When the moon was shining brightly, when a shower-filled sky had cleared.
五月雨の空だにすめる月影に涙の雨ははるるまもなし
samidare no sora dani sumeru tsukikage ni namida no ame wa haruru ma mo nashi | Showers filled The sky, yet even they end with bright Moonlight, yet The rainfall of my tears Clears for not a moment. |
Akazome Emon
From among his autumn poems.
秋の露やたもとにいたくむすぶらんながき夜あかずやどる月影
aki no tsuyu ya tamoto ni itaku musuburan nagaki yo akazu yadoru tsukikage | Is it the autumn dewfall that Upon my sleeves so heavily Lies? This long night unending is The moonlight’s lodging… |
The Senior Retired Emperor
いまはとてみざらん秋の空までもおもへばかなし夜半の月かげ
ima wa tote mizaran aki no sora made mo omoeba kanashi yowa no tsukikage | Now, it is, I think, that Unable to see even the autumn Skies, I am filled with sadness by The midnight moonlight. |
Inpumon’in no Taiyu
春くれば袖のこほりもとけにけりもりくる月しやどるばかりに
haru kureba sode no kōri mo tokenikeri morikuru tsuki shi yadoru bakari ni | Now that spring has come, The ice atop my sleeves Has melted, and The drops of moonlight are All that lodge there… |
Major Archbishop Gyōson
For a folding screen, where people were relaxing at a house with a pond, on the night of the 15th of the Eighth Month.
水のおもにてる月なみをかぞふればこよひぞ秋のも中なりける
midu no omo ni teru tukinami wo kazoFureba koyoFi zo aki no monaka narikeru | Upon the water’s face Shine waves of moonlight; Counting reveals that Tonight is autumn’s Centrepoint! |
Minamoto no Shitagō
Topic unknown.
庭のおもは月もらぬまで成りにけりこずゑになつのかげしげりつつ
niwa no omo wa tsuki moranu made narinikeri kozue ni natsu no kage shigeritsutsu | The garden’s face Untouched by drops of moonlight Has become; Upon the treetops summer’s Shadows ever lie lush. |
Former Emperor Shirakawa
When he presented a Hundred Poem Sequence.
ひとりぬるやまどりのをのしだり尾にしもおきまよふとこの月影
hitori nuru yamadori no o no shidario ni shimo okimayou toko no tsukikage | Sleeping alone, The mountain pheasant’s tail Hangs down, Mistaking for fallen frost The moonlight on his bed.[i] |
Lord Fujiwara no Sada’ie
[i] An allusive variation on SIS XIII: 778.
Five poems on Summer—not matched.
Left
いづれをかそれともわかむうのはなのさけるかきねをてらすつきかげ
izure o ka sore tomo wakamu u no hana no sakeru kakine o terasu tsukikage | How is it that I might distinguish them: Deutzia flowers Blooming on a brushwood fence, and Shining moonlight? |
72
Right
この夏もかはらざりけりはつこゑは習志の岡になくほととぎす
kono natsu mo kawarazarikeri hatsukoe wa narashi no oka ni naku hototogisu | This summer, too, Is no different; The first song Upon Narashi Hill is A calling cuckoo. |
73
The Middle of Autumn
Left (Tie)
くもゐよりてりやまさるときよたきのそこにてもみむあきのつきかげ
kumoi yori teri ya masaru to kiyotaki no soko nite mo mimu aki no tsukikage | From the clouds Does it shine most bright? On Kiyotaki’s Riverbed I see Autumn moonlight. |
13
Right
人しれぬねをやなくらんあきはぎのはなさくまでにしかのこゑせぬ
hito shirenu ne o ya nakuran aki hagi no hana saku made ni shika no koe senu | That no one may know Quietly, does he cry? Until the autumn bush clover Blooms flower The stag’s bell stays silent. |
Mitsune
14
The Night of the Fifteenth of the Eighth Month
月影はおなじひかりの秋のよをわきて見ゆるは心なりけり
tukikage Fa onadi Fikari no aki no yo wo wakite miyuru Fa kokoro narikeri | The moonlight is The same brightness On an autumn night, but Considering, what sees it Is the heart. |
Anonymous
'Simply moving and elegant'