Composed when I saw a little child crying for his mother by the side of the road and, on asking folk nearby, being told that both his mother and father had died.
いとほしやみるに涙もとどまらずおやもなき子の母をたづぬる
| itōshi ya miru ni namida mo todomarazu oya mo naki ko no haha o tazunuru | O, how pitiful! The sight of tears Unending on An orphan child Searching for his mother… |
717
A poem by Chief Border Guard Hasetsukabe no miyatsuko Hitomaro.
於保吉美能 美許等可之古美 伊蘇尓布理 宇乃波良和多流 知知波波乎於伎弖
おほきみの みことかしこみ いそにふり うのはらわたる ちちははをおきて
| opokimi no mikoto kasikomi iso ni puri unopara wataru titipapa wo okite | At my Great Lord’s Dread command, Striking the rocky shore The sea-plain shall I cross Leaving father and mother behind… |
Love
Left
恋せじと御手洗川に御祓して神うけつらんとおもほゆるかな
| koi seji to mitarashigawa ni oharaishite kami uketsuran to omohoyuru kana | I’ll not fall in love, and At the River Mitarashi Purify myself— Would the gods then accept me, I wonder! |
25
恋なれどそこにもすまぬひれはみづにごれりとおもほゆるかな
| koi naredo soko ni mo sumanu hire wa mizu nigoreri to omohoyuru kana | This is love, yet The deeps are all disturbed, with Fins the waters Clouding, I feel! |
26
こひわたる程のふかさにそめ川の色あさからじとおもほゆるかな
| koiwataru hodo no fukasa ni somekawa no iro asakaraji to omohoyuru kana | So long have I loved you that The depths of Dyers’ River have Lost their pale hues I feel! |
27
Right
おもふとて夕ぐれがたのながめをや人待つほどの恋といふらん
| omou tote yūguregata no nagame o ya hito matsu hodo no koi to iuran | Thinking of him As evening draws on, and I gaze on long rains falling; is Time pining for a man Being in love, I wonder? |
28
年の内にあまる月日の有りければかぞへのうちにははわぶるかな
| toshi no uchi ni amaru tsuki hi no arikereba kazoe no uchi ni haha waburu kana | Throughout the year The days and months mount up So Counting them My mother grieves! |
29