Composed looking at a cherry tree, blooming in the Fourth Month.
あはれてふ事をあまたにやらじとや春におくれてひとりさくらむ
| aFare teFu koto wo amata ni yarazi to ya Faru ni wokurete Fitori sakuran |
‘How moving!’ Should those oft repeated words Not go to the others? Left behind by Spring, This single blooming cherry. |
Ki no Toshisada
A poem on the end of spring from a poetry contest held by Retired Emperor Uda.
けふのみと春をおもはぬ時だにも立つことやすき花のかげかは
| keFu nomi to Faru wo omoFanu toki dani mo tatu koto yasuki Fana no kage ka Fa |
“Only today is left Of spring” goes unthought- Even at such a time, Is it easy to part from The blossoms’ shade? |
Ōshikōchi no Mitsune
凡河内躬恒
On a day at the end of the Third Month when it was raining, he plucked a spray of wisteria blossom and sent it to someone.
ぬれつつぞしひてをりつる年の内に春はいくかもあらじと思へば
| nuretutu zo siFite worituru tosi no uti ni Faru Fa ikukamo arazi to omoFeba |
Soaked through, and Heedless of it, I plucked this: For this year Spring, is all but Gone: or so I felt. |
Ariwara no Narihira
在原業平
Composed when he saw women returning from picking flowers on a day at the end of the Third Month.
とどむべき物とはなしにはかなくもちる花ごとにたぐふこころか
| todomubeki mono to Fa nasi ni Fakanaku mo tiru Fana goto ni taguFu kokoro ka |
That would halt them There is nothing, yet How hopelessly To every scattered flower My heart is drawn. |
Ōshikōchi no Mitsune
凡河内躬恒
A poem composed for a poetry contest held by Her Majesty, the Empress, during the Kanpyō period.
こゑたえずなけやうぐひすひととせにふたたびとだにくべき春かは
| kowe taezu nake ya uguFisu Fitotose ni Futatabi to dani kubeki Faru ka Fa |
Voice weakening- Sing on, bush warbler! In a single year, Oh, that twice over Spring would come upon us! |
Fujiwara no Okikaze
藤原興風
Motokata is being clever here in that the verb tatu ‘rise’, here in a past tense form tatinu, was usually used with Farugasumi ‘spring haze’ to mean ‘appear’. So one could perhaps alternatively translate the poem as:
Though sad am I
There’s no stopping it, and so
I feel
My journey home
Covered by spring mists
Composed in regret for the passage of spring.
をしめどもとどまらなくに春霞かへる道にしたちぬとおもへば
| osimedomo todomaranakuni Farugasumi kaFeru miti ni si tatinu to omoFeba |
Though sad am I, There’s no stopping it: The spring haze On its homebound path Has departed. |
Motokata
元方