#8 The Monk Kisen

Kisen Hoshi

Waga io wa
Miyako no tatsumi
Shika zo sumu
Yo o Ujiyama to
Hito wa iu nari


The Monk Kisen

My lowly hut is
Southeast from the capital.
Thus I choose to live.
And the world in which I live
Men have named a "Mount of Gloom."


(comment)
In this poem,Monk Kisen told brightly about people's rumors for him.

#7 Abe no Nakamaro

Abe no Nakamaro

Ama no hara
Furisake mireba
Kasuga naru
Mikasa no yama ni
Ideshi tsuki kamo


Abe no Nakamaro

When I look up at
The wide-stretched plain of heaven,
Is the moon the same
That rose on Mount Mikasa
In the land of Kasuga?


(comment)
Abe no Nakamaro went to China as a member of Imperial embassy, when he was young.
And stayed there long time.
It is told that he composed this poem just after the banquet for going back to Japan.
Nostalgia to home country is expressed in this poem. But there is no dark tone.
But unfortunetly, the ship he embarked was wrecked.
He had never returned to Japan.

#6 Otomo no Yakamochi

Chunagon Yakamochi

Kasasagi no
Wataseru hashi ni
Oku shimo no
Shiroki o mireba
Yo zo fuke ni keru

Otomo no Yakamochi

If I see that bridge
That is spanned by flights of magpies
Across the arc of heaven
Made white with a deep-laid frost,
Then the night is almost past.


(comment)
In this poem, Otomo no Yakamochi made a fantastic and fasionating image by casting a scenery of winter to the milkey way in the night sky of autumn.

#5 Sarumaru

Sarumaru Dayu

Okuyama ni
Momiji fumiwake
Naku shika no
Koe kiku toki zo
Aki wa kanashiki


Sarumaru

In the mountain depths,
Treading through the crimson leaves,
The wandering stag calls.
When I hear the lonely cry,
Sad--how sad!--the autumn is.


(comment)
From old times,the sound of stag crying has been written in many poem as sad sound.

#4 Yamabe no Akahito

Yamabe no Akahito

Tago no Ura ni
Uchi idete mireba
Shirotae no
Fuji no takane ni
Yuki wa furi tsutsu


Yamabe no Akahito

When I take the path
To Tago's coast, I see
Perfect whiteness laid
On Mount Fuji's lofty peak
By the drift of falling snow.


(comment)
Yamabe no Akahito had an excellent ability in vivid description of scenery　of nanture.

#3 Kakinomoto no Hitomaro

Kakinomoto no Hitomaro

Ashibiki no
Yamadori no o no
Shidari o no
Naganagashi yo o
Hitori ka mo nen


Kakinomoto no Hitomaro

Oh, the foot-drawn trail
Of the mountain-pheasant's tail
Drooped like down-curved branch!
Through this long, long-dragging night
Must I lie in bed alone?


(comment)
In that times, people believed that a couple of mountain-pheasant is togather in day time.But they slept other peak sepaleted by a vally at night.

#2 Empress Jito

Jito Tennou

Haru sugite
Natsu ki ni kerashi
Shirotae no
Koromo hosu cho
Ama no kaguyama


Empress Jito

The spring has passed
And the summer come again;
For the silk-white robes,
So they say,are spread to dry
On the "Mount Heaven's Perfume."


(comment)
White robes are in beautiful contrast with the greenery mountain.
And it gives a fresh feeling.

#1 Emperor Tenchi

Tenchi Tennou

Aki no ta no
Kariho no io no
Toma o arami
Waga koromode wa
Tsuyu ni nure tsutsu


Emperor Tenchi

Coarse the rush-mat roof
Sheltering the harvest-hut
Of the autumn rice-field;
And my sleeves are growing wet
With the moisture dripping through.


(comment)
Sympathy to the farmer's hardship is expressed in the poem.