Topic unknown.
夏草はしげりにけれどほとゝぎすなどわがやどに一聲もせぬ
natsu kusa wa
shigerinikeredo
hototogisu
nado wa ga yado ni
hito koe mo senu |
The summer grasses
Have grown lush and thick, yet,
O, cuckoo
Why at my home
Do you not give a single call? |
The Engi Emperor (Daigo) (885-930; r. 897-930)
Topic unknown.
なつくさはしげりにけりなたまぼこのみちゆき人もむすぶばかりに
natsu kusa wa
shigerinikeri na
tamaboko no
michi yuki hito mo
musubu bakari ni |
The summer grasses
Have grown lush and thick, indeed –
Jewelled spear straight,
The road he travels –
The better he may braid them. |
Fujiwara no Motozane
For a picture of Asaka Marsh, drawn on a screen in the Saishō Hall of the Four Heavenly Kings.
のべはいまだあさかのぬまにかるくさのかつ見るまゝにしげるころかな
nobe wa imada
asaka no numa ni
karu kusa no
katsu miru mama ni
shigeru koro kana |
Not yet in the fields, but
At the marsh of Asaka
The stalks for reaping of
Wild rice – under my eyes
Grow lushly upwards now. |
Fujiwara no Masatsune (1170 – 1221)
Composed on hollyhocks:
いかなればそのかみ山のあふひぐさとしはふれどもふた葉なるらん
ikanareba
sono kamiyama no
aoigusa
toshi wa furedomo
futaba naruran |
Why is it that
Upon divine Kamo Hill
The hollyhocks
Though years do pass,
Have such twofold leaves? |
Kojijū
Topic unknown.
うの花のさきぬるときはしろたへのなみもてゆへるかきねとぞみる
u no hana no
sakinuru toki wa
shirotae no
nami moteyueru
kakine to zo miru |
The deutzia
When in bloom,
White cords
Of breakers bound
Upon the brushwood fence, do seem. |
Senior Assistant Governor General of the Dazaifu [Fujiwara no] Shige’ie (1128-1180)
From a hundred poem sequence.
ゆふだちの雲もとまらぬ夏の日のかたぶく山にひぐらしのこゑ
yūdachi no
kumo mo tomaranu
natsu no hi no
katabuku yama ni
higurashi no koe |
Shower-filled clouds
Have passed by, unstopping;
The summer sun
Inclines towards the mountains
Where the cicadas sing. |
Princess Shokushi
式子内親王
Topic unknown.
よられつるのもせの草のかげろひてすゞしくゝもる夕立の空
yoraretsuru
nomose no kusa no
kageroite
suzushiku kumoru
yūdachi no sora |
All entangled
In the fields the grasses
Become shaded as
Coolly clouded
Evening showers fill the sky. |
The Monk Saigyō
西行
Topic unknown.
みちのべにしみづながるゝやなぎかげしばしとてこそたちとまりつれ
michi nobe ni
shimizu nagaruru
yanagi kage
shibashi tote koso
tachitomaritsure |
Alongside the path
Fresh water flows, and
In the willow’s shade
Just for a little while
Would I take my ease… |
The Monk Saigyō
西行
Topic unknown.
たちばなのにほふあたりのうたゝねは夢もむかしの袖のかぞする
tachibana no
niou atari no
utatene wa
yume mo mukashi no
sode no ka zo suru |
The orange
Fills the air with fragrance
Where I lie dozing and
In my dreams, from long ago,
The scent of sleeves comes back to me. |
The Daughter of Master of the Dowager Empress’ Household Office [Fujiwara no] Toshinari
A cuckoo poem from a hundred-poem sequence composed at the request of the former Regent and Lay Priest, when he was Minister of the Right.
むかしおもふくさのいほりのよるの雨になみだなそへそ山郭公
mukashi omou
kusa no iori no
yoru no ame ni
namida na soe so
yama hototogisu |
Deep in thoughts of long ago,
Upon a grassen hut
Rain falls at night-
Do not make my tears fall so,
O, mountain cuckoo! |
Master of the Dowager Empress’ Household Office [Fujiwara no] Toshinari
藤原俊成
'Simply moving and elegant'