The years have touched me.
I worry that I grow frail with age.
But I only need to see
Your flower like beauty
For all anxiety and heaviness
To leave me.
translated by Kenneth Rexroth
9th Century Japanese poetry
On a birthday by Ariwara no Narihira
Cherry blossoms,
scatter and hide it,
that road they say
old age comes by–
make him lose his way!
translated by Hiroaki Sato & Burton Watson
On Nunobiki Waterfall by Ariwara no Narihari
Someone must be
unstringing them wildly–
white beads shower down
without pause,
my sleeves too narrow to catch them
translated by Hiroaki Sato & Burton Watson
anonymous tanka 12 from The Kokinshu
If I’d known
it was old age calling,
I’d have locked the door,
said “No one home!”
and refused to see him.
translated by Hiroaki Sato & Burton Watson
anonymous tanka 11 from The Kokinshu
Because I loved someone
who didn’t love back
I wait till the
mountain echoes answer
translated by Hiroaki Sato & Burton Watson
anonymous tanka 10 from The Kokinshu
Like the light snow
that piles up
until it crumbles,
how often my thoughts crumble
under the weight of love
translated by Hiroaki Sato & Burton Watson
anonymous tanks 9 from The Kokinshu
On autumn nights
the dew is
colder than ever–
in every clump of grasses
the insects weep
translated by Hiroaki Sato & Burton Watson
anonymous tanka 8 from The Kokinshu
Orange blossoms that came
with the fifth month–
breathing their scent,
I catch the fragrance of the sleeve
of someone from long ago
translated by Hiroaki Sato & Burton Watson
anonymous tanka 7 from The Kokinshu
We part,
I go beyond the
endless clouds,
but would I ever let you
out of my heart?
translated by Hiroaki Sato & Burton Watson
anonymous tanka 6 from The Kokinshu
Even in the roaring torrent
there are quiet spots
they say–
why has my love
no stretches of calm water?
translated by Hiroaki Sato & Burton Watson
Leonard Durso 