If I Were Only Sure

If I were only sure
I could live as long as I wanted to,
I would not have to weep
at parting from you.

Translation by Kenneth Rexroth and Ikuko Atsumi

Fields of Autumn

We present this work in honor of the Japanese holiday, Labor Thanksgiving Day.

Fields of autumn,
When I see the flowers,
My heart, it feels like
It’s completely content, or maybe
It yearns to leave me forever.

Translation by Philippe Morel

Love

I am caught in Love’s web so deceitful
None of my endeavors turn fruitful.
I knew not when I rode the high-blooded stead
The harder I pulled its reins the less it would heed.
Love is an ocean with such a vast space
No wise man can swim it in any place.
A true lover should be faithful till the end
And face life’s reprobated trend.
When you see things hideous, fancy them neat,
Eat poison, but taste sugar sweet.

The Rooster

Up he stands
To declare the darkness done for
The bird trimmed with a poppy
Who rolls his lustrous eyes for us

With song he calls to prayer
And he complies with his call
Beating his great plumes
Flexing his shoulder knuckles

The Emperor of Persia
Perhaps wove his crown
Personally Mary the Copt
Hung pendant rings from his ears

He snatched from the peacock
His most attractive cloak
And still not comforted took
His strut from a duck

Translation by Cola Franzen

On the Death of the Country

The king on the rampart flies the white flag.
Deep within the palace how could I know?
One hundred forty thousand all disarmed!
Among these there was not a single man?

Translation by Anthony C. Yu

Love Came and Flew

We present this work in honor of the poet’s 1,055th birthday.

Love came and flew as blood in my veins
Emptied me of myself and filled me with beloved.

Each part of my being she conquered
Now a mere name is left to me and the rest is she.

A Mountain Brook

We present this work in honor of Mountain Day.

A mountain brook
Babbling is all I hear
Over the many-stoned palace
Swift as the current would I return to the days
I saw it-how I wish it could be so!

A Mountain Cherry

We present this work in honor of the Japanese holiday, Vernal Equinox.

A mountain cherry
Through the drifting mists
Faintly
Seen thus there is a lady
I long for all the more.

I am a Lioness

We present this work in honor of Women’s Day.

I am a lioness
and will never allow my body
to be anyone’s resting place. But if I did,
I wouldn’t yield to a dog ─
and O! the lions I’ve turned away!