Hyaku Nin Isshu in English
For other English-language translations of this work, see Hyakunin Isshū.
Hyaku Nin Isshu in English
Translated by Yone Noguchi.
1My clothes wet with the midnight dews—Through the roof mat,In this temporal hut,For our harvest. Tenchi Tenno.2Has Spring passed away?Did Summer already come?Lo, Kagu Yama! Therethe white gowns are seen being dried. Jito Tenno.3What a long night!How could I sleep alone!How the night drags!—(DraggingAs a mountain fowl’s long-dropped tail!) Kakinomoto no Hitomaro.4From Tago Ura,I behold Fuji’s white summit,—Over the high summit,The snow falling and falling on. Yamabe no Akahito.5How sad is Autumn,When you hear the deer’s cry.With his hoofs upon the maple leaves,Amid the deeper hill! Sarumaru Dayu.
6Must be done the night:Over the Kasasagi bridge in the sky,The frost white, I see,Is set already. Chunagon Yakamochi.7Behold the heavenly vastness,The sky of the moon!Is it not the same moon I once saw,Out of Kasuga’s Mikasa hill? Abe no Nakamaro.8My hut is southward of the city,Here like this I live alone:Why, people call here Ujiyama.(The “World-sad Hill”)! Kisen Hoshi.9The flowers and my love,Passed away under the rain,While I idly looked upon them:Where is my yester-love? Ono no Komachi.10Here some depart, here some return,Once they part, and they meet here again,—The people who know and who know not:’Tis Ausaka Gate (the “Meeting Height Gate”). Semimaru.
11O thou, fisher’s boat,Tell men that I sailed.Away into the eighty isles,Into the bluest field,—the sea! Sangi Takamura.12O heavenly wind,Blow and stop the road of clouds!Let the beauties, nay, the angels,For a while be with us! Sosho Henjo.13From the Tsukuba summit,Mina no Kawa drops down,And the waters gathered make the depth!Oh so is love. Yozeiin.14Why does thy heart so stir,Mojizuri of Michinoku’s Shinobu loom?Whom my heart does stir to?Alas, nobody but my love! Kawara no Sadaijin.15For thy sake,I come out in the Spring field,And the wakana I gather,—Lo, the snow-flakes falling on my gown. Kwoko Tenno.
16Now we part. The pine-tree grows.There on the Inaba mountain top.If thou shouldst say “pine”[1]I to you will soon return. Chunagon Yukihira.17I did not hear even in the gods’ age,—Behold Tatsuda Gawa!—The waters were reddened soBy the autumn leaves. Ariwara no Narihira.18I think of thee,I go along the road of dream to meet thee,How I fear people’s curious eyes!(Oh my love riding on the waves of dream!) Fujiwara no Toshiyuki Ason.19Must I pass the days and world.Not seeing thee,Even for a short time,—shortlike the ashi joints of the Naniwa shore? Ise.20Now it will be same whatever it be.Oh what a misery!I might think to see thee once moreEven for my own life. Motoyoshi Shinno.
21Now I have to waitOnly for the Naga Tsuki morning moon[2] to appear,But thy word of promiseTo come and see me soon! Sosei Hoshi.22Under the wind-blow,The Autumn grasses and trees wither away.Is it not right to callA yama kaze[3] “storm”? Bunya no Yasuhide.23To gaze upon the moonIs to be sad in a thousand ways,Though all the AutumnIs not meant to be my own self’s. Oye no Chizato.24A nusa I could not bring with me this time,Oh god, but the brocade of maple leavesOf the Tamuke mountainWill serve for thy will. Kanke.25Is there no way to come[4] as secretAs the trace of a sanekatsura vineOf the Osaka mountain?(Oh, reel[5] of the vine!) Sanjo no Udaijin.
26The maple leaves on the Ogura mountain top,If they knew, would waitFor the Emperor’s miyuki trainTo pass once more. Teishinko.27Like the Izumi streamBoiling down through the Mika plain,Oh, my heart!When did I see her to love so! Chunagon Kanesuke.28The mountain village in WinterWill be lonelier. Oh, to thinkThat every human face and grassAre to die away from me! Minamoto mo Muneyuki Ason.29How shall I pluckThe white chrysanthemum? ’Tis hardTo choose one from thoseWith the earliest frost thickly set. Ochikochi no Mitsune.30There’s nothing more hardThan an early morning parting.Oh, how heartlessThe morning moon[6] does appear! Mibu no Tadamine.
31I thought that it might beThe shadow of the morning moon,[7]But the white snows fallOn the yoshino village. Sakanouye no Korenori.32The hurdle that the wind builtOver the mountain riverIs nothing but the maple leavesNot run down. Harumichi no Tsuraki.33’Tis the Spring dayWith lovely far-away light.Why the flowers must fallWith hearts unquiet? Ki no Tomonori.34Who shall I make my friend?Even the Takasago pine-treeCould not remainAs an old friend of mine. Fujiwara no Okikaze.35I know now what one thinksOf me. But at the homeThe flowers are perfumedIn fragrance old and same. Ki no Tsurayuki.
36The Summer night will breakWhen the evening scarcely passed,What cloud will the moonTake as her lodging place? Kiyowara no Fukayabu.37Over the Autumn fieldOf white dews, in gust,Lo, the stringless pearlsAre scattered away. Bunya no Asayasu.38I do not mind of myselfTo be forgotten by him,But for his own life’s sakeI have to grieve. Ukon.38’Tis too much to keep secret. (Oh I wouldMy heart were unrevealed like thatOf grass-grown One’s bamboo bush!)Why do I love her so? Sangi Hitoshi.40Alas, my face betrayedThe secret of my love.All men ask me whyI am so sad. Taira no Kanemori.
41That I love theeIs known already. Ah, me!I had been thinking thatNo one would know it. Mibu no Tadami.42Didst not thou promise me,With sleeves full of parting tears, thy heartWould be safe like Suyeno MatsuyamaWhere no billow comes? Kiyowara no Motosuke.43Oh, to think the sad heart of mineAfter meeting with thee!No sorrow I hadIn the olden time. Gonchunagon Atsutada.44Oh, if there were no meetingAnd loving! I should haveNothing to resent,Nothing of myself and others. Chunagon Asatada.45There’s no one to sayEven a word of pity on me.Oh my lover lost!What a misery of my life! Kentokuko.
46The boatman of the Yura straitLost his rudder, and knows notHow to cross!Oh the way of love! Sone no Yoshitada.47My hut with YaemuguraThickly grown is sad:Here nobody will be seen,But Autumn has come. Yekei Hoshi.48A crushed wave I amAgainst the rock, in storm:Oh, these days!What a lonely thought of mine! Minamoto no Shigeyuki.49Through the night the Mikakimori guardsBurn the fire: Oh, my heart!But the fire will die in day:Oh, my dying thought! Onakatomi Yoshinobu Ason.50For thee, I thought,I would not mind about my life:But I pray now to beGiven the longest life. Fujiwara no Yoshitaka.
51How could I tell theeMy burning heart?(Ah, my heart burning as underAn Ibuki Moxa’s sting!). Fujiwara no Sanekata Ason.52Day will be followed byThe darkness of night when I shall meet thee,And yet I do hateThe breaking of dawn. Fujiwara no Michinobu Ason.53What a long timeTo the dawnWhen I weep through the night,And sleep alone! Mother of Udaisho Michitsuna.54To vow for the future longWith faith and unforgetfulness would beToo hard. Oh, I pray,To-day, to have my life done! Mother of Gido Sanshi.55’Tis long time now since.The waterfall ceased its voice,But the fame does run,And is to be heard still. Dainagon Kinto.
56Who knows when I shall die!Oh, for pity’s sake,I pray to see theeOnce more! Izumi Shikibu.57I met him by chance,And I parted from him ere I could tellWho he was. Alas, passed in the cloudThe midnight moon! Murasaki Shikibu.58(The wind may blowFrom Arima Hill and Inano bamboo bush.)Ah, passing wind of thy love!But how could one forget thee! Daini no Sanmi.59I should not wait for him,But go to sleep. Alas, I have been gazingUpon the moon in deep nightTill she begins to fall. Akazome Yemon.60’Tis far away to Ohoye mountain,And to Ikuno plain. I have never steppedIn Ama no Hashidate yet.(Alas, no letter I have seen!) Koshikibu no Naishi.
61’Tis the eight-holded cherry blossomOf Nara capital of yore:To-day in this nine-folded palaceIt will shed its perfume. Ise no Osuke.62Thou might’st try to cheat me,With the false voice of a bird,But the Ausaka gateShall not allow thee in. Seisho Nagon.63Alas, there’s no wayBut to ask one to tell theeThat we will tryTo forget. Sakyo no Tayu Nichimasa.64From amid the Uji river the mists fadeAt early morn,The fisher’s net stakes beginTo appear, here and there. Gonchunagon Sadayori.65From my resentment, in tearsMy sleeves are drenched.What a shame to ruin my nameIn such an empty love! Sagami.
66Be sad with me,Oh, mountain cherry blossom!I have no oneKnows my heart but thee. Saki no Daisojo Gyoson.67For a short while,—shortLike a Spring night dream, in takingThy arm for my pillow, what a shameTo have a bad rumor rise! Suwo no Naishi.68In spite of myself, I amLingering in this world:Ah, what longingFor the midnight moon! Sanjo no In.69The Mimuro Mountain maple leavesIn blowing storm,Weave the blockadeFor the Tatsuda stream. Noin Hoshi.70From loneliness I wanderOut of my own home:Lo, ’tis the same everywhereThis Autumn eve! Ryosen Hoshi.
71At eve,By the ashi grass hut,The Autumn gusts pass, calling onThe gate-side rice plant leaves. Dainagon Tsunenobu.72’Tis known to the world,Ah me, the fickle wavesOf the Takashi strand do drenchOne’s sleeves with spray. Yushi Naishinnoke Kii.73On Takasago MountainThe cherry trees are blossoming:The mists from the other hillsShall not rise, I pray. Saki no Chunagon Masafusa.74Oh, did I prayThe Hatsuse mountain blast,Nay, his heartlessness, to be furious?Nay, I did not! Minamoto no Toshiyori Ason.75The sasemo’s life is a dew.Ah me! Where’s thy promise?Autumn of this yearIs passing away. Fujiwara no Mototoshi.
76Over the expanse of seaI row. Behold the far-away sky,Nay, the billows whiteIn the distance! Hoshoji Nyudo Sakino-kanpaku Dajodaijin.77Like a hurrying, rock-hurling mountain streamI wish to be: its double torrentsWill meet in the end.Oh the way of love! Shutokuin.78By the cry of the ploversThat frequent Awazi Isle,How many nights art thou awakened,Guard of the Suma gate? Minamoto no Kanemasa.79From the rifts of the cloudsDrifting abroad in the Autumn wind,What a clear shadowOf the peeping moon! Sakyo no Tayu Akisuko.80My heart, I pray,To last long. Ah, this tangleof the black tresses of mine!Ah, my anxiety of this morn! Taiken Monin Horikawa.
81BeholdThe sky where the cuckoo sung!There remainsOnly the morning moon. Gotoku Daiji Sadaijin.82And I have my life stillUnder wretchedness of thought,But my own tears aloneUnder sadness cannot stand. Doin Hoshi.83Alas, ’tis the world;There’s no way to follow,Even into the deep of a hillThe deer’s cry I hear. Kotai Kogu no Tayu Toshinari.84Were I to linger longer in life,The present days would grow dear again:Oh, now I long forThe days I deemed sad in past. Fujiwara no Kiyosuke Ason.85All the night long I thoughtIt will never dawn:Even the chink of my chamber doorIs heartless to me, not inviting the morn. Junei Hoshi.
86The moon has nothing to makeMe think and cry,But, alas, my own tears aloneDo lament and fall. Saigyo Hoshi.87The dews of the passing showerAre not yet dried.Lo, the mist rising upToward the maki leaves, this Autumn eve! Jakuren Hoshi.88’Twas a short one night loveAt the Niniwa shore. (Short ’twasLike a joint of the shore reed.)Why do I long, exhausting me so? Koka Monin no Betto.89Oh, thread of my life,Be torn off now if it must!I fear in longer lifeMy secret would be hard to keep. Shikishi Naishiuno.90I might show theeHow the Oshima island fishers’ sleevesNever change their tints, though wet through.But, alas, tearful sleeves of mine! Inpuku Monin no Osuke.
91List, the crickets sing!Upon the mat of the frost night,I, my raiment not yet unbound.Have to sleep alone. Gokyogoku Sessho SakinoDajodaijin.92My sleeves are likeThe wide sea rocks unseenEven at the lowest tide. Nobody would knowThat their tears never dry. Nijonoin Sanuki.93Let my life be so!Oh, to be carried away by the sightOf a fisherman’s yawl at the shore,And by his hauling of the net. Kamakura no Udaijin.94Down Miyoshino the Autumn wind blows,The night is deep;The beating sound of clothFrom my mountain home is cold. Sangi Masatsune.95Ah, to save the sad world,Dare I attempt!At this Wagatatsu Soma,See my black-robed sleeves! Sakino Daisoko Jiyen.
96’Tis not the stormy snowLuring the garden flower,But what is falling fastIs nothing but my own self. Nyudo Sakino Dajodaijin.97Ah, my heart piningLike fire heats the salt waterIn the evening calm of Matsuho shore!Wouldn’t my love come? Gonchunagon Sadaiye.98The evening breeze blowsOn the nara tree stream. To seeThe Misogi feast might be the signOf Summer not yet gone. Junii Iyetaka.99I prize him,I resent him too,I deem this world miserable.What wandering thought of mine? Gotoba no In.100Alas, the palace!See the Shinobu vineOn the olden eaves! Oh, what longingFor the by-gone days! Juntokuin.
- ↑ Matsu in Japanese, meaning “wait.”
- ↑ Ariake in original.
- ↑ “Yama kaze” is mountain and wind, which two characters made one “storm” (arashi).
- ↑ “To come” is kuru in Japanese, “reel” also being kuru. Such a jugglery of words is one phase of our Japanese tanka.
- ↑ Hinting “sleep.”
- ↑ Ariake in Original.
- ↑ Ariake in Original.
This work is a translation and has a separate copyright status to the applicable copyright protections of the original content.
| Original: |
This work was published before January 1, 1930, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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| Translation: |
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1930. The longest-living author of this work died in 1947, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 77 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
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