My student, Zhongyu Zhang, is working on some waka from the Tale of Genji for his paper in my class Tale of Genji: Sensuality and Salvation. I've never read these in the original before, and I don't know much about translating waka, so I'm going to work on them a little here.
From Autumn Excursion 紅葉賀
よそへつつ見るに心は慰まで露けさまさる撫子の花
though I see his likeness there
it does not comfort my heart;
the dew of tears
is all the more drenching --
wild carnation
袖ぬるる露のゆかりと思ふにも なほうとまれぬ大和撫子
thinking him
the cause of the dew
that soaks your sleeves
I feel all the colder towards him --
Japanese carnation
(More follows, after the cut.........)>>
From The Sacred Tree 賢木
神垣はしるしの杉もなきものをいかにまがえて折れる榊ぞ
no cypresses
mark this
shrine fence
so why do you blunder here with it? --
a spray of evergreen
をとめ子があたりと思へば榊葉の香をなつかしみとめてこそ折れ
I thought this
the place of shrine maidens --
feeling nostalgic
at the scent of sacred evergreen
I broke a branch, seeking them
Wormwood Patch 蓬生
藤波のうち過ぎがたく見えつるはまつこそ宿のしるしなりけれ
it seemed
difficult to just pass
the waves of wisteria
because of the pines
marking the house where you wait for me
年を経て待つしるしなき我が宿を花のたよりに過ぎぬばかりか
were there no pines at my house
marking the years
I spent waiting for you
would you just have passed by the flowers
without a word?
Fireflies 蛍
今日さへや引く人もなき身隠れにおふる菖蒲の根のみ泣かれむ
even today
with no one to pull up
the hidden roots
of the irises --
can I do more than cry?
あらはれていとど浅くも見ゆるかなあやめもわかずなかれけるねの
come to light
they indeed seem shallow!
I do not separate
the irises
but hear your crying anyway
From Trefoil Knots 総角
しるべせし我やかへりて惑ふべき心もゆかぬ明け暮れの道
I who was a guide
go home lost
my heart dissatisfied
the road
dim at dawn
かたゞゝにくらす心を思いやれ人やりならぬ道に惑はゞ
consider the feelings
of we who must find
a way to live
it is not the fault of someone else
that you got lost on the road
Whew! Those were tough, but fun.
Zhongyu picked out some more, so I'll add those in my next post.
