A Spring poem, when she offered a hundred-poem sequence.
ながめつるけふはむかしになりぬとものきばのむめはわれをわするな
nagametsuru
kyô wa mukashi ni
narinu tomo
nokiba no mume wa
ware o wasuru na |
I turn my gaze on you
Today-and when it is long past –
Even then,
O, plums sheltering ’neath my eaves,
Forget me not! |
Princess Shokushi
式子内親王
Topic unknown.
とめこかしむめさかりなるわがやどをうときも人はおりにこそよれ
tomekokashi
mume sakari naru
wa ga yado o
utoki mo hito wa
ori ni koso yore |
Come calling, please!
On luxuriant growths of plum
Around my home –
The silence has been long, yet for you
Now is the season to come by! |
The Monk Saigyô
西行
When he presented a hundred poem sequence.
むめがゝにむかしをとへば春の月こたへぬかげぞ袖にうつれる
mume ga ka ni
mukashi o toeba
haru no tsuki
kotaenu kage zo
sode ni utsureru |
In the scent of plum
Lie unanswered questions from long ago-
The Spring moon
Makes no response as its light
Shines on my sleeves. |
Fujiwara no Ietaka
藤原家隆
Composed in a fifty poem sequence at the house of the Monk Prince Shukaku.
おほぞらはむめのにほひにかすみつゝくもりもはてぬ春のよの月
ôzora wa
mume no nioi ni
kasumitsutsu
kumori mo hatenu
haru no yo no tsuki |
In the firmament
The scent of plum
Is in the spreading haze;
The clouds have yet to cover
The moon on this spring night. |
Fujiwara no Sada’ie
藤原定家
For a picture of a guest arriving at a house with plum blossom, on a folding screen in the Reizei Palace.
我が宿の梅の立ち枝や見えつらん思ひの外に君が來ませる
wa ga yado no
ume no tatie ya
mieturan
omoFi no Foka ni
kimi ga kimaseru |
My home’s
Trailing branch of plum:
Was it that you saw, I wonder?
For unexpectedly
You have arrived. |
Taira no Kanemori
Composed on gazing at fallen snow.
雪ふれば木ごとに花ぞさきにけるいづれを梅とわきてをらまし
yuki Fureba
ki goto ni Fana zo
sakinikeru
idure wo ume to
wakite woramasi |
With the snowfall
On every tree flowers
Bloom;
Which are plum?
How to tell, and pluck them? |
Ki no Tomonori
紀友則
Composed on snow among the plum blossom.
梅のかのふりおける雪にまがひせばたれかことごとわきてをらまし
mume no ka no
Furiwokeru yuki ni
MagaFiseba
tare ka kotogoto
wakite woramasi |
The scent of plum
With the covering snow
Is blended, so
Who one from the other
Could tell and pluck them? |
Tsurayuki
貫之
Composed on snow fallen on plum blossom.
花の色は雪にまじりて見えずともかをだににほへ人のしるべく
Fana no iro Fa
yuki ni mazirite
miezu to mo
ka wo dani niFoFe
Fito no sirubeku |
The colour of the blossom
Amongst the snow
Is lost, so
At least let out your scent
So folk know you’re here. |
Ono no Takamura
Topic unknown.
梅花それとも見えず久方のあまぎる雪のなべてふれれば
mume no Fana
sore to mo miezu
Fisakata no
amagiru yuki no
nabete Furereba |
Plum blossom
Cannot be told from
The eternal
Cloud-draped skies’ snow,
Falling all around. |
Anonymous
This poem is said by some to be the work of Kakinomoto no Hitomaro.
'Simply moving and elegant'