Translation
By Prime Minister and Regent Go-Kyogoku,
Fujiwara no Yoshitsune (1169-1206)
Cricket chirping
Frosty night
A mat of cold and white—
It holds a folded robe
But must I sleep alone?
Original Japanese | Pronunciation |
後京極摂政太政大臣 | Go Kyogoku no Sessho Dajodaijin |
きりぎりす | Kirigirisu |
鳴くや霜夜の | Naku ya shimo yo no |
さむしろに | Samushiro ni |
衣かたしき | Koromo katashiki |
ひとりかも寝む | Hitori kamo nen |
Literal Notes
Grasshopper/cricket
Cry/sing/sound/chirp frost-night ’s
[samu=cold; mushi=bug; mushiro= straw-mat/instead; shiro=white] on
Clothes/garment/robe/coating [direction style = folding]
Alone [? how / might] sleep
The third line could read many different ways, with “samu” being cold and “mushiro” being “straw mat” as the two main readings. However, with the additional meanings of “bug” (referring to the cricket) and “white,” it allows the poem to be read in two ways. The first way, the poet is sleeping alone on his straw mat listening to a cricket chirp in the frosty night. The second way refers to a lone cricket chirping on bed coated in white (i.e., snow).
Year:
2012
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