Minor Controller Tametō composed this poem when I had taken one of his as my own:
このごろはむろの八島も盗まれて思ひありともえこそ知らせね
kono goro Fa
muro no yasima mo
nusumarete
omoFi ari to mo
e koso sirasene |
Recently,
Yashima Isle in Muro
Was stolen from me;
And of my passion I
Could not inform her! |
His reply:
小塩山しらざりつるをすむ鳥のとふにつけてもおどろかれぬる
wosiFo yama
sirazarituru wo
sumu tori no
toFu ni tuketemo
odorokarenuru |
Upon Oshio Hill
All unexpecting,
A roosting bird
Takes flight; your enquiry
Was startling, indeed! |
Composed when Controller Tametō said he was going pheasant hunting on hearing that his lady at Sanjō had given birth to their first child.
きゞすゝむ小塩の原の小松原とりはじめたる千代のかずかも
kigisu sumu
wosiFo no Fara no
komatubara
toriFazimetaru
tiyo no kazu kamo |
Pheasant roosting
Oshio Fields’
Pine saplings do but
Begin to number
The one thousand generations of his years. |
'Simply moving and elegant'