I Am With the Autumn Mountains

Nukata no Ookimi (a.k.a. Princess Nukata, 630-690 AD)
Winter hides
And spring has come.
The birds that haven’t chirped
Begin to sing
And the closed up flowers
Begin to bloom.
The mountains grow with thicket
And I can join, but do not want to;
The grass grows deep
And I can touch, but do not want to.
In autumn
I see the
mountain trees
And the
leaves change to yellow and red;
I pluck
them and remember.
I take these
green leaves,
But drop
them and lament;
It is a
shame,
But I am
with the autumn mountains.



Original Text

Modern Text

Pronunciation

額田王
額田王
Nukata no Ookimi
冬木成
冬こもり
Fuyu komori
春去来者
春さり来れば
Haru sari kure ba
不喧有之
鳴かずありし
Nakazu arishi
鳥毛来鳴奴
鳥も来鳴きぬ
Tori mo ki nakinu
不開有之
咲かずありし
Sakazu arishi
花毛佐家礼抒
花も咲けれど
Hana mo sake do
山乎茂
山を茂み
Yama wo shigemi
入而毛不取
入りても取らず
Iritemo torazu
草深
草深み
Kusa-fukami
執手母不見
取りても見ず
Toritemo mizu
秋山乃
秋山の
Aki-yama no
木葉乎見而者
木の葉を見ては
Konoha wo mite ha
黄葉乎婆
黄葉をば
Momichi wo ba
取而曽思努布
取りてぞ偲ふ
Toritezo shinou
青乎者
青きをば
Aoki wo ba
置而曽歎久
置きてぞ嘆く
Okite zo nageku
曽許之恨之
そこし恨めし
Sokoshi urameshi
秋山吾者
秋山吾は
Akiyama ware ha



Translation Notes

冬こもり
Winter shut-up/hidden
[Winter has passed]
春さり来れば
Spring does come as
[Spring has come]
鳴かずありし
Chirp not are
[Birds which have not sung for awhile]
鳥も来鳴きぬ
Birds too come sing finished
[Birds come out and sing]
咲かずありし
Blossom not are
[Flowers not blooming]
花も咲けれど
Flowers too bloom and
山を茂み
Mountains overgrown/thicket
入りても取らず
Enter yet touch not
[Can get in but do not want to touch]
草深み
Grass deep
取りても見ず
Touch yet see not
[Can touch but do not want to see]
秋山の
Autumn mountain ’s
木の葉を見ては
Tree ’s leaves see
黄葉をば
Yellow leaves
[Can also mean red leaves or autumn-colored
leaves]
取りてぞ偲ふ
Pick and remember.
青きをば
Green leaves
[which had fallen before turning yellow]
置きてぞ嘆く
Put-them-back lament
そこし恨めし
That is shame but
秋山吾は
Autumn mountain I

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