On the conception of forgotten love.
袖の露もあらぬ色にぞ消えかへるうつればかはるなげきせしまに
| sode no tsuyu mo aranu iro ni zo kiekaeru utsureba kawaru nagekiseshi ma ni | The dewdrops on my sleeves now Lack any hue at all Fading once more, Revealing the change To my lengthy sorrow…[1] |
The Senior Retired Emperor
[1] An allusive variation on: KKS II: 113; and Genji monogatari 463.
From among his autumn poems.
秋の露やたもとにいたくむすぶらんながき夜あかずやどる月影
| aki no tsuyu ya tamoto ni itaku musuburan nagaki yo akazu yadoru tsukikage | Is it the autumn dewfall that Upon my sleeves so heavily Lies? This long night unending is The moonlight’s lodging… |
The Senior Retired Emperor
From the Minase Poetry Match of Fifty Love Poems.
物おもはでただ大かたの露にだにぬるればぬるる秋のたもとを
| mono’omowade tada ōkata no tsuyu ni dani nurureba nururu aki no tamoto o | Not from gloomy thought, but Just by countless Dewdrops Dampened and then drenched are My sleeves in autumn…[1] |
Lord Ari’ie
[1] An allusive variation on SZS IV: 267.
Composed on the wind bringing fond thoughts of the past, in the autumn after his father, Hidemune, had passed away.
露をだに今は形見の藤ごろもあだにも袖を吹く嵐かな
| tsuyu o dani ima wa katami no fujigoromo ada ni mo sode o fuku arashi kana | Even the dewfall, which Now is a keepsake upon My mourning robes is Transient, so from my sleeves ‘Tis blown by the storming wind! |
Fujiwara no Hideyoshi
I had asked that Master of Discipline Kōkaku be accorded the honour of the role of reader at the ceremony for the recitation of the Vimalakīrti nirdeśa Sutra, and when he was constantly passed over, had complained to the Hosshōji Lay Priest and former Palace Minister; even though he mentioned ‘Shimeji plain’, the following year Kōkaku was once more passed over, so I composed this and sent it to him.
契りおきしさせもが露をいのちにてあはれことしの秋もいぬめり
| tigiri okisi sasemo ga tuyu wo inoti nite aFare kotosi no aki mo inumeri | A promise dropped, as Dewfall on the mugwort— Such is life, so Miserable, this year’s Autumn must arrive. |
Fujiwara no Mototoshi
Topic unknown.
きえぬべき露のうき身の置所いづれの野べの草葉なるらん
| kienubeki tsuyu no ukimi no okidokoro izure no nobe no kusaba naruran | Surely to vanish As the dewdrops is my pitiful lot, and The place I fall Will be in some meadow Among the blades of grass, no doubt… |
Inpumon’in no Taiyu
Composed when at a stone hermitage at Ōmine practicing his devotions.
草のいほなに露けしと思ひけむもらぬいはやも袖はぬれけり
| kusa no iFo nani tuyukesi to omoFikemu moranu iFaya mo sode Fa nurekeri | A hut of straw Is dew-drenched You might think, but though Nothing drips into my hut of stone My sleeves are soaked, indeed! |
Archbishop Gyōson
Composed when he had been gazing at the unclouded moon until dawn, on the night of the 15th of the Ninth Month.
秋はつるさ夜ふけがたの月みれば袖ものこらず露ぞおきける
| aki hatsuru sayo fukegata no tsuki mireba sode mo nokorazu tsuyu zo okikeru | At the start of autumn As brief night begins to break As I gaze upon the moon Not a spot upon my sleeves I Is left untouched by dewdrops. |
Lord Michinobu
Among poems composed with a character from the Tang poem ‘Looking at my life, ‘tis but a rootless grass upon the shore’ as its initial sound.[1]
つゆをのみくさばのうへとおもひしはときまつほどのいのちなりけり
| tsuyu o nomi kusaba no ue to omoishi wa toki matsu hodo no inochi narikeri | Simply as a dewdrop, Resting atop a blade of grass— So I did think; Such a short thing Is life. |
Izumi Shikibu
[1] The kanshi in question appears in Wakan rōeishū (II: 789): 観身岸額離根草 論命江頭不繋舟 ‘Thinking on my life, ‘tis but a rootless grass upon the shore; / Thinking on my fate, ‘tis as uncertain as an unmoored boat upon the bank.’ If read as Japanese, this poem would be: mi o kanzureba kishi no hitai ni ne o hanaretaru kusa / mei o ronzureba e no hotori ni tsunagazaru fune. Izumi Shikibu’s poem links with the initial tsu of tsunagazaru, beginning as it does with tsuyu ‘dew’.
Among poems composed with a character from the Tang poem ‘Looking at my life, ‘tis but a rootless grass upon the shore’ as its initial sound.[1]
つゆを見てくさばのうへとおもひしはときまつほどのいのちなりけり
| tsuyu o mite kusaba no ue to omoishi wa toki matsu hodo no inochi narikeri | As a dewdrop it appears Resting atop a blade of grass— So I did think; Such a short thing Is life. |
Izumi Shikibu
[1] The kanshi in question appears in Wakan rōeishū (II: 789): 観身岸額離根草 論命江頭不繋舟 ‘Thinking on my life, ‘tis but a rootless grass upon the shore; / Thinking on my fate, ‘tis as uncertain as an unmoored boat upon the bank.’ If read as Japanese, this poem would be: mi o kanzureba kishi no hitai ni ne o hanaretaru kusa / mei o ronzureba e no hotori ni tsunagazaru fune. Izumi Shikibu’s poem links with the initial tsu of tsunagazaru, beginning as it does with tsuyu ‘dew’.