Selections from
the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu
The following are the first five of one hundred poems in 100 Poets: Passions of the Imperial Court, cotranslated by Emiko Miyashita and Michael Dylan Welch, published in 2008 by PIE Books in Tokyo (also available on Amazon). The book is a 400-page art book with photographs and translations of the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, a collection of waka poems (now commonly known as tanka) compiled in the thirteenth century by Fujiwara no Teika. You can read David Burleigh’s review of this book at the Japan Times site (see also here). The entire book, with photographs, poems, a karuta card game, and recordings of each poem read in Japanese by male and female voices, is also now available as an iPad and iPhone application on iTunes. + + + + + + +
A sixth poem at the end of this selection appeared on the back of 150,000,000 copies of a U.S. postage stamp in spring of 2012.
See translations from the entire book, with each poem paired with a karuta (card game) image.
秋の田のかりほの庵の苫をあらみわが衣手は露にぬれつつ 天智天皇
aki no ta no kariho no io no toma wo arami waga koromode wa tsuyu ni nuretsutsu Tenji Tennō
a temporary lookout hut
by the ripening rice fields
has a rough rush-thatched roof—
my sleeves are kept
wet with the dews Emperor Tenji
春すぎて夏来にけらし白妙のころもほすてふ天のかぐ山 持統天皇
haru sugite natsu kinikerashi shirotae no koromo hosuchō ama no kaguyama Jitō Tennō
spring is over
and summer must have come—
on heavenly Mount Kagu,
pure white clothes
are said to be drying Empress Jitō
あしひきの山鳥の尾のしだり尾のながながし夜をひとりかも寝む 柿本人麻呂
ashihiki no yamadori no o no shidario no naganagashi yo wo hitori kamo nen Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
on a rugged mountain peak
a copper pheasant falls asleep
drooping its lengthy tail—
must I too sleep alone
through this long long night? Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
田子の浦にうち出でて見れば白妙の富士のたかねに雪はふりつつ 山部赤人
tagonoura ni uchiidete mireba shirotae no fuji no takane ni yuki wa furitsutsu Yamabe no Akahito
as I come out and look up
from the coast of Tagonoura,
the pure white snow keeps falling
on the lofty peak
of Mount Fuji Yamabe no Akahito
おくやまにもみぢ踏み分け鳴く鹿の声聞くときぞ秋はかなしき 猿丸大夫
okuyama ni momiji fumiwake naku shika no koe kiku toki zo aki wa kanashiki Sarumaru Daifu
deep in the mountains
stepping though the fallen crimson leaves
a deer cries for his mate—
when I hear the voice
autumn melancholy deepens Sarumaru, A Troupe Leader
The following poem appeared on the the back side of the U.S. postage stamp shown above in the spring of 2012 (first day of issue was March 24), to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the cherry trees in Washington, D.C., printed in an initial edition of 100,000,000 (another 50,000,000 copies were printed for a second print run in early April 2012, making this one of the best selling U.S. postage stamps in decades). You can read more about the stamp at Beyond the Perf and at the USPS.com website. The following translation was also published in Spring: The Journal of the E. E. Cummings Society #18, October 2011, page 177.
ひさかたのひかりのどけき春の日にしづ心なく花の散るらん 紀友則
hisakata no hikari nodokeki harunohi ni shizugokoro naku hana no chiruran Ki no Tomonori
the light filling the air
is so mild this spring day
only the cherry blossoms
keep falling in haste—
why is that so? Ki no Tomonori