In this video, I talk about the Tanabata legend, and how it was expressed in these poems in Eikyū hyakushu.
The Morning after Tanabata (七夕後朝)
天の河今朝はふち瀬もしらじかしせきとめがたくあかぬ涙に
ama no kawa
kesa wa fuchise mo
shiraji kashi
sekitomegataku
akanu namida ni | The River of Heaven:
This morning for its deeps and shallows
I care not!
Impossible to dam are
My tears of longing… |
Daishin
The Morning after Tanabata (七夕後朝)
七夕のあかぬわかれをおもひやる－我がころもでは露けかりけり
tanabata no
akanu wakare o
omoiyaru
wa ga koromode wa
tsuyukekarikeri | On the Weaver Maid’s
Longing-filled parting
My thoughts do dwell;
My sleeves wet with
Fallen dew. |
Higo
The Morning after Tanabata (七夕後朝)
あさ風に河なみさわげ一夜づま玉ゆらだにもたちとまるべく
asa kaze ni
kawanami sawage
hito yo zuma
tamayura dani mo
tachitomarubeku | The morning breeze brings
Rowdy ripples to the river；
Wed for but a single night’s
Brief span, yet even that
To an end must come… |
Kanemasa
The Morning after Tanabata (七夕後朝)
うき別そでふるだにもあるべきを何へだつらん天の河ぎり
uki wakare
sode furu dani mo
arubeki o
nani hedatsuran
ama no kawagiri | Cruel, the parting where
Even though she waves her sleeves,
Of course,
What is it that stands in the way,
But the mist on the River of Heaven. |
Tadafusa
The Morning after Tanabata (七夕後朝)
ひこぼしはあめのおしでのやへぎりに道ふみまどへ又や帰ると
hikoboshi wa
ame no oshide no
yaegiri ni
michi fumimadoe
mata ya kaeru to | The Herd Boy
Among Heavens strands of
Overlapping mist
Will lose his way –
Does he yet depart? |
Toshiyori
The Morning after Tanabata (七夕後朝)
ひこぼしのいはまくらしてさぬるよりきりたちこめよ明けばあくとも
hikoboshi no
iwamakurashite
sanuru yori
kiri tachikomeyo
akeba aku tomo | Around the Herd Boy,
Pillowed on the rocky shore in
Fitful sleep,
Crowd, o, mists!
For with the dawn, I should have had my fill, yet… |
Nakazane
The Morning after Tanabata (七夕後朝)
衣手のうきつにぬれてかへるかなあさ吹く風もなみたてなくに
koromode no
ukitsu ni nurete
kaeru kana
asa fuku kaze mo
nami tate naku ni | My sleeves,
Drenched at Heaven’s harbour
Do I return!
Even though the morning’s gusting breeze
Has raised no wave at all… |
Akinaka
'Simply moving and elegant'