Cormorant Fishing on the River (鵜河)
かひのぼるう舟のなはのしげければせぶしのあゆの行かたやなき
kainoboru
ubune no nawa no
shigekereba
sebushi no ayu no
yuku kata ya naki | Heading upstream
The cormorant boats’ hawsers
Are so many that
Sweetfish through the rapids
Have no path to take! |
Higo, from the Residence of the Kyōgoku Regent
河の瀬に波のうき草うかれありくそのたはれめをいかが頼まむ
kawa no se ni
nami no ukikusa
ukare ariku
sono tawareme o
ikaga tanomamu |
Upon the river rapids
A waterweed among the waves
Carried along:
In that pleasure girl
How can I put my trust? |
Minamoto no Nakamasa
源仲正
Said to be composed at Ryūmon.
瀬を早み宮滝川を渡り行けば心の底の澄む心地する
se o hayami
miyatakegawa o
watari yukeba
kokoro no soko no
sumu kokochi suru |
The rapids run so fast
On the River Miyatake, that
Crossing it,
To my heart’s depths
Brings a feeling of freshness. |
Saigyō
西行
On frogs.
上つ瀬にかはづ妻呼ぶ夕されば衣手寒み妻まかむとか
kami tu se ni
kapadu tuma yobu
yupusareba
koromode samumi
tuma makamu to ka |
In the rapids upstream
A frog cries for a mate,
When the evening comes,
How chill the sleeves –
Maybe he would be with her swiftly! |
Anonymous
When converting the Man’yōshū to Japanese.
涙河底のみくづとなりはてて恋しきせぜに流れこそすれ
namidagaFa
soko no mikudu to
nariFatete
koFisiki seze ni
nagare koso sure |
A river of tears:
As flotsam on the bed
Will I finally become, should
Love in rapids
Flow so much… |
Minamoto no Shitagō
Composed when he had gone to the Uji River.
朝ぼらけ宇治の川ぎり絶々にあらはれ渡る瀬々の網代木
asaborake
udi no kaFagiri
taedae ni
araFarewataru
sese no aziroki |
At the dawn
The mists across Uji River
Fade in and out
Drifting across
The fishing nets in the rapids. |
Middle Councillor [Fujiwara no] Sadayori (995-1045)
中納言定頼
宇治川の瀬瀬にありてふ網代木に多くのひをもわびさするかな
udigaFa no
sese ni ari teFu
aziroki ni
oFoku no Fi wo mo
wabisasuru kana |
On Uji River
Many are the rapids, they say, so
The fishing nets
Have many days
Of grief, too! |
沢田川せせのうもれ木あらはれてはなさきにけり春のしるしに
sawadagawa
sese no umoregi
araharete
hana sakinikeri
haru no shirushi ni |
At the River Sawada
Drowned trees in the rapids
Lie scattered, and
The blossom has bloomed,
Both a mark of spring! |
沢田川流れてひとの見え越すはたれに見せましせせの白玉
sawadagawa
nagarete hito no
miekosu wa
tare ni misemashi
sese no shiratama |
The Sawada River
Flows on, and she
Do I see beyond it;
To whom would I reveal
These pearls from the rapids? |
沢田川せせの白糸くりかへし君うちはへて万よばへよ
sawadagaFa
sese no sira’ito
kurikaFesi
kimi utiFaFete
yorodu yobaFeyo |
At Sawada River
White spume from the rapids
Time and time again
Ever for you, my love,
A myriad times call out! |
'Simply moving and elegant'