na ni shi owaba shiite tanomamu ominaeshi hito no kokoro no aki wa uku tomo
If the name fits, then Strongly, would I ask you, Maidenflower: Though folk’s full hearts In autumn, be cruel…
37
あきのよをひとりねたらむあまのがはふちせたどらずいざわたりなむ
aki no yo o hitori netaramu ama no kawa fuchise tadorazu iza watarinamu
On an autumn night, I sleep alone, it seems, for To the River of Heaven’s Depths and shallows I will not make my way— However can I cross them?
39
[1]Shinchokusenshū 242; also a minor variant occurs in Kokin rokujō (3368) なにしおはばしひてたのまんをみなへし花の心の秋はうくともna ni shi owaba / shiite tanomamu / ominaeshi / hana no kokoro no / aki wa uku tomo ‘If the name fits, then / Forcefully, would I trust you, / Maidenflower: / Though a flower’s heart / In autumn, be cruel…’ Tsurayuki.
On the 21st day of the Fifth Month Tenroku 4 [973], former emperor En’yū, who was then the sovereign, visited the Princess of the First Order [Shishi 資子] and, following a loss at a game with go counters, on the 7th day of the Seventh Month, the Princess had a fan wrapped in thin cloth and presented to the imperial pantry.
天の川河辺涼しき七夕に扇の風を猶やかさまし
ama no kaFa
kaFabe suzusiki
tanabata ni
aFugi no kaze wo
naFo ya kasamasi
On the River of Heaven’s
Shore, cool
In early autumn
Is this fan’s breeze:
I wonder, should I lend it you more?