Nami no hana ni
Tomari kanétaru,
Kochō kana!
[Having found it difficult indeed to perch upon the (foam-) blossoms of the waves,—alas for the butterfly!]
Mutsumashi ya!—
Umaré-kawaraba
Nobé no chō.[1]
[If (in our next existence) we be born into the state of butterflies upon the moor, then perchance we may be happy together!]
Nadéshiko ni
Chōchō shiroshi—
Taré no kon?[2]
[On the pink-flower there is a white butterfly: whose spirit, I wonder?]
Ichi-nichi no
Tsuma to miëkéri—
Chō futatsu.
[The one-day wife has at last appeared—a pair of butterflies!]
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