JAPAN
E. Powys (Edward Powys) Mathers translation
GRIEF AND THE SLEEVE
Tears in the moonlight,
You know why,
Have marred the flowers
On my rose sleeve.
Ask why.
From the Japanese of Hide-Yoshi.
DRINK SONG
The crows have wakened me
By cawing at the moon.
I pray that I shall not think of him;
I pray so intently
That he begins to fill my whole mind.
This is getting on my nerves;
I wonder if there is any of that wine left.
Japanese Street Song.
A BOAT COMES IN
Although I shall not see his face
For the low riding of the ship,
The three armorial oak-leaves on his cloak
Will be enough.
But what if I make a mistake
And call to the wrong man?
Or make no sign at all,
And it is he?
Japanese Street Song.
THE OPINION OF MEN
My desires are like the white snows on Fuji
That grow but never melt.
I am becoming proud of my bad reputation;
And the more men say,
We cannot understand why she loves him,
The less I care.
I am sure that in a very short time
I shall give myself to him.
Japanese Street Song.
OLD SCENT OF THE PLUM-TREE
Remembering what passed
Under the scent of the plum-tree,
I asked the plum-tree for tidings
Of that other.
Alas ... the cold moon of spring....
From the Japanese of Fujiwara Ietaka. (1158-1237).
AN ORANGE SLEEVE
In the fifth month,
When orange-trees
Fill all the world with scent,
I think of the sleeve
Of a girl who loved me.
From the Japanese of Nari-hira.
INVITATION
The chief flower
Of the plum-tree of this isle
Opens to-night....
Come, singing to the moon,
In the third watch.
From the Japanese of a Courtesan of Nagasaki.
In a life where the clocks
Are slow or fast,
It is a pleasant thing
To die together
As we are dying.
From the Japanese of the Wife of Bes-syo Ko-saburo Naga-haru, (sixteenth century).
GREEN FOOD FOR A QUEEN
I was gathering
Leaves of the
In springtime.
Why did the snow fall
On my dress?
From the Japanese of the Mikado Ko-ko Ten-no, (ninth century).
Your arm should only be
A spring night's dream;
If I accepted it to rest my head upon
There would be rumours
And no delight.
From the Japanese of the daughter of Taira-no Tsu-gu-naka.
A SINGLE NIGHT
Was one night,
And that a night
Without much sleep,
Enough to make me love
All the life long?
From the Japanese of the wife of the Mikado Sui-toka In (twelfth century).
AT A DANCE OF GIRLS
Let the wind's breath
Blow in the glades of the clouds
Until they close;
So that the beauty of these girls
May not escape.
From the Japanese of So-dzyo Hend-zyo
.
ALONE ONE NIGHT
This night,
Long like the drooping feathers
Of the pheasant,
The chain of mountains,
Shall I sleep alone?
From the Japanese of Kaik-no Motto-no Hitomaro (seventh and eighth centuries).