城。外で
霰が降って
番人は
皆出かけた
この部屋で
丸カップから
お茶を飲む
最後の季節
始まっただけ

Shiro. Soto de
Arare ga hutte
Bannin wa
Minna dekaketa
Kono heya de
Maru kappu kara
Ocha wo nomu
Saigo no kisetsu
Hajimatta dake

Castle. And outside
The hail continues to fall
Every single guard
Left his post and went away
In this little room
From a cup with a round shape
I am drinking tea
The final season for me
Only it has just started

Castel. Afară
Grindină în cădere
Gărzile toate
Au plecat de la posturi
ÃŽn odaia mea
Dintr-o ceaşcă rotundă
Savurez ceaiul
Doar ultimul anotimp
A început, în sfârşit

Kastelo. Ekster'
Hajlo falas senĉese
Ĉiuj gardantoj
Malproksime foriris
En tiu ĉambro
El la taso rondforma
Teon mi trinkas
La lasta sezono nur
Ja finfine komencis

(2007年8月20日)

_____

Chōka poetry, popular in Japan before the year 1000, consisted in pairs of morae ("syllables") of the form 5-7 repeated at least twice, concluding in the end with a 7-7 pair of morae. The example above has the format 5-7-5-7-5-7-5-7-7. The versions in all the languages respect this format.