At the evening of the year, when she was lamenting that she had grown old.
かぞふればとしののこりもなかりけり老いぬるばかりかなしきはなし
kazoureba
toshi no nokori mo
nakarikeri
oinuru bakari
kanashiki wa nashi | I count the days, but
Remnants of this year
Are none;
My age, simply brings
Nothing but sadness. |
Izumi Shikibu
For a folding screen in the residence of Lord Kōtoku.
ふゆされ嵐のこゑもたかさごの松につけてぞきくべかりける
Fuyu sareba
arasi no kowe mo
takasago no
matu ni tukete zo
kikubekarikeru | When it is winter,
The storm-winds’ howling
Through Takasago’s
Pines is
What I hear. |
[Ōnakatomi no] Yoshinobu
Topic unknown.
池水や氷とくらむあしがもの夜ぶかくこゑのさわぐなるかな
ikemizu ya
kōri tokuramu
ashigamo no
yobukaku koe no
sawagunaru kana | Above the pond waters
The ice has melted, it seems, for
The ducks
Deep within the night are crying
So noisily! |
Tachibana no Yukiyori
橘行頼
Composed on the conception of Lingering Cold.
衣手のうすきや冬のせきならんわが身はいとどしみこほりつつ
koromode no
usuki ya fuyu no
seki naran
wa ga mi wa itodo
shimikōritsutsu | Do my sleeves,
So scanty, winter’s
Barrier gate mark?
My flesh is still so
Pierced with icy chills! |
Ponds 池
冬さむみにほ鳥すだく原の池も世にむすぼるる氷りしにけり
fuyu samumi
niodori sudaku
hara no ike mo
yo ni musubōruru
kōrishinikeri | In the winter’s chill
Even the waterfowl cluttered
Ponds upon the plain
Have grown thick at night
With frozen ice. |
Nakazane
Mandarin Ducks 鴛鴦
冬さむみはだれしもふるさ夜なかにつがはぬをしの声ぞかなしき
fuyu samumi
hadareshimo furu
sayonaka ni
tsugawanu oshi no
koe zo kanashiki | In winter’s chill
A brush of frost does fall,
At midnight, when
The unmated mandarins’
Cries are sad, indeed! |
Tadafusa
Kindling 薪
こりつみしほだなかりせば冬ふかきかた山ほらにいかですままし
koritsumishi
hoda nakariseba
fuyu fukaki
katayama hora ni
ikade sumamashi | Felled
Fields were there none, then
Why, in the depths of winter
In a mountain cave
Would any wish to dwell? |
Tadafusa
First Snow 初雪
冬きぬとききつるからにいちじるくいちしの原 にふれる白雪
fuyu kinu to
kikitsuru kara ni
ichijiruku
ichishi no hara ni
fureru shirayuki | Winter has come,
I have heard, and so
Remarkably
Upon the bramble fields
Has fallen the first snow. |
Tadafusa
Blankets
かさねねばさむげなりけり冬の夜に独ふすまは風もとまらず
kasaneneba
samuge narikeri
fuyu no yo ni
hitori fusuma
kaze mo tomarazu | If I fail to pile them high,
How cold I feel!
On a winter’s night
A single sheet
And a never-ending draft! |
Daishin, Lady-in-Waiting from the Rokujō Palace
六条院女房大進
Left. Spring
あら玉の年もかはらぬふるさとの雪のうちにも春はきにけり
aratama no
toshi mo kawaranu
furusato no
yuki no uchi ni mo
haru wa kinikeri |
To the fresh jeweled
Year the change has yet to come, yet
Around my familiar home
Even within the snows
The spring is here! |
1
Ninnaji gojūshu, Kenkyū 1 [1190]
Right
冬ながら花ちる空のかすめるは雲のこなたに春やきつらむ
fuyu nagara
hana chiru sora no
kasumeru wa
kumo no konata ni
haru ya kitsuramu |
It’s winter now, yet
Are the blossom-scattering skies
Hazed
Beneath the clouds by
The arrival of spring, perhaps? |
2
'Simply moving and elegant'