23
Tsuki mireba
Chiji ni mono koso
Kanashi kere
Waga mi hitotsu no
Aki ni wa aranedo.
THIS night the cheerless autumn moon
Doth all my mind enthrall;
But others also have their griefs,
For autumn on us all
Hath cast her gloomy pall.
28
Yama zato wa
Fuyu zo sabishisa
Masari keru
Hito-me mo kusa mo
Karenu to omoeba.
THE mountain village solitude
In winter time I dread;
It seems as if, when friends are gone,
And trees their leaves have shed,
All men and plants are dead.
30
Ariake no
Tsurenaku mieshi
Wakare yori
Akatsuki bakari
Uki-mono wa nashi.
I HATE the cold unfriendly moon,
That shines at early morn;
And nothing seems so sad and grey,
When I am left forlorn,
As day's returning dawn.
51
Kaku to dani
Eyawa Ibuki no
Sashi-mogusa
Sashimo shiraji na
Moyuru omoi wo.
THOUGH love, like blisters made from leaves
Grown on Mount Ibuki,
Torments me more than I can say,
My lady shall not see,
How she is paining me.
53
Nageki-tsutsu
Hitori nuru yo no
Akuru ma wa
Ikani hisashiki
Mono to kawa shiru.
ALL through the long and dreary night
I lie awake and moan;
How desolate my chamber feels,
How weary I have grown
Of being left alone!
57
Meguri-aite
Mishi ya sore tomo
Wakanu ma ni
Kumo gakure nishi
Yowa no tsuki kana.
I WANDERED forth this moonlight night,
And some one hurried by;
But who it was I could not see,--
Clouds driving o'er the sky
Obscured the moon on high..
21
Ima kon to
Iishi bakari ni
Naga-tsuki no
Ariake no tsuki
Wo machi izuru kana.
THE moon that shone the whole night through
This autumn morn I see,
As here I wait thy well-known step,
For thou didst promise me--
'I'll surely come to thee.'
59
Yasurawade
Nenamaji mono wo
Sayofukete
Katabuku made no
Tsuki wo mishi kana.
WAITING and hoping for thy step,
Sleepless in bed I lie,
All through the night, until the moon,
Leaving her post on high,
Slips sideways down the sky.
33
Hisakata no
Hikari nodokeki
Haru no hi ni
Shizu kokoro, naku
Hana no chiruramu.
THE spring has come, and once again
The sun shines in the sky;
So gently smile the heavens, that
It almost makes me cry,
When blossoms droop and die.
From a collection of 100 Japanese Tanka poems (The Hyakunin-isshu) collected in the 13th Century,
with some of the poems dating back to the 7th Century.
translated by William N. Porter
[1909]