Summer Insects (夏虫)
夏虫はおもひにしづむ世の中にうきなからふる身をいかにせん
natsumushi wa omoi ni shizumu yo no naka ni ukinagara furu mi o ika ni sen Summer insects: Submerged in fires of passion In this mundane world, and Drifting, growing old What am I to do?
Tadafusa
Summer Insects (夏虫)
ともし火に入る夏虫のはかなさを身にたとへてもあかしつるかな
tomoshibi ni iru natsumushi no hakanasa o mi ni tatoetemo akashitsuru kana Into the torches Plunge the summer insects: Their brief lives Compared to mine Brought more brightness!
Toshiyori
Summer Insects (夏虫)
いかにしてもゆる中にも入りぬらんおもひに身をもかふるむしかな
ika ni shite moyuru uchi ni mo irinuran omoi ni mi o mo kauru mushi kana What am I to do? While ‘tis burning still Should I plunge within? To fires of passion my body Transform as insects do!
Nakazane
Summer Insects (夏虫)
ともし火の光にすだく夏虫のそむく命をよそにやは見る
tomoshibi no hikari ni sudaku natsumushi no somuku inochi o yoso ni ya wa miru In the torches’ Light, the swarming Summer insects’ Abandoning their lives: Do I differ from them at all?
Akinaka
Here’s a short video in which I discuss the key emotions and images associated with the topic of ‘Summer Insects’ as well as the poems on that topic in Eikyū hyakushu .
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'Simply moving and elegant'