Said by someone to be composed on the feelings of Wang Zhaojun when she was travelling to the kingdom of Hu.
なげきこしみちの露にもまさりけりなれにしさとをこふるなみだは
| nagekikoshi michi no tsuyu ni mo masarikeri narenishi sato o kouru namida wa | A source of grief, The dew upon this road, too, Is great, indeed, as For my familiar home I Shed tears of longing. |
On an old woman wiping her face with chrysanthemum dew on the ninth day of the Ninth Month.
けふまでに我をおもへば菊の上の露は千年の玉にざりける
| kyō made ni ware o omoeba kiku no ue no tsuyu wa chitose no tama nizarikeru | Up until this day Have you thought of me, so Upon the chrysanthemums These dewdrops, thousand year Jewels do not seem to be. |
Ki no Tsurayuki
In the spring of the year following the early death of Onomiya Palace Minister, the cherry blossoms bloomed profusely, and he composed on the topic of voicing one’s thoughts a little.
桜花にほふものから露けきはこのめも物を思ふなるべし
| sakuranbana niFoFu mono kara tuyukeki Fa kono me mo mono wo omoFunarubesi | Cherry blossoms Have such a glow, that Dewdrops fill My eyes as sadness Seems to fill my thoughts. |
Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobu
Left
秋の月草むらわかずてらせばややどせる露を玉とみすらん
| aki no tsuki kusamura wakazu teraseba ya yadoseru tsuyu o tama to misuran | Does the autumn moon Not forge through the grassy thickets As it shines? For The dewdrops it lodges there It seems to display as jewels. |
114
Right
なほざりに秋のみやまに入りぬれば錦のいろの衣をこそきれ
| naozari ni aki nomi yama ni irinureba nishiki no iro no kinu o koso kire | Easily, indeed, Does autumn, simply, to the mountains Enter in, so In garb the hue of Brocade do they clothe themselves! |
115
Left
唐ころもほせど袂の露けきは我が身の秋になればなりけり
| karakoromo hosedo tamoto no tsuyukeki wa wa ga mi no aki ni nareba narikeri | My Cathay robe I dry, and yet the sleeves Dew dampness is because For me autumn Has come. |
108[1]
Right
秋の露色のことごとおけばこそ山も紅葉も千くさなるらめ
| aki no tsuyu iro no kotogoto okeba koso yama mo momiji mo chigusa narurame | The autumn dewdrops In a medley of colours Do truly fall, so The mountains and the autumn leaves, too, Turn a multitude of hues. |
109
[1] Shinchokusenshū V: 298
Left
白露の染めいだす萩の下紅葉衣にうつすあきは来にけり
| shiratsuyu no some’idasu hagi no shita momiji koromo ni utsusu aki wa kinikeri | Silver dewdrops Lay dye upon the bush clover’s Scarlet underleaves: Reflected in its garb, Autumn has come! |
102
Right
風寒み啼く秋虫のなみだこそ草に色どる露とおくらめ
| kaze samumi naku akimushi no namida koso kusa ni irodoru tsuyu to okurame | The wind is chill, with The crying autumn insects’ Tears; Bringing colour to the grasses, The dew seems to fall… |
103
Left
秋のよのあまてる月の光にはおく白露を玉とこそ見れ
| aki no yo no ama teru tsuki no hikari ni wa oku shiratsuyu o tama to koso mire | On an autumn night The heaven-shining moon’s Light upon The fallen silver dewdrops Truly, makes them seem as jewels. |
98[1]
Right
あきののにおける露をばひとりぬる我が涙とも思ひしれかし
| aki no no ni okeru tsuyu oba hitori nuru wa ga namida to mo omoishire kashi | Upon the autumn fields Drop dewdrops; Sleeping alone, My tears— Think on them, why don’t you! |
99
[1] Shinchokusenshū V: 281/Shinsen man’yōshū 95
Left
夏草も夜の間は露にいこふらむ常にこがるる我ぞかなしき
| natsukusa mo yo no ma wa tsuyu ni ikouramu tsune ni kogaruru ware zo kanashiki | Upon the summer grasses Throughout the night do dewdrops Seem to rest, and Ever smouldering, I feel sad, indeed! |
76
Right
ながめつつ人まつをりによぶこ鳥いづかたへとか立ちかへりなく
| nagametsutsu hito matsu ori ni yobukodori izukata e to ka tachikaerinaku | Always I gaze out While waiting for him; O, songbird! Whither are you bound? Trilling back and forth… |
77
Left
なつの夜の露なとどめそ蓮葉のまことの玉と成りしはてずは
| natsu no yo no tsuyu na todome so hasu no ha no makoto no tama to narishihatezu wa | On a summer night, Tarry not, o, dewdrops, for On the lotus leaves True jewels, I would not you cease to become… |
55
Right
夏山にこひしき人や入りにけむ声ふりたてて鳴く郭公
| natsuyama ni koishiki hito ya irinikemu koe furitatete naku hototogisu | Into the summer mountains Has my darling Gone, I wonder? Spilling out your song, O, calling cuckoo! |
Ki no Akimine
56[1]
[1] Kokinshū III: 158/Shinsen man’yōshū 71/Kokin rokujō VI: 4447
Left
かりそめのみやたのまれぬ夏の日をなど空蝉のなきくらしつる
| karisome no mi ya tanomarenu natsu no hi o nado utsusemi no nakikurashitsuru | Is my transient Flesh untrustworthy? On a summer day Why does the cicada, an empty shell, Cry the day away? |
47[1]
Right
はかもなき夏のくさ葉におく露を命とたのむ虫のはかなさ
| haka mo naki natsu no kusaba ni oku tsuyu o inochi to tanomu mushi no hakanasa | Fleetingly Upon the blades of summer grass Falls the dew— A lifetime, I expect, for The short-lived insects. |
48
[1] A minor variant of this poem, with a headnote associating it with this contest, occurs in Shokugosenshū (XVI: 1058): かりそめの世やたのまれぬ夏の日をなどうつせみのなきくらしつる karisome no / yo ya tanomarenu / natsu no hi o / nado utsusemi no / nakikurashitsuru ‘Is this transient / World untrustworthy? / On a summer day / Why does the cicada, an empty shell, / Cry the day away?’