The Beginning of Autumn
Left (Win—in a certain book Tie)
しぐれにもあめにもあらぬはつぎりのたつにもそらはさしくもりけり
| shigure ni mo ame ni mo aranu hatsugiri no tatsu ni mo sora wa sashikumorikeri | Neither a shower Nor rain, The first mists Simply rise into the skies And cover all with cloud. |
11
Right
としごとにあふとはすれどたなばたのぬるよのかずぞすくなかりける
| toshi goto ni au to suredo tanabata no nuru yo no kazu zo sukunakarikeru | Every year She meets him, yet The Weaver Maid’s Nights of passion Are few indeed. |
Mitsune
12
Spring Blossom
Left (Tie)
としかはるのはなほことになりぬらししかのこまだらにゆきもけにけり
| toshi kawaru no wa naho koto ni narinurashi shika no ko madara ni yuki mo kenikeri | With the changing of the year, The meadows, particularly, more different Seem to do be— Dappled as a fawn, The snow, too, vanishes away. |
Tsurayuki
3
Right
しらゆきのきえてみどりにかはるのはながれていろのうつらざらなむ
| shirayuki no kiete midori ni kawaru no wa nagarete iro no utsurazaranamu | The snow, so white, Vanishes and to green shoots Do change the meadows, with Flowing meltwater—O, that hue I would not have fade away! |
Tadamine
4
Composed on the conception of love as a year passes when people were at the residence of the Regent and former Minister of the Left.
われがみはとがへるたかとなりにけりとしはふれどもこゐはわすれず
| ware ga mi Fa togaFeru taka to narinikeri tosi Fa Furedomo kowi Fa wasurezu | My flesh as A hawk returning to its mews Has become; A year has passed, yet This love I will not forget. |
The Minister of the Left [Minamoto no Toshifusa]
Left
紅の色にはいでじかくれぬのしたにかよひてこひはしぬとも
| kurenai no iro ni wa ideji kakure nu no shita ni kayoite koi wa shinu tomo | The crimson Of passion I’ll not display, Beneath this hidden marsh Flow waters back and forth, Though I die of this love. |
Tomonori
162[1]
Right
契りけむ心ぞつらき織女の年に一たびあふはあふかは
| chigirikemu kokoro zo tsuraki tanabata no toshi ni hito tabi au wa au ka wa | To be bound is Hard on the heart, indeed! Does the Weaver Maid But once a year Truly have a meeting? |
Okikaze
163
[1] Kokinshū XIII: 661/Shinsen man’yōshū 199/Kokin rokujō III: 1683
Left
ほりておきし池は鏡とこほれども影にもみえぬ年ぞ経にける
| horiteokishi ike wa kagami to kōredomo kage ni mo mienu toshi zo henikeru | All dug out The pond into a mirror Has frozen, yet Reflected, I cannot see The year gone by! |
127
Right
降る雪のつもれる峰は白雲のたちもさわがずをるかとぞみる
| furu yuki no tsumoreru mine wa shirayuki no tachi mo sawagazu oru ka to zo miru | The falling snow Has drifted upon the peaks Whiteness Arrives without a rustle Making me wonder if it’s there at all… |
128
Left
なつの日のくるるもしらず鳴く蝉をとひもしてしか何ごとかうき
| natsu no hi no kururu mo shirazu naku semi o toi mo shiteshika nani goto ka uki | Of the summer sun’s Setting unaware are The singing cicadas: Had I but asked them of it, What would they despise? |
70
Right
あやめ草いくらの五月あひくらむ来る年毎にわかく見ゆらむ
| ayamegusa ikura no satsuki aikuramu kuru toshigoto ni wakaku miyuramu | O, sweet flags! In how many Fifth Months Have you come to meet me? With every turning year You seem younger to me! |
71
Left
かかる時あらじとおもへば一とせをすべては春になすよしもがな
| kakaru toki araji to omoeba hito tose o subete wa haru ni nasu yoshi mogana | Such times There cannot be, I feel, so A single year Entirely spring, O, if only I had cause to make it so! |
31
Right
まてといふにとまらぬ物としりながらしひてぞをしき春のわかれを
| mate to iu ni tomaranu mono to shirinagara shiite zo oshiki haru no wakare wa | Asking it to stay, when that It will not remain I know too well— And yet how strongly I regret Parting from spring… |
32[1]
[1] Shinkokinshū II: 172/Shinsen man’yōshū 269
Left
春ながら年はくれなん散る花ををしと鳴くなる鶯のこゑ
| haru nagara toshi wa kurenan chiru hana o oshi to nakunaru uguisu no koe | ‘Tis spring, but The year draws to an end; ‘The scattering blossom I regret!’ sings The warbler’s song. |
23[1]
Right
大空をおほふばかりの袖もがな春咲く花を風にまかせじ
| ōzora o ōu bakari no sode mogana haru saku hana o kaze ni makaseji | If only the heavens I could simply cover With my sleeves, then The blossoms blooming in springtime I’d not abandon to the wind! |
24[2]
[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 35; Shinchokusenshū II: 88.
[2] Shinsen man’yōshū 263.