さをしかに手拭かさん角のあと
saoshika ni
tenugui kasan
tsuno no ato |
The stags
Proudly display
Their horn-buds. |
On deer.
鹿寒し角も身に添ふ枯木哉
shika samushi
tsuno mo mi ni sou
kareki kana |
The deer are cold, and
Their antlers seem apt
Among the leafless trees. |
On deer.
びいと啼尻聲悲し夜の鹿
bii to naku
shirigoe kanashi
yo no shika |
There’s a whine
In the drawn-out cries–so sad–
Of the stags at night. |
(8th day, Ninth Month, 1694)
On horn-buds: on parting from an old friend at Nara.
鹿の角先一節のわかれかな
shika no tsuno
mazu hito fushi no
wakare kana |
The deers’ antler-buds
Have just begun
To split apart–as must we. |
(1688)
'Simply moving and elegant'