Read Online Anthology of Japanese Literature by Donald Keene - Free Book Online
Authors: Donald Keene
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Hito ni awamu
This night of no moon
Tsuki no naki yo wa
There is no way to meet him.
Omoiokite
I rise in longingâ
Mune hashiri hi ni
My breast pounds, a leaping flame,
Kokoro yabeori
My heart is consumed in fire.
Ono no Komachi
. .
Omoitsutsu
Thinking about him
Nureba ya hito no
I slept, only to have him
Mietsuramu
Appear before meâ
Yurne to shiriseba
Had I known it was a dream,
Samezaramashi wo
I should never have wakened.
Ono no Komachi
. .
Wabinureba
So lonely am I
Mi wo uhjgusa no
My body is a floating weed
Ne wo taete
Severed at the roots.
Sasou mizu araba
Were there water to entice me,
Inamu to zo omou
I would follow it, I think.
Ono no Komachi
. .
Yume ni da mo
Not even in dreams
Miyu to wa mieji
Can I meet him any moreâ
Asa na asa na
My glass each morning
Wa ga omokage ni
Reveals a face so wasted
Hazuru mi nareba
I turn away in shame.
Ise 2
. .
Fuyugare no
If I consider
Nobe to waga mi wo
My body like the fields
Omoiseba
Withered by winter,
Moede mo haru wo
Can I hope, though I am burnt,
Matashimono wo
That spring will come again? 3
Ise
. .
Wa ga yado wa
The weeds grow so thick
Michi mo naki made
You cannot even see the path
Arenikeri
That leads to my house:
Tsurenaki hito wo
It happened while I waited
Matsu to seshi ma ni
For someone who would not come.
S Å j Å Henj Å (815-890)
. .
Hisakata no
This perfectly still
Hikari nodokeki
Spring day bathed in the soft light
Haru no hi ni
From the spread-out sky,
Shizu kpkpro naku
Why do the cherry blossoms
Hana no chiruramu 4
So restlessly scatter down?
Ki no Tomonori
. .
Å zora wa
Are the vast heavens
Koishiki hito no
Some keepsake of her I love?
Katami ka wa
No, that is absurd.
Mono omou goto ni
What then makes me stare skyward
Nagameraruramu
Whenever I think of her?
Saldai no Hitozane (died 931)
. .
Tane shi areba
Because there was a seed
Iwa ni mo matsu wa
A pine has grown even here
Hainikeri
On these barren rocks:
Koi wo shi koiba
If we really love our love
Awarazarame ya wa
What can keep us from meeting?
Anonymous
. .
Kome ya to
Although I am sure
Omou mono bara
That he will not be coming,
Higurashi no
In the evening light
Naku y Å« gure wa
When the locusts shrilly call
Tachimataretsutsu
I go to the door and wait.
Anonymous
. .
Y Å« gure wa
At the sunset hour
Kumo no hatate ni
The clouds are ranged like banners
Mono zo omou
And I think of things:
Amatsu sora naru
That is what it means to love
Hito wo kou to te
One who lives beyond my world. 5
Anonymous
. .
Hana no iro wa
The flowers withered,
Utsurinikeri na
Their color faded away,
Itazura ni
While meaninglessly
Wa ga mi yo ni furu
I spent my days in the world
Nagame seshi ma ni
And the long rains were falling.
Ono no Komachi
TRANSLATED BY DONALD KEENE
Footnotes
1 A famous poetess and subject of the N Å play " Sotoba Komachi" which appears on page 364.
2 Poetess and consort of the Emperor Uda.
3 The fields were burnt before the new crop was planted.
4 Note how the use of words beginning in h intensifics the meaning of the poem.
5 Meaning either a person in a distant place beyond the clouds, or someone in a hopelessly superior social position.
THE TOSA DIARY
[ Tosa Nikki ] by Ki no Tsurayuki
The "Tosa Diary," describing the return to Kyoto of a governor of Tosa Province, was probably written in the year 936, from notes taken on the voyage. Although the fiction is maintained throughout that the diary is being written by one of the ladies in the party, it is reasonably certain that the author is the governor himself, the celebrated poet Ki no Tsurayuki.
Tosa Province is the ancient name for the present K Å chi Prefecture, in the south of Shikoku Island.
Diaries are things written by men, I am told. Nevertheless I am writing one, to see what a woman can do.
Twenty-first day, twelfth moon (the year does not matter): Late at night we made our departure from the house. But I must set things down in a little more detail. A certain gentleman, after four or five years
Hito ni awamu
This night of no moon
Tsuki no naki yo wa
There is no way to meet him.
Omoiokite
I rise in longingâ
Mune hashiri hi ni
My breast pounds, a leaping flame,
Kokoro yabeori
My heart is consumed in fire.
Ono no Komachi
. .
Omoitsutsu
Thinking about him
Nureba ya hito no
I slept, only to have him
Mietsuramu
Appear before meâ
Yurne to shiriseba
Had I known it was a dream,
Samezaramashi wo
I should never have wakened.
Ono no Komachi
. .
Wabinureba
So lonely am I
Mi wo uhjgusa no
My body is a floating weed
Ne wo taete
Severed at the roots.
Sasou mizu araba
Were there water to entice me,
Inamu to zo omou
I would follow it, I think.
Ono no Komachi
. .
Yume ni da mo
Not even in dreams
Miyu to wa mieji
Can I meet him any moreâ
Asa na asa na
My glass each morning
Wa ga omokage ni
Reveals a face so wasted
Hazuru mi nareba
I turn away in shame.
Ise 2
. .
Fuyugare no
If I consider
Nobe to waga mi wo
My body like the fields
Omoiseba
Withered by winter,
Moede mo haru wo
Can I hope, though I am burnt,
Matashimono wo
That spring will come again? 3
Ise
. .
Wa ga yado wa
The weeds grow so thick
Michi mo naki made
You cannot even see the path
Arenikeri
That leads to my house:
Tsurenaki hito wo
It happened while I waited
Matsu to seshi ma ni
For someone who would not come.
S Å j Å Henj Å (815-890)
. .
Hisakata no
This perfectly still
Hikari nodokeki
Spring day bathed in the soft light
Haru no hi ni
From the spread-out sky,
Shizu kpkpro naku
Why do the cherry blossoms
Hana no chiruramu 4
So restlessly scatter down?
Ki no Tomonori
. .
Å zora wa
Are the vast heavens
Koishiki hito no
Some keepsake of her I love?
Katami ka wa
No, that is absurd.
Mono omou goto ni
What then makes me stare skyward
Nagameraruramu
Whenever I think of her?
Saldai no Hitozane (died 931)
. .
Tane shi areba
Because there was a seed
Iwa ni mo matsu wa
A pine has grown even here
Hainikeri
On these barren rocks:
Koi wo shi koiba
If we really love our love
Awarazarame ya wa
What can keep us from meeting?
Anonymous
. .
Kome ya to
Although I am sure
Omou mono bara
That he will not be coming,
Higurashi no
In the evening light
Naku y Å« gure wa
When the locusts shrilly call
Tachimataretsutsu
I go to the door and wait.
Anonymous
. .
Y Å« gure wa
At the sunset hour
Kumo no hatate ni
The clouds are ranged like banners
Mono zo omou
And I think of things:
Amatsu sora naru
That is what it means to love
Hito wo kou to te
One who lives beyond my world. 5
Anonymous
. .
Hana no iro wa
The flowers withered,
Utsurinikeri na
Their color faded away,
Itazura ni
While meaninglessly
Wa ga mi yo ni furu
I spent my days in the world
Nagame seshi ma ni
And the long rains were falling.
Ono no Komachi
TRANSLATED BY DONALD KEENE
Footnotes
1 A famous poetess and subject of the N Å play " Sotoba Komachi" which appears on page 364.
2 Poetess and consort of the Emperor Uda.
3 The fields were burnt before the new crop was planted.
4 Note how the use of words beginning in h intensifics the meaning of the poem.
5 Meaning either a person in a distant place beyond the clouds, or someone in a hopelessly superior social position.
THE TOSA DIARY
[ Tosa Nikki ] by Ki no Tsurayuki
The "Tosa Diary," describing the return to Kyoto of a governor of Tosa Province, was probably written in the year 936, from notes taken on the voyage. Although the fiction is maintained throughout that the diary is being written by one of the ladies in the party, it is reasonably certain that the author is the governor himself, the celebrated poet Ki no Tsurayuki.
Tosa Province is the ancient name for the present K Å chi Prefecture, in the south of Shikoku Island.
Diaries are things written by men, I am told. Nevertheless I am writing one, to see what a woman can do.
Twenty-first day, twelfth moon (the year does not matter): Late at night we made our departure from the house. But I must set things down in a little more detail. A certain gentleman, after four or five years
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