right
ながれくるみづこほりぬる冬さへやなほうき草のあとはさだめぬ
| nagarekuru mizu kōrinuru fuyu sae ya nao ukikusa no ato wa sadamenu | Flowing down The waters have frozen With the winter, so will The drifting waterweed still Leave little trace? |
23
Autumn
Left
秋の夜の有明にみれど久堅の月のかつらはうつろはぬかな
| aki no yo no ariake ni miredo hisakata no tsuki no katsura wa utsurouwanu kana | An autumn night’s Dawn I see, yet The eternal Moon’s silver trees Show no sign of fading! |
13
秋萩の花咲く比の白露は下ばのためとわきて置くべし
| aki hagi no hana saku koro no shiratsuyu wa shitaba no tame to wakite okubeshi | In autumn, the bush clover Flowers bloom—just then Silver dewdrops For the under-leaves Do fall, marking every one. |
14
秋風はいなばもそよとふきつめりかりみる程と成りやしぬらん
| akikaze wa inaba mo soyo to fukitsumeri kari miru hodo to nari ya shinuran | The autumn breeze Seems to rustle the rice stalks As it blows; Seeing if ‘tis time to reap them— Is that what it is, I wonder? |
15
Right
銀河とわたる舟は花薄ほにいづるほどぞかげもみゆべき
| ama no kawa towataru fune wa hanasusuki ho ni izuru hodo zo kage mo miyubeki | Across the River of Heaven A boat goes ferrying: When the silver grass Ears burst into bloom, Can its shape be seen. |
16
女郎花さがの花をば色ながら秋をさかりといはれずもがな
| ominaeshi saga no hana oba iro nagara aki o sakari to iwarezu mogana | Maidenflowers: Blossoms from Saga Reveal their hues, and In autumn are most fine—that Goes without saying! |
17
小男鹿の朝たつ霧にうりふ山嶺の梢は色こかりけり
| saoshika no asa tatsu kiri ni urifuyama mine no kozue wa iro kokarikeri | Stags Within the rising morning mist on Urifu Moutain, where The treetops on the peak Have taken darker hues. |
18
Summer
Left
夏くればかみにあふひの草つみてかざしにいのるひとにばかりぞ
| natsu kureba kami ni aoi no kusa tsumite kazashi ni inoru hito ni bakari zo | When the summer comes For the God, hollyhocks Are plucked, and for a Prayer placed in the hair of All folk, every one! |
7
夏草も茂りにければ駿河なる田子のうらなへ今やひくらん
| natsu kusa mo shigerinikereba suruga naru tago no ura nae ima ya hikuran | The summer grasses, too, Have grown lush, so As Suruga’s Tago Bay, Do they now extend their charm? |
8
夏虫のやどるにまつは色ならで春秋空にうつろひやする
| natsumushi no yadoru ni matsu wa iro narade haru aki sora ni utsuroi ya suru | The summer insects Lodge upon the pines Unchanging hues; Is it the spring and autumn skies Which fade away? |
9
Right
卯花の咲く夏の夜はやみなれどかきねにやどる月かとぞみる
| u no hana no saku natsu no yo wa yami naredo kakine ni yadoru tsuki ka to zo miru | The deutzia flowers Bloom upon a summer night ‘Tis dark, yet Lodged upon my brushwood fence I wonder if I see the moon? |
10
五月きぬことかたらはむほととぎす君にあふちの花も咲きけり
| satsuki kinu koto katarawamu hototogisu kimi ni auchi no hana mo sakikeri | That the Fifth Month has come Is announced by The cuckoo: For you, the chinaberry Blossoms, too, have bloomed. |
11
空蝉のからにはあらで置く露の身をあらたむる心なるべし
| utsusemi no kara ni wa arade oku tsuyu no mi o aratamuru kokoro narubeshi | A cicada’s shed Shell I am not, for The dripping dew Does refresh my flesh, or So my heart seems to feel. |
12
Winter moonlight at a mountain retreat.
やまおろしのけしきばかりやふゆならむみやこなりせば秋のよの月
| yama’oroshi no keshiki bakari ya fuyu naramu miyako nariseba aki no yo no tsuki | The wind howling down the mountain Simply sets a scene of Seeming winter, but Were I in the capital, An autumn night’s moon, would this be… |
Composed gazing at the moon.
あまの原そらさへさえや渡るらん氷と見ゆる冬の夜の月
| ama no Fara sora saFe sae ya wataruran koFori to miyuru Fuyu no yo no tuki | The plain of Heaven, The sky, so coldly Does it seem to cross, Ice, it does appear, The moon upon a winter’s night. |
Egyō
Composed when he presented a hundred poem sequence during the reign of former Emperor Horikawa.
こがらしの雲ふきはらふたかねよりさえても月のすみのぼるかな
| kogarasi no kumo FukiFaraFu takane yori saetemo tuki no suminoboru kana | The biting wind Blows the clouds From off the high peaks, ‘Tis cold, but the moon Climbs clear! |
Minamoto no Toshiyori (Shunrai)
ゆめののちむなしきとこはあらじかしあきののなかもこひしかりけり
| yume no nochi munashiki toko wa araji kashi aki no no naka mo koishikarikeri | After a dream of you The emptiness of my bed I feel not, I think, for Amid the autumn meadows I do love you still. |
63
もみぢばのたまれるかりのなみだにはあきの月こそかげやどしけれ
| momijiba no tamareru kari no namida ni wa aki no tsuki koso kage yadoshikere | The scarlet leaves Clog the goose Tears, where It I the autumn moon’s Light finds lodging. |
64
あきかぜになみやたつらんあまのがはすぐるまもなくつきのながるる
| akikaze ni nami ya tatsuramu ama no kawa sukuru ma mo naku tsuki no nagaruru | Might it be the autumn wind that Has raised the waves upon The River of Heaven? There’s no space to pass for The moon, flowing by… |
61
つき見ればちぢにものこそかなしけれ我がみひとつのあきにはあらねど
| tsuki mireba chiji ni mono koso kanashikere wa ga mi hitotsu no aki ni wa aranedo | When I gaze upon the moon So many are my sources of Sadness; Though, it is not I, alone, who Is faced with autumn… |
62
いりひさす山とぞ見ゆるもみぢばのあきのことごとてらすなりけり
| irihi sasu yama to zo miyuru momijiba no aki no kotogoto terasu narikeri | The setting sun shines On the mountains, and it seems The scarlet leaves All of autumn Do illuminate. |
57
ひさかたのつきのかつらもあきはなほもみぢすればやてりまさるらん[1]
| hisakata no tsuki no katsura mo aki wa nao momiji sureba ya terimasaruran | On the eternal Moon the silver trees too In Autumn Change their hues; Is that why you shine so bright? |
58
[1] This poem was included in Kokinshū (IV: 194), where it is attributed to Mibu no Tadamine.
あきのよの月のひかりはきよけれどひとのこころのくまはてらさず[1]
| aki no yo no tsuki no hikari wa kiyokeredo hito no kokoro no kuma wa terasazu | On an autumn night The moon’s light is So clear, yet upon Her heart’s Depths it fails to shine. |
55
ゆふだすきかけてのみこそこひしけれあきとしなればひと
| yūdasuki kakete no koso koishikere aki to shi nareba hito | Cords of mulberry cloth Hung, are all the more Dear; When the autumn comes, She… |
56
The final words of this poem have not survived, so we need to use our imaginations to think of how it might have concluded.