On the moon: at Kiryū’s house.
秋もはやばらつく雨に月の形
aki mo haya
baratsuku ame ni
tsuki no nari |
Autumn will soon be gone, and
Amid the scattered showers of rain
The moon wanes thinner. |
(19th day, Ninth Month, 1694)
On the moon: a beach.
月のみか雨に相撲もなかりけり
tsuki nomi ka
ame ni sumô mo
nakarikeri |
Is it just the moon,
Or will the sumo, too, in the rain
Disappear. |
(1689)
Topic unknown.
たれすみて哀しるらん山ざとの雨ふりすさむゆふぐれの空
tare sumite
aware shiruran
yamazato no
ame furi susamu
yūgure no sora |
Who might dwell here
And feel the spirit of this place?
By a mountain dwelling
The rain pours down
From the evening sky. |
The Monk Saigyō
西行
On the showers of early summer, in a hundred poem sequence of reminiscences.
さみだれはまやのゝきばのあまそゝきあまりなるまでぬるゝ袖かな
samidare wa
maya no nokiba no
ama sosoki
amari naru made
nururu sode kana |
The early summer rain
From the eaves of this hut
Pours in rivulets-
Too much by far, for
My soaking sleeves. |
Master of the Dowager Empress’ Household Office Toshinari
藤原俊成
Sent to a woman on a rainy day.
おもひあまりそなたのそらをながむればかすみをわけて春雨ぞふる
omoi amari
sonata no sora o
nagamureba
kasumi o wakete
harusame zo furu |
Consumed with love
On your skies
I turn my gaze, and
The haze parts us,
Spring rains falling. |
Master of the Dowager Empress’ Household Office Toshinari
藤原俊成
On the impermanence of everything in the rain.
なき人のかたみの雲やしほるらんゆふべの雨にいろはみえねど
nakibito no
katami no kumo ya
shioruran
yûbe no ame ni
iro wa mienedo |
She is gone and
My keepsake cloud,
I wonder, will it wisp away?
Though in the evening rain
I cannot see its hues… |
The Senior Retired Emperor [Gotoba]
後鳥羽
Around the Ninth Month, when he was in Minase for a time: sent by return to someone who said their tears fell like the autumn leaves on Mt. Arashi.
もみぢばをさこそあらしのはらふらめこの山本も雨とふるなり
momijiba o
sa koso arashi no
haraurame
kono yamamoto mo
ame to furu nari |
Those autumn leaves
From Arashi must, indeed,
Have been driven:
For in these foothills, too,
They fall as does the rain! |
Provisional Middle Councillor [Fujiwara no] Kintsune (1171 – 1244)
Topic unknown.
いり日さすさほの山べのはゝそはらくもらぬ雨とこの葉ふりつゝ
irihi sasu
saho no yamabe no
hahasowara
kumoranu ame to
ko no ha furitsutsu |
Twilight sunlight shines
On the slopes of Mount Saho:
The oak groves
Are cloudless, yet there is rain:
Leaves falling, on and on. |
Sone no Yoshitada
曾禰好忠
On the moon after rain.
月をなをまつらんものかむらさめのはれゆく雲のすゑのさと人
tsuki o nao
matsuran mono ka
murasame no
hareyuku kumo no
sue no satobito |
Is it still the moon
For whom you wait?
The drenching rain
Clouds clearing
My distant, homebound love. |
Lady Kunaikyō (d. ca 1204 – 5)
From when he held a poetry contest in five hundred rounds at his house.
ものおもはでかゝるつゆやは袖にをくながめてけりな秋のゆふぐれ
mono’omowade
kakaru tsuyu ya wa
sode ni oku
nagametekeri na
aki no yūgure |
Not being sunk in gloomy thought
Why should such dew
Drop on my sleeves?
Perhaps, I’ve gazed too long upon the rain
In the autumn twilight. |
The Regent and Grand Minister [Fujiwara no Yoshitsune] (1169 – 1206)
藤原良経
'Simply moving and elegant'