[One of] two poems composed by Yamanoue no Okura listing the flowers of the autumn fields.
萩の花尾花葛花なでしこの花をみなへしまた藤袴朝顔の花
pagi no pana
wobana kudupana
nadesiko no pana
wominapesi
mata pudibakama
asagapo no pana |
Bush clover blooms,
Silver grass and kudzu,
Pinks,
Valerian
And fujibakama,
Morning glory blooms. |
Yamanoue no Okura
山上憶良
His reply.
白露はわきてもをかじをみなへし心からにや色のそむらん
shira tsuyu wa
wakite mo okaji
ominaeshi
kokoro kara ni ya
iro no somuran |
The silven dew
Cares not where it falls;
The maidenflowers
From your own heart
Are stained with colour. |
The Hoshō-ji Lay Priest and Former Grand Minister [Fujiwara no Michinaga]
When the Hoshō-ji Lay Priest and Former Grand Minister [Fujiwara no Michinaga] plucked a maidenflower, and said Murasaki Shikibu must be able to compose an appropriate poem.
をみなへしさかりの色をみるからにつゆのわきける身こそしらるれ
ominaeshi
sakari no iro o
miru kara ni
tsuyu no wakikeru
mi koso shirarure |
The maidenflowers’
Hues are at their best,
I see, so
The dewfall must have distinguished
‘Tween them and me–how well I know it! |
Murasaki Shikibu
紫式部
'Simply moving and elegant'