Kyogoku Tamekane. On “Spring Rain,” composed when he held a poem contest at his home
On an evening
set aglow with the crimson
of plum blossoms,
the willow boughs sway softly;
and the spring rain falls.
Retired Emperor Fushimi. On “wind in the pines”
To avoid getting wet
I took cover a moment
in the shade of pines–
where the rain made me listen
to the sound of the wind
Bishop Shinkei. Winter
A pitiful sight–
that smoke rising at evening
from a brushwood fire.
His charcoal sold at market,
a man heads back into the hills.
Takarai Kikaku
Stories about ancestors
spoken on a frosty night.
In fading lamplight
dead spirits are beckoned back
into the world
Same author. Summer
Evening summer–
and gazing out into it,
a woman alone.
