Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 30 やまべのあかひと 山部赤人 Yamabe no Akahito MYS II.317 山部宿称赤人望不尽山歌一首并短歌 天地の 分かれし時ゆ 神さびて 高く貴き 駿河なる 布士の高嶺を 天の原 振り放け見れば 渡る日の 影も隠らひ 照る月の 光も見えず 白雲も い行きはばかり 時じくそ 雪は降りける 語り継ぎ 言ひ継ぎ行かむ 不尽の高嶺は ametsuchi no / wakareshi toki yu / kamu sabite / takaku tōtoki / Suruga naru / Fuji no takane wo / ama no hara / furisake mireba / wataru hi no / kage mo kakurai / teru tsuki no / hikari mo miezu / shirakumo mo / iyuki habakari / tokijiku so / yuki wa furikeru / kataritsugi / iitsugi yukamu / Fuji no takane wa Since that ancient time when heaven and earth were sundered, like a god soaring in high-towering majesty over Suruga has stood Fuji’s lofty peak. Turn your eyes upward to heaven’s high plain and see how it hides from sight the sun in its constant course and obstructs our view of the moon in its shining, blocking even the clouds from going on their way— and how always on its peak snow is falling, ever falling. We praise it now, and ever more— the lofty peak of Fuji! ----------------- Carter Man'yōshū From the division Of the heaven and the earth, Instinct with godhead, Lofty and noble there stood, Rising in Suruga, The towering cone of Fuji: When I gaze afar Across distant plains of heaven The wandering sun With all its beams is blotted out, The shining moon And all its light is lost to view; The white clouds fear To drift across the mountain face, And in all seasons Snow still falls upon the peak: I shall tell the tale, I shall talk for all my days About Fuji’s towering cone. ----------------- Cranston Yamabe no Akahito Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 31 田子の浦ゆ うち出でて見れば 真白にそ 不尽の高嶺に When from Tago shore We rowed far out and turned to look, Pure white it was, The towering cone of Fuji Gleaming under fallen snow! ----------------- Cranston 雪は降りける At Tago Bay I came out, and looked afar— to see the pure white of Mount Fuji’s lofty peak, amidst a flurry of snow. ----------------- Carter MYS III. 318 Tago no ura yu / uchiidete mireba / mashiro ni so / Fuji no takane ni / yuki wa furikeru 神亀元年甲子冬十月五日幸于紀伊 国時山部宿称赤人作歌一首并短歌 やすみしし わご大君の 常宮と 仕へまつる 雑賀野ゆ 背向に見ゆる Man'yōshū 沖つ島 清き渚に 風吹けば 白波騒ぎ 潮干れば Our sovereign familiar with the eight corners— his eternal palace where we serve in Saika Field—visible from its back is an island in the offing. There on its clean shore when the wind blows, white waves churn, when the tide ebbs, lovely seaweed is harvested. So noble since the age of gods, that island mountain of Tamatsu! ----------------- Watson 玉藻刈りつつ 神代より 然そ尊き 玉津島山 Where our great lord reigns, Ruling the land in all tranquility, From this eternal palace Where we wait upon his will Here in Sahika Fields, Beyond these precincts can be seen An island in the offing. Along the clean-swept margin of its waves When the wind blows fresh White billows storm across the beach, And when the tide is out The seafolk bend and cut the gemlike weed. From the Age of Gods Awesome and noble has it stood, The sea-mount Tamatsushima. ----------------- Cranston MYS VI. 917 yasumishishi / wago ōkimi no / tokomiya to / tsukaematsureru / Saikano yu / sogai ni miyuru / oki tsu shima / kiyoki nagisa ni / kaze fukeba / shiranami sawaki / shio fureba / tamamo karitsutsu /kamiyo yori / shika so tōtoki / Tamatsushimayama Yamabe no Akahito Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 32 反歌二首 沖つ島 荒磯の玉藻 潮干満ちて 隠りゆかば On the rocky shore of the island in the offing, the lovely seaweed— I will miss it when it goes under the flowing tide. ----------------- Watson 思ほえむかも When the tide comes in And the gemlike weeds in the rocks Of this island coast Hide themselves slowly in the waves, Will our thoughts go after them? ----------------- Cranston MYS VI. 918 oki tsu shima / ariso no tamamo / shiohi michite / kakuriyukaba / omōemu kamo 若の浦に 潮満ちくれば Waka no ura ni / shio michikureba / kato wo nami / ashibe wo sashite / tazu nakiwataru MYS VI. 924 み吉野の 象山の際の 木末には ここだもさわく In Yoshino, on treetops in a Kisayama vale, a great many birds make a commotion as they call. --------------Watson 鳥の声かも In fair Yoshino In the vale that lies between The mountains of Kisa, From every treetop rise the voices Of the gaily singing birds. --------------Crantson 潟を無み At Waka Bay the beach is hidden now, with the waters high: heading off toward the reeds, cranes go, crying in flight. ----------------- Carter 葦辺をさして At Wakanoura The tide, rising to the full, Has engulfed the strand; Heading for the reedy shore, The cranes cross, crying. ----------------- Keene 鶴鳴き渡る When the tide pours in Across the flats of Waka Bay The sea strand vanishes And the cranes with raucous cries, Fly off to shelter in the reeds. ----------------- Cranston MYS VI. 919 mi-Yoshino no / Kisa yama no ma no / konure ni wa / kokoda mo sawaku / tori no koe kamo Man'yōshū Yamabe no Akahito Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 33 ぬばたまの 夜のふけ行けば 久木生ふる 清き川原に As night deepens, black as leopard-flower seeds, on the clear river beach where everlasting trees grow, plovers call ceaselessly. ----------------- Watson 千鳥しば鳴く As the night grows deep In darkness black as beads of jet, Where the red oak grow Along the clean-swept river beach The plovers keep endlessly crying. ----------------- Cranston MYS VI. 925 nubatama no / yo no fukeyukeba / hisaki ōru / kiyoki kawahara ni / chidori shiba naku 春の野に すみれ摘みにと haru no no ni / sumire tsumi ni to / koshi ware so / no wo natsukashimi / hitoya nenikeru MYS VIII. 1425 あしひきの 山桜花 日並べて かく咲きたらば Cherry blossoms of the far, foot-dragging hills: if they bloomed thus, for days on end, would we yearn for them as much? ----------------- Shirane いた恋ひめやも If the wild cherry Flowered every day as now Far in the trailing hills, How would I ever come to know The sharpness of this longing? ----------------- Cranston 来しわれそ I came to this spring field to pick violets. But I loved the field so much I’ve slept here all night. ----------------- Watson 野をなつかしみ To the fields of spring to pick violets I came— I who in fondness For those fields could not depart, But stayed and slept the night. ----------------- Cranston 一夜寝にける Into the spring fields I came, intending only to pick violets. But so appealing were the fields, that I stayed to spend the night. ----------------- Carter MYS VIII. 1424 ashihiki no / yamasakurabana / hi narabete / kaku sakitaraba / ita koime ya mo Man'yōshū Yamabe no Akahito Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 34 わが背子に 見せむと思ひし 梅の花 The plum blossoms I thought to show to you, my love cannot be told apart from the falling snow. ----------------- Shirane それとも見えず 雪のふれれば To you, dear friend, I was set to show the blossoms Of my flowering plum— But they are nowhere to be seen, Now that snowflakes fill the air. ----------------- Cranston MYS VIII. 1426 waga seko ni / misemu to omohishi / ume no hana / sore to mo miezu / yuki no furereba 明日よりは 春菜摘まむと 標めし野に Even on the roped-off fields where from tomorrow spring greens will be gathered, yesterday and again today snow falls on and on. ----------------- Shirane 昨日も今日も 雪は降りつつ Starting tomorrow, I was to pick young herbs, And I marked my fields; But yesterday and now today Those fields have filled with falling snow. ----------------- Cranston MYS VIII. 1427 asu yori wa / haruna tsumamu to / shimeshi no ni / kinō mo kyō mo / yuki wa furitsutsu おほとものたびと 大伴旅人 Ōtomo no Tabito 太宰帥大伴卿五首 わが盛り また変若めやも ほとほとに 寧楽の京を Can I hope to regain the full bloom of my youth, or will I probably die before I can ever see again the capital at Nara? ----------------- Levy 見ずかなりなむ The full bloom of youth— might it still come back to me? Or must I suppose that I will never again see the capital at Nara? ----------------- Carter MYS III. 331 waga sakari / mata ochime ya mo / hotohoto ni / Nara no miyako / mizu ka narinamu Man'yōshū Ōtomo no Tabito Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 35 太宰帥大伴卿讃酒歌十三首 験なき 物を思はずは 一杯の Don’t think about useless things—you should be drinking, it seems to me, a bowl of raw sake ----------------- Watson 濁れる酒を Rather than engaging in useless worries, it’s better to down a cup of raw wine. ----------------- Levy 飲むべくあるらし Instead of fretting over things that can’t be changed, how much better to swallow down a full cup of cloudy sake! ----------------- Carter MYS III.338 shirushi naki / mono wo omowazu wa / hitosuki no / nigoreru sake wo / nomubeku arurashi あな醜く MYS III. 348 この世にし 楽しくあらば 来む生には 虫に鳥にも われはありなむ As long as I have fun in this life, let me be an insect or a bird in the next. --------------Levy If I enjoy myself in this world, in the world to come I won’t mind being an insect or a bird ----------------- Watson Man'yōshū 賢しらをすと ana miniku / saka shira wo su to / sake nomanu / hito wo yoku mireba / saru ni kamo niru If in this world I can only enjoy myself, then in the next world let me be a bug or a bird— it will not matter to me! --------------Carter 酒飲まぬ How ugly—take a good look at a man who acts wise and doesn’t drink—just like a monkey! ----------------- Watson 人をよく見れば How ugly! those men who, with airs of wisdom, refuse to drink wine. Take a good look, and they resemble apes. ----------------- Levy 猿にかも似る What an ugly bunch— those who in pretended wisdom will not drink sake. The closer you look at them, the more they look like monkeys! ----------------- Carter MYS III. 344 kono yo ni shi / tanoshiku araba / komu yo ni wa / mushi ni tori ni mo / ware was narinamu Ōtomo no Tabito Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 36 天平二年庚午冬十二月太宰 帥大伴卿向京上道之時作歌 五首 吾妹子が見し 鞆の浦の The juniper at Tomo Cove lasts eternally, but my wife who gazed on it, is gone. ----------------- Levy むろの木は 常世にあれど 見し人そなき That juniper tree my woman saw long ago at Tomo Bay stands there still, ever green— though the one who saw it is gone. ----------------- Carter MYS III. 446 wagimoko ga / mishi Tomo no ura no / muronoki wa / tokoyo ni aredo / mishi hito so naki わが園に 梅の花散る ひさかたの 天より雪の Plum blossoms fall and scatter in my garden; is this snow come streaming from the distant heavens? ----------------- Levy 流れ来るかも Out in my garden plum blossoms are scattering. Or might it be snow floating down from the sky— those distant heavens? ----------------- Carter MYS V. 822 waga sono ni / ume no hana chiru / hisakata no / ama yori yuki no / nagarekuru kamo Man'yōshū Ōtomo no Tabito Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 37 やまのうえのおくら 山 上 憶 良 Yamanoue no Okura MYS V.892 貧窮問答歌一首并短歌 風雑じり 雨降る夜の 雨雑じり 雪降る夜は 術もなく 寒くあれば 堅塩を 取りつづしろひ 糟湯酒 うち子啜ろひて 咳かひ 鼻びしびしに しかとあらぬ 鬚かき撫でて 我を措きて 人は在らじと 誇ろへど 寒くあれば 麻衾 引き被り 布肩衣 有りのことごと 服襲へども 寒き夜すらを 我よりも 貧しき人の 父母は 飢ゑ寒からむ 妻子どもは 乞ふ乞ふ泣くらむ この時は 如何にしつつか 汝が世は渡る ・ 天地は 広しといへども 吾が為は 狭くやなりぬる 日月は 明しといへども 吾が為は 照りや給はぬ 人皆か 吾のみや然る わくらばに 人とはあるを 人並みに 吾も作れるを 綿も無き 布肩衣の 海松の如 わわけさがれる 襤褸のみ 肩にうち懸け 伏廬の 曲廬の内に 直土に 藁解き敷きて 父母は 枕の方に 妻子どもは 足の方に 囲み居るに 憂へ吟ひ 竃には 火気ふき立てず 甑には 蜘蛛の巣懸きて 飯炊く 事も忘れて 鵼鳥の 呻吟ひ居るに いとのきて 短き物を 端截ると 云へるが如く 楚取る 里長が声は 寝屋戸まで 来立ち呼ばひぬ かくばかり 術無きものか 世間の道 kaze majiri / ame furu yo no / ame majiri / yuki furu yo wa / sube mo naku / samuku shi areba / katashio wo / toritsuzushiroi / kasuyuzake / uchisusuroite / shiwabukai / hana bishibishi ni / shika to aranu / hige kakinadete / are wo okite / hito wa araji to / hokoroedo / samukushi areba / asabusama / hikikagafuri / nunokataginu / ari no kotogoto / kisoedo mo / samuki yo sura wo / ware yori mo / mazushiki hito no / chichi haha wa / uekogoyuramu / me kodomo wa / niyobinakuramu / kono toki wa / ika ni shitsutsu ka / na ga yo wa wataru ame tsuchi wa / hiroshi to iedo / a ga tame wa / saku ya narinuru / hi tsuki wa / akashi to iedo / a ga tame wa / teri ya tamawanu / hito mina ka / aru nomi ya saru / wakuraba ni / hito to wa aru wo / hitonami ni / are mo tsukuru wo / wata mo naki / nunokataginu no / miru no goto / wawakesagareru / kakafu nomi / kata ni uchikake / fuseio no / mageio no uchi ni / hitatsuchi ni / wara tokishikite / chichi haha wa / makura no kata ni / kakumiite / ureesamayoi / kamado ni wa / hoke fukitatezu / koshiki ni wa / kumo no su kakite / ii kashiku /koto mo wasurete / nuedori no / nodoyoioru ni / itonokite / mijikaki mono wo / hashi kiru to / ieru ga gotoku / shimoto toru / satoosa ga koe wa / neyado made / kitachiyonainu / kaku bakari / sube naki mono ka / yo no naka no michi Man'yōshū Yamanoue no Okura Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 38 [Poor man] On nights when rain falls mingling with the blowing wind, on nights when snow falls, mingling with the pouring rain, I have no choice but to endure the cold. I eat lumpy salt, keep nibbling away at it. drink sake dregs, keep sipping away at them, keep clearing my throat, snuffle the snot in my nose, keep running my hand over my skimpy beard, boast to myself, “Where is there to be found a better man?” But I am cold all the same. I pull over me my bedding of coarse hemp, pile on as clothing layers of sleeveless cloth coats— every one I own— and still the night is bitter. The mother and father of someone whose lot is worse than my own must be starving and freezing; his wife and children must cry in weak voices. At times like this, how is it that you manage to keep going at all? [Destitute man] Heaven and earth are said to be far-ranging, yet they have become too narrow to fit me in. The sun and moon are said to be radiant, yet they do not deign to cast their light on me. Is it like this for everyone, or just for me? Although by good luck I have been born a human and though I till fields like any other human, upon my shoulder I wear nothing but rags— a sleeveless jacket Man'yōshū not even stuffed with cotton, hanging in tatters like strands of deep-pine seaweed. Inside my crooked hut, my hut with its leaning walls, I lie on bare ground spread with a little loose straw. My father and mother are beside my pillow, my wife and children are at the foot of my bed; all sit around me complaining and groaning; at the cooking-place nothing sends up any steam; in the rice steamer a spider has spun its web. We have forgotten how rice is supposed to be cooked. And as we wail there, voices thin as tiger rushes, to make matters worse (cutting, as the saying goes, the end of something that is already too short), the village headman seeks me out, holding his whip, comes with his summons right up to my sleeping-place. Must it be like this, so utterly without hope— a man’s journey through the world? ----------------- Carter On the night when the rain beats, Driven by the wind, On the night when the snowflakes mingle With the sleety rain, I feel so helplessly cold. I nibble at a lump of salt, Sip the hot, oft-diluted dregs of sake; And coughing, snuffling, And stroking my scanty beard, I say in my pride, “There’s none worthy save I!” But I shiver still with cold, I pull up my hempen bed-clothes, Wear what few sleeveless clothes I have, But cold and bitter is the night! AS for those poorer than myself, Their parents must be cold and hungry, Their wives and children beg and cry. The, how do you struggle through life? Wide as they call the heaven and earth, For me they have shrunk quite small; Bright though they call the sun and moon, They never shine for me. Is it the same for all men, Or for me alone? By rare chance I was born a man And no meaner than his fellows, But, wearing unwadded sleeveless clothes In tatters, like weeds waving in the sea, Hanging from my shoulders, And under the sunken roof, Within the leaning walls, Here I lie on straw Spread bare on earth, With my parents at my pillow, My wife and children at my feet, All huddled in grief and tears. No fire sends up smoke At the cooking-place, And in the cauldron A spider spins its web. With not a grain to cook, We moan like the “night-thrush.” Then, “to cut,” as the saying is, “The ends of what is already too short,” The village headman comes, With rod in hand, to our sleeping-place, Growling for his dues. Must it be so hopeless— The way of this world? ----------------- Keene Yamanoue no Okura Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 39 世の中を 憂しとやさしと I find this world sad and wearying, but cannot fly away because I am not a bird ----------------- Watson 思へども Nothing but pain and shame in this world of men, But I cannot fly away, Wanting the wings of a bird. ----------------- Keene 飛び立ちかねつ 鳥にしあらねば Though we think of life as a vale of misery, a bitter trial, it is not as if we were birds who can simply fly away. ----------------- Carter MYS V. 893 yo no naka wo / ushi to yasashi to / omoedomo / tobitachikanetsu/ tori ni shi araneba さみまんせい 沙弥満誓 Sami Mansei 沙弥満誓歌一首 世中を 何に譬へむ 朝びらき To what shall I compare this world? A boat that rows off with morning, leaving no trace behind ----------------- Watson 漕ぎ去にし船の To what shall I compare this life? the way a boat rowed out from the morning harbor leaves no traces on the sea. ----------------- Levy 跡なきがごと Our life in this world— to what shall I compare it? It is like a boat rowing out at break of day, leaving not a trace behind. ----------------- Carter MYS III. 351 yo no naka wo / nani ni tatoemu / asabiraki / kogiinishi fune no / ato naki ga goto たけちのくろひと 高市黒人 Takechi no Kurohito 桜田へ 鶴鳴き渡る 年魚市潟 潮干にけらし The cranes sweep, crying to Sakurada; it seems the tide has ebbed from Ayuchi Lagoon, and the cranes sweep, crying. ----------------- Levy 鶴鳴き渡る Toward Sakurada cranes go, crying out in flight. At Ayuchi Strand the tide must have gone out— cranes go, crying out in flight. ----------------- Carter MYS III. 271 Sakurada e / tazu nakiwataru / Ayuchigata / shio hinikerashi / tazu nakiwataru Toward Sakura paddies cranes fly, calling. Over the Ayuchi marsh the tide, it seems, has gone out. Cranes fly, calling. ----------------- Watson Man'yōshū Takechi no Kurohito Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 40 とく来ても 見てましものを 山城の 高の槻群 散りにけるかも I should have come sooner to see; now the leaves of the clustered zelkovas at Taka in Yamashiro lie scattered on the ground.. --------------Levy toku kitemo / mitemashi mono wo / Yamashiro no / Taka no tsukimura / chirinikeru ka mo MYS IX. 1747 春三月諸卿大夫等下難波時 歌二首 并短歌 白 雲 の 龍 田 の 山 の 滝 の 上 の 小鞍の嶺に 咲きををる 桜の花は 山 高 み 風 し 止 ま ね ば 春 雨 の 継 ぎ し 降 れ ば 秀 つ 枝 は 散 り 過 ぎ に け り 下 枝 に 残 れ る 花 は 散 り な 乱 れ そ 草枕 旅行く君が 還り来るまで Man'yōshū 何処にか MYS III. 277 I should have come more quickly to see them: in Taka in Yamashiro the zelkova trees have shed their leaves. --------------Watson At Mount Tatsuta where white clouds ever trail, above the cascade on the Peak of Ogura, the cherry blossoms are blooming everywhere; but so high is the peak, so unending the winds, and so constant the falling of the spring rain, that the upper branches are already bare. You blossoms clinging to the lower branches— wait awhile, please, before scattering away; at least until our lords return from travel from nights spent on grass pillows. --------------Carter われは宿らむ izuku ni ka / ware yadoramu / Takashima no / Kachino hara ni / kono hi kurenaba If only sooner I had come here to see them: now the leaves are gone from the groves of zelkova at Taka, in Yamashiro. --------------Carter 高島の Where shall I stay if, in Takashima, in the fields of Kachino, the day grows dark? ----------------- Watson 勝野の原に Where shall I seek shelter? On the Kachino Plain in Takashima this sun is setting. ----------------- Levy この日暮れなば Where will I go now to find a place for lodging— as day is ending on the fields of Katsuno in Takashima? ----------------- Carter MYS III. 275 shirakumo no / Tatsuta no yama no / taki no ue no / Ogura no mine ni / sakioiru / sakura no hana wa / yama takami / kaze shi yamaneba / harusame no / tsugiteshifureba / hotsue wa / chirisuginikeri / shizue ni / nokoreru hana wa / shimashiku wa / chiri na magai so / kusamakura / tabiyuku kimi ga / kaerikuru made Takechi no Kurohito Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 41 MYS IX. 1748 反歌 わが行きは 七日は過ぎじ 龍田彦 ゆめこの花を 風にな散らし Our journey will end before seven days have passed. Tatsuta Goddess, do not allow the blossoms to scatter in the wind. --------------Carter waga yuki wa / nanuka wa sugiji / Tatsutahiko / yume kono hana wo / kaze ni na chirashi おほとものさかのうへのいらつめ 大 伴 坂 上 郎 女 Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue 来むと言ふも 来ぬ時あるを 来じといふを 来むとは待たじ Since there are times you do not come even when you tell me you will come, I cannot wait for you to come when you say you probably will not come, and you do say you probably will not come. --------------Levy 来じと言ふもを You say, “I will come”— but then often you don’t come. If you say you won’t, why should I wait for you to come— when you said you wouldn’t come? --------------Carter MYS IV. 527 komu to iu mo / konu toki aru wo / koji to iu wo / komu to wa mataji / koji to iu mono wo 大伴坂上郎女月歌三首 ぬばたまの 夜霧の立ちて おほほしく 照れる月夜の How sad to behold the evening moon shining faintly through night mists that rise black as leopard-flower seeds. --------------Collins 見れば悲しさ Black as leopard-flower seeds is the night mist spreading round; and through it all the moonlight comes shining down— a moving sight to look upon! --------------Carter MYS VI. 982 nubatama no / yogiri no tachite / oōshiku / tereru tsukuyo no / mireba kanashisa Man'yōshū Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 42 MYS VIII. 1500 大伴坂上郎女歌一首 夏の野の 繁みに咲ける 姫百合の A bell lily blooming under a shrub in the summer field— love so unrecognized is painful indeed! --------------Watson 知らえぬ恋は 苦しきものそ Love unnoticed, like the star lilies blooming in the lush fields of summer, is a hard thing to endure, indeed! --------------Collins natsu no no / shigemi ni sakeru himeyuri no / shiraenu koi wa / kurushikimono so おほとものさかのうへのおほをとめ 大 伴 坂 上 大 嬢 Maiden Ōtomo no Sakanoue 大伴坂上大嬢贈大伴宿祢家 持歌三首 Man'yōshū 玉ならば 手にも巻かむを Were you a string of beads I would wind you about my arm, but since you are a man of the actual world you are hard in the winding. --------------Shirane That which I would wear on my arm were it a string of jewels is a man belonging to the fleeting world and hard to wrap round my wrist. --------------Collins うつせみの 世の人なれば 手に巻きかたし If you were a jewel I would wrap you round my wrist, but you are a man, you belong to the world of the living, and it is hard to wrap you round my wrist. --------------Levy MYS IV.729 tama naraba / te ni mo makamu wo / utsusemi no / yo no hito naraba / te ni makigatashi Maiden Ōtomo no Sakanoue Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 43 逢はむ夜は awamu yo wa / itsu mo aramu wo / nani su to ka / sono yoi aite / koto no shigeki mo MYS IV.731 我が名はも 千名の五百名に 立ちぬとも Let this name of mine be bandied on five hundred or a thousand tongues; but if rumor touched your name I would week for very rage. --------------Shirane 君が名立たば Even if my own name is brought up five hundred of a thousand times, I would only lament it if your name ever were mentioned. --------------Collins 惜しみこそ泣け Let my name be stained five hundred times a thousand times. But if your name, my Lord, be bandied in their gossip, I would weep with regret! --------------Levy いつもあらむを 何すとか その宵逢ひて When we could have met any time, any night, why did we choose that night to meet, and all in this thicket of talk? --------------Shirane When we might have met any time after dark, why indeed did we meet that evening amid the thickening talk? --------------Collins 言の繁きも Any night we could have met, then why did we meet on that particular evening, giving rise to gossip so thick! --------------Levy MYS IV.730 waga na wa mo / china no iona ni / tachinu to mo / kimi ga na tataba / oshimi koso nake おほとものやかもち 大 伴 家 持 Ōtomo no Yakamochi 又大伴宿祢家持和歌三首 今しはし 名の惜しけくも 我れはなし Man'yōshū 妹によりては 千たび立 There is in me now, oh, now indeed, no remnant of care about my name though rumor rise a thousand times because of my young love. --------------Shirane Now, I am no longer, one who would regret his name being brought up. As long as it is for your sake— let it be a thousand times! --------------Collins つとも Now I no longer have regrets about my name, be it gossiped of a thousand times— if the gossip is because of you, my woman. --------------Levy MYS III. 732 ima shi wa shi / na no oshikeku mo / ware wa nashi / imo yorite wa / chitabi tatsu to mo Ōtomo no Yakamochi Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 44 MYS III. 733 うつせみの 世やも二行く 何すとか 妹に逢はずて Through the locust-husk world do we pass twice over? What am I doing sleeping alone at night, never meeting my young love? --------------Shirane 我がひとり寝む Can the realm of life come to us twice? Then why must I sleep alone, unable to meet my woman? --------------Levy utsusemi no / yo ya mo futayuku / nani su to ka / imo ni awazute / a ga hitori nemu MYS III. 734 我が思ひ かく てあらずは 玉にもが まことも妹が Than that my longing should be thus, it were better to be a bead string, truly to be wound around the arm of my young love! --------------Shirane 手に巻かれなむ Instead of these yearnings, Oh that I could be a jewel and truly wrapped around my woman’s wrist! --------------Levy wag a omoi / kakute arazu wa / tama ni mo ga / makoto mo imo ga / te ni makaremu MYS III. 466 家持作歌一首 并 [ 短歌 ] 我がやどに 花ぞ咲きたる そを見れど 心もゆかず はしきやし 妹がありせば 水鴨なす ふたり並び居 手折りても 見せましものを うつせみの 借れる身なれば 露霜の 消ぬるがごとく あしひきの 山道をさして 入日なす 隠りにしかば そこ思ふに 胸こそ痛き 言ひもえず 名づけも知らず 跡もなき 世間にあれば 為むすべもなし waga yado ni / hana zo sakitaru / so wo miredo / kokoro mo yukazu / hashikiyashi / imo ga ariseba / mikamo nasu / futari narabi i / taorite mo / misemashi mono wo / utsusemi no / kareru mi ni areba / tsuyushimo no / kenuruno ga gotoku / ashihiki no / yamaji wo sashite / irihi nasu / kakurinishikaba / soko omou ni / mune koso itaki / ii mo ezu / nazuke mo shirazu / ato mo naki / yo no naka ni areba / semu sube mo nashi Man'yōshū Ōtomo no Yakamochi Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 45 In my courtyard the flowers are blooming now, but the sight of them still leaves my heart unmoved. Were my wife with me, she whom I loved so dearly— were we side by side like drakes out on the water, we would gather sprigs and then show one another: but all in this world are shells of the cicada— like glistening dew all too soon to fade away; thus she has vanished like the light dying as the sun sets on a path in the foot-wearying hills; and to think of her brings me pain deep in my heart beyond any words, beyond power to describe— in this world of ours where all fade without a trace and all effort is in vain. --------------Carter The flowers have bloomed in my garden. But though I look on them my heart is unfulfilled. If my beloved wife were here we would stand side by side like the splendid ducks, and pick these blossoms and show them to each other. But hers was the transitory fate of the living, and so, fading like mist or fronts, she disappeared, like the setting sun, toward the foot-trailing mountain path. It racks my breast to think of it. I cannot express it in words, I cannot give it a name— here in the realm of life’s traceless passing, there is nothing I can do. --------------Levy All around my house flowers are gaily blooming; yet though I look at them there is no lifting in my heart. Ah, my beloved— If she were here alive today, like ducks in the water we two would be side by side; and we would pick blossoms and show them to each other. But out locust-husk bodies are but borrowed flesh: it melts away and vanishes like dew or frost. To the foot-weary mountain paths she made her way, hid herself behind the hills. When I think of this my breast is fraught with pain, but I cannot speak, I cannot find a name for it. Since ours is a world that will leave no trace behind, there is nothing I can do. --------------Shirane 反歌 時はしも いつもあらむを 心痛く Man'yōshū い行く我妹か No matter when her time came she would have departed with pain in her heart my wife who left her infant behind. --------------Levy When there would be times more than enough for such a thing, why did my darling bring me this grief by her going, leaving our greenling behind? --------------Shirane みどり子を置きて It is a season that can come at any time. But still my heart aches for my wife, who went away leaving behind a young child. --------------Carter MYS III. 467 toki wa shi mo / itsumo aramu wo / kokoro itaku / iyuku wagimo ga / midoriko wo okite Ōtomo no Yakamochi Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 46 妹が見し やどに花咲き imo ga mishi / yado ni hana saki / toki wa henu / waga naku namida / imada hinaku ni MYS IXX. 4139 天平勝寶二年三月一日之 暮眺矚春苑桃李花作二首 春の園 紅にほふ The spring garden shimmers in crimson— peach blossoms shed their red glow over paths where young girls idle. --------------Watson 桃の花 下照る道に 出で立つ娘子 Man'yōshū 時は経ぬ 我が泣く涙 いまだ干なくに Flowers are in bloom in the garden that she knew, and time goes by; but still there has been no drying of the tears I shed for her. --------------Shirane My whole spring arbor radiates a crimson glow: blossoms of the peach shine down on the garden path where a maiden steps in view. --------------Shirane 出でて行く道知 MYS III. 469 In the garden she used to look upon the flowers have bloomed; time has passed, though the tears I weep have yet to dry. --------------Levy The spring garden is aglow with deep pink of peach blossoms: and below, in their soft light— a girl pausing on her way. --------------Carter らませば idete yuku / michi shiramaseba / arakajime / imo wo todomemu / seki mo okamashi Flowers are blooming in the courtyard she gazed upon— thus time wends its way. But still my eyes are not dry of the tears I have shed. --------------Carter あらかじめ If I had known the path by which she left this world, I would have placed a barrier there to hold her back. --------------Levy 妹を留めむ If I had but known the road my love would take away, before she cold have gone I would have put a barrier across to hold her back. --------------Shirane 関も置かましを Had I known the path that she is traveling now, I wold have gone ahead to put up a barrier-gate— and stopped her going away. --------------Carter MYS III. 468 haru no sono / kurenai niou / momo no hana / shitaderu michi ni / idetatsu otmoe Ōtomo no Yakamochi Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 47 吾が園の 李の花か 庭に散る Man'yōshū はだれのいまだ In my garden, are they petals of the damson, or the last of the light snow that fell in the courtyard? --------------Watson Are these damson petals from my arbor scattered in the garden— or perhaps patches of snow lingering still? --------------Collins 残りたるかも Is it the blossom of the damson in my arbor scattered in the yard, or a dusting of snowflakes that still lingers on the ground? --------------Shirane MYS IXX. 4140 wa ga sono no / sumomo no hana ka / niwa ni chiru / hadare no imada / noboritaru ka mo Ōtomo no Yakamochi
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