(Supposed to have been composed as early as the twelfth century)
Bindatara wo
Ayugaséba koso,
Ayugaséba koso,
Aikyō zuitaré!
Yaréko tōtō,
Yaréko tōtō!
With loosened hair,—
Only because of having tossed it,
Only because of having shaken it,—
Oh, sweet she is!
Yaréko tōtō!
Yaréko tōtō!
SAMA WA TENNIN
(Probably from the sixteenth century)
Sama wa tennin!
Soré-soré,
Tontorori!
Otomé no sugata
Kumo no kayoiji
Chirato mita!
Tontorori!
Otomé no sugata
Kumo no kayoiji
Chirato mita!
Tontorori!
My beloved an angel is![94]
Soré-soré!
Tontorori!
The maiden's form,
In the passing of clouds,
In a glimpse I saw!
Tontorori!
The maiden's form,
In the passage of clouds,
In a glimpse I saw!
Tontorori!
[94] ] Lit., "a Tennin";—that is to say, an inhabitant of the Buddhist heaven. The Tennin are usually represented as beautiful maidens.
My next selection is from a love-song of uncertain date, belonging to the Kamakura period (1186-1332). This fragment is chiefly remarkable for its Buddhist allusions, and for its very regular form of stanza:—