A party of ladies on their way home from Shiga came into the precincts of the Kazan temple and stood for a while beneath the wisteria; when they had gone, he composed this and sent it to them.
よそに見てかへらん人にふぢの花はひまつはれよ枝はおるとも
yoso ni mite kaFeran Fito ni Fudi no Fana FaFimatuFare yo eda Fa oru tomo
A casual glance, and Then those girls are gone; O, wisteria blooms, Twine around and hold them here, Though your branches break…
On the morning when the messengers departed for the extraordinary Kamo Festival, she sent this to the Principal Wife of the Minister of the Left attached to the flowers used to decorate their hair.
ちはやぶるかもの河辺のふぢなみはかけてわするる時のなきかな
tiFayaburu
kamo no kaFabe no
Fudinami Fa
kakete wasururu
toki no naki kana
Puissant
Kamo’s river shore by
Wisteria waves is
Washed; forgotten
Never will you be!
On hearing that a certain lady had been being visited by another man, I put on a show of ignorance and wrote this upon his fan beside a drawing of Matsushima.
まつにこそ思ひかゝるときゝしまにねにあらはれて見ゆる藤なみ
matu ni koso
omoFikakaru to
kikisi ma ni
ne ni araFarete
miyuru fudi nami
On these pines, indeed,
Do you think fondly,
I did hear;
Their slumbering roots washed
Plainly by wisteria waves.