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万 葉集 - Wadai English
まんようしゅう 万葉集 Man'yōshū: Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves ゆうりゃくてんのう 雄 略 天 皇 Emperor Y ūryaku komo yo / mikomochi / fukushimo yo / mibukushi mochi / kono oka ni / natsumasu ko / ie kikana / nanorasa ne / sora mitsu / Yamato no kuni wa / ware koso ore / shikinabete / ware koso imase / ware kosoba / norame / ie wo mo na wo mo With a basket, A pretty basket, And a trowel, A pretty trowel in hand, Here on this hillside Gathering herbs: young one, I would hear your home— Come, tell me your name! In the sky-seen Land of Yamato Over the bending earth It is I who reign, Over the yielding realm It is I who rule: I, you may be sure, Shall tell you My home and my name. --------------Cranston 天皇御製歌 籠もよ み籠持ち ふくしもよ みぶくし持ち この岡に 菜摘ます児 家聞かな 名告らさね そらみつ 大和国は おしなべて 我こそ居れ しきなべて Your basket, with your pretty basket Your trowel, with your little trowel, Maiden picking herbs on this hill— I would ask you: where is your home? Will you not tell me your name? Over the spacious land of Yamato It is I who reign so wide and far, It is I who rule so wide and far. I myself, as your lord, will tell you Of my home and my name. --------------Keene 我こそいませ 我こそは Girl with your basket, with your pretty basket, with your shovel, with your pretty shovel, gathering shoots on the hillside there, I want to ask your home. Tell me your name! This land of Yamato, seen by the gods on high— it is all my realm, in all of it I am supreme. I will tell you my home and my name. --------------Levy 告らめ 家をも名をも O maiden with a basket a pretty basket with a scoop a pretty scoop maiden picking greens on this hillside: I want to ask about your house; I want to be told your name. In the sky-filling land of Yamato, it is I who rule everyone, it is I who rule everywhere, and so I think you will tell me where you live, what you are called. --------------Carter MYS I.1 Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 10 じょめいてんのう 舒明天皇 Emperor Jomei MYS I.2 天皇登香具山望国之時御 製歌 大和国には 群山あれど とりよろふ 天の香具山 In Yamato There are crowds of mountains, But our rampart Is Heavenly Mount Kagu: When I climb it And look out across the land, Over the land-plain Smoke rises and rises; Over the sea-plain Seagulls rise and rise. A fair land it is, Dragonfly Island, The land of Yamato. --------------Cranston 登り立ち 国見をすれば 国原は 煙立ち立つ Many are the hills, the mountains of Yamato, yet when I ascend heavenly Kaguyama, the peerless mountain, when I look down on the land: where the land stretches, hearth smoke rises everywhere; where the water stretches, water birds fly everywhere. Ah, a splendid country, this land of Yamato of bounteous harvests! --------------Carter 海原は かもめ立ち立つ うまし国そ あきづき島 大和の国は Yamato ni wa / murayama aredo / toriyorou / Ame no Kaguyama / noboritachi / kunimi wo sureba / kunihara wa / keburi tachitatsu / unahara wa / kamame tachitatsu / umashi kuni zo / Akizushima / Yamato no kuni wa Countless are the mountains in Yamato, but perfect is the heavenly hill of Kagu: When I climb it and survey my realm, Over the wide plain, the smoke wreaths rise and rise, over the wide sea the gulls are on the wing; a beautiful land it is, Akitsushima, the land of Yamato --------------Keene Many are the mountains of Yamato, but I climb heavenly Kagu Hill that is cloaked in foliage, and stand on the summit to view the land. On the plain of the land, smoke from the hearths rises, rises. On the plain of the waters, gulls rise one after another. A splendid land is the dragonfly island, the land of Yamato. --------------Levy 万葉集 Man'yōshū: Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 11 ぬかだのおおきみ 額 田 王 Princess Nukada MYS I.8 額田王歌 熱田津に 船乗りせむと 月待てば 潮もかなひぬ 今は漕ぎ出でな Nikitatsu ni / funanori semu to / tsuki mateba / shio mo kanainu / ima wa kogiide na At Nigitazu We have waited for the moon To board and leave. At last the tide favors us— Now let us row out our boats! --------------Keene Waiting to board ship in Nikita Harbor, we have waited for the moon, and now the tides too are right— let us cast off ! --------------Levy Waiting upon the moon, at Nigitatsu, that we might board our boats— the tides, too, are right, now let us strike the oars! --------------Collins At Nikitatsu We have waited for the moon Before boarding our boat; Now the tide is in at last— Come, let’s get to rowing! --------------Cranston MYS I.16 天皇詔内大臣藤原朝臣競春山万 花之艶秋山千葉之彩時額田王以 歌判之歌 冬ごもり 春さり来れば 鳴かざりし 鳥も来鳴きぬ 咲かざりし 花も咲けれど 山を茂み 入りても取らず 草深み 取りても見ず 秋山の 木の葉を見ては 黄葉をば 取りてそしのふ 青きをば 置きてそ嘆く そこし恨めし 秋山われは fuyugomori / haru sakikureba / nakazarishi / tori mo kinakinu / sakazarishi / hana mo sakeredo / yama wo shimi / iritemo torazu / kusabukami / toritemo mizu / akiyama no / ko no ha wo mite wa / momiji woba / torite so shinou / aoki woba / okite so nageku / soko shi urameshi / akiyama ware wa [akiyama so are wa] 万葉集 Man'yōshū: Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 12 When spring comes, breaking winter’s bonds, birds that were still come out crying and flowers that lay unopening split into blossoms. But the hillsides being overgrown, I may go among the foliage yet cannot pick those flowers. The grass being rank, I may pick yet not examine them. Looking at the leaves of the trees on the autumn hillsides, I pick the yellowed ones and admire them, leaving the green ones there with a sigh. That is my regret. But the autumn hills are for me. --------------Levy When, loosened from winter’s bonds, The spring appears, The birds that were silent Come out and sing, The flowers that were prisoned Come out and bloom; But the hills are so rank with trees We cannot seek the flowers, And the flowers are so tangled with weeds We cannot take them in our hands. But when on the autumn hill-side We see foliage, We prize the yellow leaves, Taking them in our hands, We sigh over the green ones, Leaving them on the branches; And that is my only regret— For me, the autumn hills! --------------Keene 万葉集 When spring comes forth That lay in hiding all the winter through, The birds that did not sing Come back and sing to us once more; The flowers that did not bloom Have blossomed everywhere again. Yet so rife the hills We cannot make our way to pick, And so deep the grass We cannot pluck the flowers to see. But when on autumn hills We gaze upon the leaves of the trees, It is the yellow ones We pluck and marvel for sheer joy, And the ones still green, Sighing, leave upon the boughs— Those are the ones I hate to loose. For me, it is the autumn hills. --------------Cranston When springtime arrives, breaking free of winter’s bonds, birds that had been still come singing their melodies; flowers that had not bloomed burst out into blossom; yet the hills are too lush: we cannot enter and pick; the growth is too dense: we cannot pick and behold. When we gaze upon foliage in autumn hills, we can pick the leaves, red and yellow, to admire. As for the green ones— lamenting, we let them stay. Green leaves must be regretted, but I choose the autumn hills! --------------Carter Man'yōshū: Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 13 MYS I.20 天皇蒲生野遊猟時 額田王作歌 あかねさす 紫野行き 野行き 野守りは見ずや 君が袖振る akane sasu / murasakino yuki / shimeno yuki / nomori wa mizu ya / kimi ga sode furu On your way to the fields Of crimson-tinted lavender, The royal preserve, Will not the guardian notice If you wave your sleeve at me? --------------Keene Into the glowing lavender meadow we go into the cordoned field; Will not the guardian see If you wave your sleeve at me? --------------Collins The madder-shining Purple fields he goes around, The staked fields around: Won’t the guardian of the fields See you wave your sleeve, my lord? --------------Cranston Going this way on the crimsongleaming fields of murasaki grass, going that way on the fields of imperial domain— won’t the guardian of the field see you wave your sleeve at me? --------------Levy てんむてんのう 天武天皇 Emperor Temmu (Prince Ōama) MYS I.21 皇太子答御歌 紫の にほへる妹を 憎くあらば 人妻ゆゑに 我恋ひめやも murasaki no / nioeru imo wo / nikuku araba / hitozuma yue ni / are koime ya If I despised you, who are beautiful as the violet, from the murasaki grass, would I long for you though you are another man’s wife? --------------Levy Like the purple root, Glowing is my comely love: Felt I some fault in her Would I for another’s wife Subject myself to this yearning? --------------Cranston If I had cruel thoughts About you, radiant as Lavender blossoms, Would I have fallen in love With you, another man’s wife? --------------Keene 万葉集 Man'yōshū: Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 14 おほつのみこ 大津皇子 Prince Ōtsu MYS III.416 大津皇子被死之時磐 余池陂流涕御作歌 ももづたふ 磐余の池に 鳴く鴨を 今日のみ見てや 雲隠りなむ momodzutau / Iware no ike ni / naku kamo wo / kyō nomi mite ya / kumogakurinamu The duck that cries in Iware Pond where the vines crawl on the rocks: will I see it just today, and tomorrow be hidden in the clouds? --------------Levy On Iware Pond (Fifty of a hundredfold) The mallards cry; Shall I see them only today And vanish into the clouds? --------------Cranston At ever-growing Boulder Pond, will I see the crying mallards just this day, only to disappear in the clouds? --------------Collins おほくのひめみこ 大伯皇女 Princess Ōku MYS II.165 移葬大津皇子屍於葛 城二上山之時大来皇 女哀傷御作二首 うつそみの 人なる我や 明日よりは 二上山を 弟と我が見む utsusomi no / hito naru ware ya / asu yori wa / Futagamiyama wo / irose to a ga mimu I who stay among the living shall, from tomorrow, look on Futakami Mountain as you, my brother --------------Levy 万葉集 I, who belong To the race of mortal man— From tomorrow Shall I look on Futagami, A mountain, as my brother? --------------Cranston Man'yōshū: Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 15 ありまのみこ 有間皇子 Prince Arima MYS II.141 有間皇子自傷結 松枝歌二首 磐代の 浜松が枝を 引き結び 真幸くあらば また還り見む Iwashiro no / hamamatsu ga e wo / hikimusubi / masakiku areba / mata kaerimimu I draw and tie together branches of the pine on the beach at Iwashiro If all goes well I shall return to see them again. --------------Levy I pull the branches Of the pine of Iwashiro Beach and bind them together; I shall pass this way again And see them, if all goes well. --------------Cranston At Iwashiro, I draw together and bind branches of the pine; if all goes well, I will return to see them again. --------------Collins MYS I.142 家にあれば 笥に盛る飯を 草枕 旅にしあれば 椎の葉に盛る ie ni areba / ke ni moru ii wo / kusamakura / tabi nishi areba / shii no ha ni moru The rice I would heap into a vessel if I were home— since I journey, grass for pillow, I heap into an oak leaf. --------------Levy 万葉集 When I am at home I eat rice heaped in a dish, But since I am away On a journey, grass for pillow, I heap it on leaves of oak. --------------Cranston At home I pile rice in a bowl; but now on a grass-pillow journey, I pile it on pasania leaves --------------Watson Man'yōshū: Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 16 柿本人麻呂 Kakinomoto no Hitomaro MYS I.29 過近江荒都時柿本朝臣人麻呂作歌 玉襷 畝火の山 橿原の 日知りの 御代ゆ 生れましし 神のことごと 樛の木の いやつぎつぎに 天の下 知らしめししを 天にみつ 大和を 置きて あおによし 奈良山を越え いかさまに 思ほしめせか 天離る 鄙にはあれど 岩走る 淡海の国の 楽波の 大津の宮に 天の下 知ら しめしけむ 天皇の 神の尊の 大宮は 此処と聞けども 大殿は 此処と言へども 春草の 繁く生ひ たる 霞立ち 春日の霧れる ももしきの 大宮処 見れば悲しも amatasuki / Unebi no yama no / Kashihara no / hijiri no miyo yu / aremashishi / kami no kotogoto / tsuga no ki no / iya tsugitsugi ni / ame no shita / shirashimeshishi wo / sora ni mitsu / Yamato wo okite / aoniyoshi / Nara yama wo koe / ikasama ni / omōshimese ka / amazakaru / hina ni wa aredo / iwabashiru / Ōmi no kuni no / sasanami no / Ōtsu no miya ni / ame no shita / shirashimeshikemu / sumeroki no / kami no mikoto no / ōmiya wa / koko to kikedomo / ōtono wa / koko to iedomo / haru kusa / no shigeku oitaru / kasumi tatsu / haru hi no kireru / momoshiki no / ōmiyadokoro / mireba kanashi mo From that hallowed age When the monarch Suzerain of the Sun Reigned at Kashihara By Unebi, called the Jewel-sash Mount, Each and every god Made manifest in the world of men One by one in evergreen Succession like a line of hemlock trees, Ruled under heaven All this realm with uncontested sway: Yet from sky-seen Yamato did one depart— Whatever may have been The secret of his sage intent— And passed across The slopes of blue-earth Nara Mountain To a land, remote Beyond the distant heaven, The land of Ōmi 万葉集 Where water dashes on the rocks, To the palace of Ōtsu In Sasanami of the gently lapping waves; And there, as it is said, He ruled this realm beneath the sky: That sovereign god, August ancestral deity— His great palace stood Upon this spot, as I have heard; Its mighty halls Rose here, so all men say; Where now spring grasses Choke the earth in their rife growth, And mists rise up To hide the dazzling springtime sun; Now I view this site Where once the mighty palace stood, And it is sad to see. --------------Cranston Man'yōshū: Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 17 Ever since the day of the August Emperor who made his abode at Kashihara where rises holy Mount Unebi, every sovereign born to us had exercised sway over all beneath the skies, each one in his turn, from the land of Yamato. But for a reason beyond our understanding, there was a ruler who left the sky-filling land crossed the mountains of Nara where the earth is rich, and exercised sway over all beneath the skies at Ōtsu Palace the place of rippling wavelets in Ōmi where the water breaks on the rocks, rural though it was, and distant as the heavens. But though we are told here rose the palace compound where dwelt the sovereign, the godlike Emperor, and though people say here soared the mighty halls, now haze veils the sky above luxuriant growths of springtime grasses, and the spring sun shines weak on the site where stood the great stone-built palace— the place I sorrow to see. --------------Carter MYS I.30 MYS I.31 ささなみの 志賀の 大わだ淀むとも They lie quietly, the shore waters at Shiga of rippling wavelets: but will they ever meet again those whom they knew in the past? --------------Carter 昔の人に またも逢はめやも 万葉集 ささなみの sasanami no / Shiga no Karasaki sakiku aredo / ōmiyabito no / fune machikanetsu Broad the waters stand By Shiga of the gently lapping waves: The lake is still; But how can it ever meet again The men of long ago? --------------Cranston 志賀の辛崎 幸くあれど It remains unchanged— Cape Karasaki in Shiga of the rippling wavelets— but it will await in vain the courtiers in their boats. --------------Carter 大宮人の 船待ちかねつ Still Cape Kara stands In Shiga of the gently lapping waves, Changeless from of old; But it will wait in vain to see The courtiers’ boats row back. --------------Cranston sasanami no / Shiga no / ōwada yodomutomo / mukashi no hito ni / mata mo awame yamo Man'yōshū: Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 18 MYS II.167 日並皇子尊殯宮之時柿本朝臣人麻呂作歌一首 并[ 短歌 天 ] をば 知 天地の 初めの時 ひさかたの 天の河原に 八百万 一 [ 云 さしのぼる 日女の命 千万神の 神集ひ 集ひいまして 神分り 分りし時に 天照らす 日女の命 らしめすと 葦原の 瑞穂の国を 天地の 寄り合ひの極 一 [ 神 ] 下し いませまつりし 高照らす み 知らしめす 神の命と 天雲の 八重かき別きて 云 天雲の八重雲別きて 我 ] が大 日の御子は 飛ぶ鳥の 清御原の宮に 神ながら 太敷き 一 [ 云 神登り いましにしかば まして すめろきの 敷きます国と 天の原 岩戸を開き 神上り 上りいましぬ 君 皇子の命の 天の下 知らしめしせば 春花の 貴く あらむと 望月の 満しけむと 天の下 食す国 四方の 人の 大船の 思ひ頼みて 天つ水 仰ぎて待つに いか さまに 思ほしめせか つれもなき 真弓の岡に 宮柱 太敷きいまし みあらかを 高知りまして 朝言に 御言 一[ 云 さす竹の 皇子の宮人 ゆくへ知らにす 問はさぬ 日月の 数多くなりぬれ そこ故に 皇子の宮 人 ゆくへ知らずも ] ] Ametsuchi no / hajime no toki / hisakata no / ama no kawahara ni / yoyorozu / chiyorozu kami no / kamu tsudoi / tsudoi imashite / kamu hakari / amaterasu / hirume no mikoto / ame wo ba / shirashimesu to / ashihara no / mizuho no kuni wo / ametsuchi no / yorai no kiwami / kami no mikoto to / amakumo no / yaekaki wakete / kamu kudashi / imasematsurishi / takaterasu / hi no miko wa / tobu tori no / Kiyomi no miya ni / kamu nagara / futoshikimashite / sumeroki no / shikimasu kuni to / ama no hara / iwato wo hiraki / kamu agari / agarimashinu / waga okimi / miko no mikoto to / ame no shita / shirashimeshiseba / haru no hana no / tōtokaramu to / mochizuki no / tatahashikemu to / ame no shita / yomo no hito / ōfune no / omoitanomite / ama tsu mizu / aogite matsu ni / ikasama ni / omoshimeseka / tsure mo naki / Mayumi no oka ni / miyabashira / futoshiki imashi / miaraka wo / takashirimashite / asakoto ni / mikoto tawasazu / hitsuki no / maneku narinure / sono yue ni / miko no miyabito / yukue shirazu 万葉集 Man'yōshū: Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 19 At the beginning Of the heaven and the earth In the riverbed Of the shining realm of heaven Eight hundred myriad, A thousand myriad of gods In godly assembly Assembled together, With godly counsel Took counsel together: The heaven-illumining August Goddess of the Sun Over heaven Should be the one to rule, And the Plain-of-Reeds Country of the Sweet Rice-Ears, To where heaven and earth Merge together at their bound Should for the august God who would rule over it Have him who brushed aside The eightfold clouds of heaven, Him who was sent down In godly descent to earth: Divine Child Of the High-Shining Sun, At his palace, Kiyomi of the Flying Bird, In all his godhead He established firm his reign; But he knew the land Was one for Sovereigns to reign in, And swinging open The rock door of heaven’s plain, In godly ascent He has ascended and is gone. If our great lord, His Highness our most noble Prince, Had come to rule This realm of all beneath the heaven, He would have been As flourishing as flowers in spring, He would have been As all-fulfilling as the round full moon, So under heaven The people of the four directions thought, As in a great ship Placing their trust in him, As for water from heaven Gazing upward, waiting: What was the nature Of the thought he pondered? Where he had no bond, On the hill of Mayumi. He planted firm The pillars ofhis palace halls, He raised on high The lofty halls of his divine abode. Morn after morn Has passed without command, Days and months pile up Many, without a word: All because of this The courtiers of the Prince now wait, Not knowing where to go. --------------Cranston In the beginning of heaven and earth, when eight million-ten million-gods assembled, as gods in assembly, and judged, as gods in judgment, it was decreed that Amaterasu, the maiden who illuminates the firmament, should reign over the heavens and that the child of the sun who shines on high should descend as a god, dividing the eight-fold clouds of heaven, to sit in brilliant rule over the nation of fertile rice plants among the reed fields to the time and place where heaven and earth unite. At Kiyomi Palace-of birds in flight-his highness, a very god, set sturdy pillars of his reign, until that time when the stone gates opened and he ascended as a god ascends to the plain of the heavens. Had his highness, Our Lord Prince, assumed his father's reign, he would have been as noble as the blossoms in spring; he would have shone as brightly as the full moon. From the four directions under heaven, men placed faith in him as in a great ship, and looked up to him as at rains from heaven. What was it that came over his thoughts? On distant Mayumi Hill he has set the sturdy pillars of his palace, and rules on high his eternal hall. Many have become the days and months since his morning commands were last heard. And for this reason the courtiers of the prince do not know in which direction to turn their footsteps. --------------Collins 万葉集 Man'yōshū: Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 20 MYS II.168 反歌二首 ひさかたの 天見るごとく 仰ぎ見し 皇子の御門の 荒れまく惜しも hisakata no / ame miru gotoku / aogimishi / miko no mikado no / awaremaku oshimo As if we looked To the shining realm of heaven, So we once gazed up At our lord our Prince’s gates, Whose ruin will be bitter with regret. --------------Cranston How regrettable that the palace of the prince-to whom I looked as at the eternal heavens should fall to ruins! --------------Collins That the palace of the Prince I held in awe as I would look up to the far firmament should fall to ruinsalas ! --------------Levy MYS II.169 あかねさす 日は照らせれど ぬばたまの 夜渡る月の 隠らく惜しも akanesasu / hi wa teraseredo / nubatama no / yo wataru tsuki no / kakuraku oshimo Although, madder-red, The sun illuminates the day, Through the jet-black night The moon no longer sails the sky; Its dark eclipse is bitter with regret. --------------Cranston 万葉集 Though the bright crimson sun continues to shine how sad that the moon which crosses the pitch black of night has been concealed from view --------------Collins The crimson-gleaming sun still shines, but that the moon is hidden in the pitch-black night it crossesalas! --------------Levy Man'yōshū: Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 21 MYS II.207 柿本朝臣人麻呂妻死之後泣血哀慟作歌二首 天飛ぶや 軽の路は 吾妹子が 里にしあれば ねもころに 見まく欲しけど 止まず行かば 人目を多み まねく行かば 人知りぬべみ 狭根葛 後も逢はむと 大船の 思ひ憑みて 玉かぎる 磐垣淵の 隠りのみ 恋ひしつつあるに 渡る日の 暮れ行くが如 照る月の 雲隠る如 沖つ藻の 靡きし妹は 黄葉の 過ぎて去にきと 玉梓の 使の言へば 梓弓 音に聞きて 一[ 云 音のみ聞きて ]言はむ術 為むすべ知らに 声のみを 聞きてあり得ねば わが恋ふる 千重の一重も 慰もる ] 情もありやと 吾妹子が 止まず出で見し 軽の市 に わが立ち聞けば 玉襷 畝火の山に 鳴く鳥の 一 [ 云 名のみを聞きてありえねば 声も聞えず 玉桙の 道行く人も 一人だに 似 てし行かねば すべをなみ 妹が名喚びて 袖ぞ 振りつる ama tobu ya / Karu no michi wa / wagimoko ga / sato shi ni areba / nemokoro ni / mimaku hoshikedo / yamazu yukaba / hitome wo ōmi / maneku yukaba / hito shirinubemi / sanekazura / ato mo awamu to / ōbune no / omoitanomite / tamakagiru / iwakakifuchi no / komori nomi / koitsutsu aru ni / wataru hi no / kureyuku ga goto / teru tsuki no / kumogakuru goto / okitsumo no / nabikishi imo wa / momichiba no / sugite iniki to / tamazusa no / tsukai no ieba / azusayumi / oto ni kikite / iwamu sube / semu sube shirani / oto nomi wo / kikite arieneba / waga kouru / chie no hitoe mo / nagusamoru / kokoro mo ari ya to / wagimoko ga / yamazu idemashi / Karu no ichi ni / waga tachikikeba / tamatasuki / Unebi no yama ni / naku tori no / koe mo kikoezu / tamahoko no / michi yuku hito mo / hitori dani / nite shi yukaneba / sube wo nami / imo ga na yobite / sode so furitsuru On the Karu road, Karu of the wing-filled sky, Was the village Where she lived, my own dear wife, And to look at her Was all I wanted in my heart: But had I always gone, There were man eyes of men; Had I gone frequently Others surely would have known. So, like branching vines, After parting we would meet again, I thought, as confident As one who rides in a great ship, And though ever yearning, Kept our love secret, deep and still As a pool walled round with rock, Gleaming softly like a glinting gem. But as the coursing sun Goes down the sky to darkness, 万葉集 Or the radiant moon Is lost to view within the clouds, So she who lay with me As yielding as the seaweed to the wave Passed and was gone, As leaves of autumn pass and are no more: It was a messenger, Azusa-wood staff in hand, who brought the news. His words buzzed in my ears Like a distant sound of azusa-wood bows: Wordless, helpless, Ignorant of all device, I could not bear to stand Listening to the mere bruit of it, And so, imagining Even the thousandth portion Of my longing Might somehow be assuaged, I went where she Had always gone to look about, To the market of Karu, And there I lingered listening On the hilltop Of Unebi, called the Jewel-sash Mount, The birds were singing, But I could not hear the voice I knew; Nor were there any Passing on the jewel-spear road, Not even one, Resembling her, of those that traveled there: In my helplessness Crying my beloved’s name, I waved my useless sleeves. --------------Cranston Man'yōshū: Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 22 Since in Karu lived my wife, I wished to be with here to my heart’s content; But I could not visit her constantly Because of the many watching eyes— Men would know of our troth, Had I sought her too often. So our love remained secret like a rock-pent pool; I cherished her in my heart, Looking to after-time when we should be together, And lived secure in my trust As one riding in a great ship. Suddenly there came a messenger Who told be she was dead— Was gone like a yellow leaf of autumn. Dead as the day dies with the setting sun, Lost as the bright moon is lost behind the cloud, Alas, she is no more, whose soul Was bent to mine like the bending seaweed! When the word was brought to me I knew not what to say; But restless at the mere news, And hoping to heal my grief Even a thousandth part, I journeyed to Karu and searched the market-place Where my wife was wont to go! There I stood and listened, But no voice of her I heard, Though the birds sang in the Unebi Mountain; None passed by who even looked like my wife. I could only call her name and wave my sleeve. --------------Keene MYS II.208 反歌二首 秋山の 黄葉を茂み 迷ひぬる Too dense the yellowed leaves on the autumn mountain: my wife is lost and I do not know the path to find her by. --------------Levy 妹を求めむ On the autumn hills The trees are dense with yellow leaves— She has lost her way, And I must go and search for her, But do not know the mountain path. --------------Cranston 山道知らずも akiyama no / momichi wo shigemi / matoinuru / imo wo motomemu / yamaji shirazu mo On the autumn mountain the fallen leaves are dense. yet I shall seek the wife I have lost though I do not know the way --------------Collins MYS II.209 黄葉の 散りゆくなべに 玉梓の 万葉集 With the falling away of the yellowed leaves, I see the messenger with his jeweled catalpa staff, and I recall the days I met her. --------------Levy 使を見れば Now that yellow leaves Are scattering from the boughs, I see the messenger With his azusa-wood staff, And days with her return to mind. --------------Cranston 逢ひし日思ほゆ momichiba no / chiriyuku nabe ni / tamazuchi no / tsukai wo mireba / aishi hi omōyu Even as the golden leaves scatter from the trees the sight of the messenger with his catalpa staff brings to mind the days we were together. --------------Collins Man'yōshū: Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves
