On hearing a cuckoo when I was alone on a night when it was raining heavily.
郭公なくこゑあやな五月やみきく人なしみあめは降りつつ
hototogisu
naku koe ayana
satsuki yami
kiku hito nashi mi
ame wa furitsutsu | O, cuckoo,
Giving call is strange, indeed,
In the drizzling dark,
For there is none to hear you,
In the ever falling rain… |
さ月やみさよふけぬらし時鳥神なび山におのが妻よぶ
satsuki yami
sayo fukenurashi
hototogisu
kaminabiyama ni
ono ga tsuma yobu | In the drizzling dark
It seems brief night has fallen, for
A cuckoo
On the sacred mount
Is calling for his mate. |
五月やみ神なびやまのほととぎす妻ごひすらし鳴くねかなしも
satsuki yami
kaminabiyama no
hototogisu
tsumagoisurashi
naku ne kanashi mo | In the drizzling dark
On the sacred mount
A cuckoo
Longs for his mate, it seems, for
The calls he cries are truly so sad… |
A cuckoo in the depths of night.
五月やみおぼつかなきに郭公ふかき峰より鳴きていづなり
satsuki yami
obotsukanaki ni
hototogisu
fukaki mine yori
nakite’izu nari | In the drizzling dark
Uncertainly
A cuckoo
From deep within the peaks
Calls out. |
Katsura 桂
はれまなき心のやみにまよひつつえこそたをらね月のかつらを
harema naki
kokoro no yami ni
mayoitsutsu
e koso taorane
tsuki no katsura o | No parting of the clouds
Of darkness in my heart, so
I am ever lost –
No branch will I break from
A silver tree upon the moon… |
Tadafusa
Composed at Mount Kurau.
梅花にほふ春べはくらふ山やみに越ゆれど著くぞありける
ume no Fana
niFoFu Farube Fa
kuraFu yama
yami ni koyuredo
shiruku zo arikeru | The plum blossom
Scents the spring, and
Though Kurau Mountain
Is draped in darkness,
How clearly I do know it! |
Tsurayuki
Left (Win).
我が恋は片裏染めの唐衣かへして寝るや色に見ゆるらむ
wa ga koFi Fa
kata’urazome no
karakoromo
kaFesite nuru ya
iro ni miyurururamu |
For my love
An inner-dyed
Cathay robe
I will reverse – in sleep, then,
I wonder will I see passion’s hues? |
Shichirō 七郎
[Minamoto no Ie’yori 源家職]
31
Right.
寝ぬままに月を眺めて明かすかな闇には恋もなぐさかじかし
nenu mama ni
tuki wo nagamete
akasu kana
yami ni Fa koFi mo
nagusamazikasi |
While sleepless
I gaze upon the moon
‘til dawn!
For in the darkness my love
Would gain no consolation! |
Saburō 三郎
[Minamoto no Kanemasa 源兼昌]
32
皐月闇我が待つ人は来まさねと花橘の香にぞなぐさむ
satsuki yami
wa ga matsu hito wa
kimasane to
hanatachibana no
ka ni zo nagusamu |
In the summer dark
I await a man who
Now says he’ll not come;
The orange blossoms’
Scent will be my consolation… |
Ōe no Masafusa
大江匡房
鵜川には皐月の闇もなかりけりくだればくだす舟の篝火
ukawa ni wa
satsuki no yami mo
nakarikeri
kudareba kudasu
fune no kagaribi |
To the cormorant river
The Fifth Month’s dark
Has not come;
For when it falls, also do
The boats’ torches! |
Shunzei
'Simply moving and elegant'
