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- Sankashu
Tane tsukuru tsuboi no mizu no hiku sue ni ebuna atsumaru ochiai no wada
At the end of the channel drawn from the well where seed rice is soaked, the crucian carp gather in the pool where the streams meet.
Sankashu - Saigyō
Shiranawa ni koayu hikarete kudaru se ni mochimōketaru kome no shikiami
In the shallows where the young sweetfish swim down, driven by white ropes, a fine-meshed net lies spread in wait for them.
Sankashu - Saigyō
Miru mo uki wa unawa ni niguru irokuzu o nogarakasade mo shitamu mochiami
What is painful to watch is the hand net that scoops up, letting none escape, the fish fleeing from the cormorant ropes.
Sankashu - Saigyō
Akikaze ni suzuki tsuribune hashiru meri sono hitohashi no nagori shitaite
In the autumn wind the boats fishing for sea bass seem to race along, longing after some last trace of what remains.
Sankashu - Saigyō
Toshi hetaru ura no amabito koto towan nami o kazukite ikuyo suginiki
Let me ask you, old fisherman of this bay: how many ages have you passed diving beneath the waves?
Sankashu - Saigyō
Kurokami wa suguru to mieshi shiranami o kazukihatetaru mi ni wa shire ama
Your black hair seems long gone, turned to the white of the waves; you who have dived through them all your life, old fisherman, know it in yourself.
Sankashu - Saigyō
Koe sezu wa iro koku naru to omowamashi yanagi no me hamu hiwa no muradori
Had they not been singing, I would have thought the willow's color was deepening—the flock of siskins pecking at its buds.
Sankashu - Saigyō
Momozono no hana ni magaeru teriuso no muretatsu ori wa chiru kokochi suru
When the bright bullfinches, so like the blossoms of the peach orchard, rise up in a flock, it feels as though the petals were scattering.
Sankashu - Saigyō
Narabiite tomo o hanarenu kogarame no negura ni tanomu shii no shitaeda
Perched side by side, never leaving their companions, the little titmice rely on the lower branches of the chinquapin oak as their roost.
Sankashu - Saigyō
Tsuki no sumu mioyagawara ni shimo saete chidori tōdatsu koe kikoyu nari
On the banks of the Mioya, where the moon shines clear, the frost lies cold, and I hear the cries of plovers rising far away.
Sankashu - Saigyō
Tachinoboru tsuki no atari ni kumo kiete hikari kasanuru nanakoshi no mine
As the moon climbs, the clouds around it melt away, and its light lies layered upon the peak of Nanakoshi.
Sankashu - Saigyō
Shikiwatasu tsuki no kōri o utagaite hibi no te mawaru aji no muradori
Mistrusting the ice of moonlight spread across the water, the flocks of teal fly round the stakes of the fish weirs.
Sankashu - Saigyō
Ikade ware kokoro no kumo ni chiri suede miru kai arite tsuki o nagamen
How might I keep dust from settling on the clouds within my heart, so that gazing at the moon would truly be worthwhile?
Sankashu - Saigyō
Nagameorite tsuki no kage ni zo yo o ba miru sumu mo sumanu mo sa narikeri to wa
Gazing on, it is by the moon's light that I see the world: whether one dwells in it or not, whether it shines clear or not—it is all just so.
Sankashu - Saigyō
Kumo harete mi ni urei naki hito no mi zo sayaka ni tsuki no kage wa miru beki
Only one whose clouds have cleared and who has no grief in his heart can see the moonlight in all its clarity.
Sankashu - Saigyō
Sa nomi ya wa tamoto ni kage o yadosu beki yowashi kokoro yo tsuki na nagame so
Must I always let the moonlight lodge on my tear-soaked sleeves? O weak heart of mine, gaze at the moon no more.
Sankashu - Saigyō