The End of Summer
Left
なくこゑはするものからに身はむなしあなおぼつかなうつせみのよや
| naku koe wa suru mono kara ni mi wa munashi ana obotsukana utsusemi no yo ya | Their voices sing And yet Their flesh is empty— O, how strange is A cicada shell world! |
Tadamine
9
Right (Win)
ほととぎすをちかへりなけうなゐこがうちたれがみのさみだれのこゑ
| hototogisu ochikaeri nake unaiko ga uchitaregami no samidare no koe | A cuckoo Calls again and again; A child’s shoulder-brushing Hair dangling down: The song of a summer shower. |
Mitsune
10
Azaleas
Left
かりがねにおもひかけつつしのばなんあまつそらなるわが身なりとも
| kari ga ne ni omoikaketsutsu shinobanan ama tsu sora naru wa ga mi naritomo | Upon the goose cries Ever hang your thoughts, and Remember, that Within the sky-spanning heavens I may yet be… |
Sadafun
15
Right
うぐひすのこゑなつかしくなきつるはのちもこひつつしのばなむとか
| uguisu no koe natsukashiku nakitsuru wa nochi mo koitsutsu shinobanamu to ka | Does the warbler’s Song so charmingly Ring out that Later, ever fondly Will he be remembered? |
16
Left
秋のせみさむき声にぞきこゆなる木のはの衣を風やぬぎつる
| aki no semi samuki koe ni zo kikoyunaru ko no ha no kinu o kaze ya nugitsuru | In the autumn, the cicadas’ Chill song I hear; Has the trees’ garb of leaves Been stripped from them by the wind? |
112[1]
Right
あきの夜の月の影こそ木の間よりおちてはきぬとみえわたりけれ
| aki no yo no tsuki no kage koso ko no ma yori ochite wa kinu to miewatarikere | On an autumn night The moon’s light, truly, From between the trees Does come a’falling Everywhere, it seems. |
113
[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 109/Fubokushō XIII: 5422
Left
夏の月ひかりをしまず照る時はながるる水にかげろふぞたつ
| natsu no tsuki hikari o shimazu teru toki wa nagaruru mizu ni kagerō zo tatsu | When summer moon’s Light lightly Shines From the running waters Haze arises! |
74
Right
琴の音にひびきかよへる松風はしらべても鳴く蝉の声かな
| koto no ne ni hibikikayoeru matsukaze wa shirabetemo naku semi no koe kana | A zither’s strains Echoing back and forth: The wind through the pines, In tune with the cries In the cicadas’ song! |
75[1]
[1] Shinshūishū III: 303/Shinsen man’yōshū 73/Kokin rokujō I: 398/Fubokushō IX: 3584
Left
おしなべて五月のそらを見渡せば草葉も水もみどりなりけり
| oshinabete satsuki no sora o miwataseba kusaba mo mizu mo midori narikeri | When the entire Fifth Month sky I gaze across, Blades of grass and water, too, Are green. |
72[1]
Right
くるるかとみれば明けぬる夏の夜をあかずとや鳴く山郭公
| kururu ka to mireba akenuru natsu no yo o akazu to ya naku yamahototogisu | Did you think ’twas sunset? When a glance would show the breaking dawn Of this summer night- Unsated by your song, do you sing on, Cuckoo in the mountains? |
73[2]
[1] Shinchokusenshū III: 152/Kokin rokujō I: 89
[1] Kokinshū III: 157, attributed to Mibu no Tadamine/Shinsen man’yōshū 57/Kokin rokujō VI: 4437
Left
いつの間に花かれにけむながくだにありせば夏のかげとみましを
| itsu no ma ni hana karenikemu nagaku dani ariseba natsu no kage to mimashi o | In an instant The blossoms seems to wither! If but longer They were here, summer’s Shape I would see in them… |
66
Right
幾千たび鳴きかへるらむ足引の山ほととぎす声はわすれて
| ikuchi tabi nakikaeruramu ashihiki no yamahototogisu koe wa wasurete | How many thousand times, Does he return to sing? The leg-wearying Mountain cuckoo, Forgetting his song… |
67
Left
春ながら年はくれなん散る花ををしと鳴くなる鶯のこゑ
| haru nagara toshi wa kurenan chiru hana o oshi to nakunaru uguisu no koe | ‘Tis spring, but The year draws to an end; ‘The scattering blossom I regret!’ sings The warbler’s song. |
23[1]
Right
大空をおほふばかりの袖もがな春咲く花を風にまかせじ
| ōzora o ōu bakari no sode mogana haru saku hana o kaze ni makaseji | If only the heavens I could simply cover With my sleeves, then The blossoms blooming in springtime I’d not abandon to the wind! |
24[2]
[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 35; Shinchokusenshū II: 88.
[2] Shinsen man’yōshū 263.
Left
駒なべてめも春の野にまじりなむ若菜摘みつる人は有りやと
| koma nabete me mo haru no no ni majirinamu wakana tsumitsuru hito wa ari ya to | Mounts all over The springtime meadows before my eyes Are mixed; A’plucking of fresh herbs, Are there folk there, I wonder? |
21[1]
Right
鶯の谷よりいづる声なくは春くることを誰かつげまし
| uguisu no tani yori izuru koe naku wa haru kuru koto o tare ka tsugemashi | If the bush-warbler From the valleys Did not sing his song, That spring is coming Would anyone announce it at all? |
22[2]
[1] Shisen manyōshū 13; Kokin rokujō II: 1137, ‘Springtime meadows’
[2] A minor variant of this poem occurs in Kokinshū (I: 14), attributed to Ōe no Chisato: 鶯の谷よりいづる声なくは春来ることを誰かしらまし uguisu no / tani yori izuru / koe naku wa / haru kuru koto o / tare ka shiramashi ‘If the bush-warbler / From the valleys / Did not sing his song, / That spring is coming / Would anyone realise at all?’; also Shinsen man’yōshū 261.
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Dowager Empress during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.
秋のせみさむき声にぞきこゆなる木のはの衣を風やぬぎつる
| aki no semi samuki koe ni zo kikoyunaru ko no ha no kinu o kaze ya nugitsuru | In the autumn, the cicadas’ Chill song I hear; Has the trees’ garb of leaves Been stripped from them by the wind? |
Anonymous