From a hundred poem sequence.
葦の葉に隠れて住みし津の国の昆陽もあらはに冬は来にけり
asi no Fa ni
kakurete sumisi
tu no kuni no
koya mo araFa ni
Fuyu Fa kinikeri |
Among the reed fronds
Hidden, did I dwell
In the land of Tsu
To the surface of my hut
Has come the winter. |
Minamoto no Shigeyuki
源重之
A man went to the country house of a woman with whom he had been having conversation, among other things, but although he knocked – perhaps because she did not hear him – she did not open the gate, so listening to the frogs croaking in the paddies.
葦引の山田のそほつうちわひてひとりかへるのねをそなきぬる
asiFiki no
yamada no soFodu
utiwabite
Fitori kaFeru no
ne o zo nakinuru |
Reed pulling in
The mountain paddies, a scarecrow
Stands grieving;
On his solitary return, the frogs’
Cries is all he does! |
Anonymous
'Simply moving and elegant'