Tabi ni yande
yume wa kareno wo
kakemeguru
|
On a journey, ill—
and my dreams, on withered fields
are wandering still.
|
- · ·
Yado no haru
nanimo naki koso
nanimo are
|
My hut, in spring:
true, there is nothing in it—
there is Everything!
|
Yamaguchi Sodō (1642–1716)
- · ·
Kojiki kana
Tenchi wo kitaru
natsugoromo
|
There a beggar goes!
Heaven and Earth he’s wearing
for his summer clothes!
|
Neko ni kuwareshi wo
semi no tsuma wa
sudakuran
|
Eaten by the cat!
Perhaps the cricket’s widow
is bewailing that.
|
Meigetsu ya
tatami no ue ni
matsu no kage
|
Bright the full moon shines:
here upon the matted floor,
shadows of the pines.
|
Enomoto Kikaku (1661–1707)
- · ·
No mo yama mo
yuki ni torareta
nami mo nashi
|
Mountains and plains,
all are taken by the snow—
nothing remains.
|
Naitō Jōsō (1661–1704)
Translated by Harold G. Henderson