Nashi no hana
tsuki ni fumi yomu
onn ari
|
Blossoms on the pear;
and a woman in the moonlight
reads a letter there …
|
Sakura chiru
nawashiro-mizu ya
hoshi-zukiyo
|
Scattered petals lie
on the rice-seedling waters:
stars in the moonlit sky.
|
Harusame ni
nuretsutsu yane no
temari kana
|
As the spring rains fall,
soaking in them, on the roof,
is a child’s rag ball.
|
Harusame ya
dōsha no kimi no
sasamegoto
|
Ah, the rains of spring!
Dear lady driving with me here,
your whispering!
|
Harusame ya
kawazu no hara no
mada nurezu
|
Spring rain: and as yet
the little froglets’ bellies
haven’t got wet.
|
Mijika yo ya
asase ni nokoru
tsuki ippen
|
Night that ends so soon:
in the shallows still remains
one sliver of the moon.
|
Mi ni shimu ya
bōsai no kushi
neya ni fumu
|
What piercing cold I feel:
my dead wife’s comb, in our bedroom,
under my heel….
|
| Medieval scene
|
Toba dono e
go-rokki isogu
nowaki kana
|
To great Toba’s Hall
five or six horsemen hasten:
a storm wind of the fall.
|
