On lighting the lanterns.
炉開や左官老行鬢の霜
robiraki ya
sakan oi yuku
bin no shimo |
Time to light the lanterns once again
And the painter, aging,
Has frost brushed upon his temples. |
(1692)
On frost.
夜すがらや竹こほらするけさのしも
yo sugara ya
take no korasuru
kesa no shimo |
Was it all though the night
That the bamboo was freezing
To have such frost this morning. |
(Date unknown)
On frost: when ill.
薬のむさらでも霜の枕かな
kusuri nomu
sarade mo shimo no
makura kana |
I take my medicine,
But even did I not the frosts
Would still fall upon my pillow. |
(1687)
On frost.
初霜や菊冷初る腰の錦
hatsu shimo ya
kiku hiesomuru
koshi no wata |
The first frosts
Chill the chrysanthemums and
These old bones, cotton-padded. |
(1690)
On autumn frosts.
手にとらば消んなみだぞあつき秋の霜
te ni toraba
kien namida zo atsuki
aki no shimo |
Were I to pluck them out by hand
They would vanish, in a hot flow of tears:
The first frosty signs that autumn is upon me. |
(1684)
A poem composed at a competition held by Her Majesty, the Empress during the Kampyō era (889-898).
ささのはにおく霜よりもひとりぬるわが衣手ぞさえまさりける
sasa no Fa ni
woku simo yori mo
Fitori nuru
wa ga koromode zo
saemasarikeru | On bamboo grass leaves
Settles frost, but
Sleeping alone,
My sleeves
Are colder still by far. |
Ki no Tomonori
紀友則
'Simply moving and elegant'