KYS I: 2

Produced on the conception of the first day of the year, when hundred poem sequences were ordered to commemorate the reign of former Emperor Horikawa.

うちなびきはるはきにけりやまがはのいはまの氷けふやとくらん

utinabiki
Faru Fa kinkeri
yama kaFa no
iFama no koFori
keFu ya tokuran
Trailing in,
Spring has come;
In the mountain streams
Between the rocks the ice
May melt today, I think.

Master of the Palace Repairs Office [Fujiwara no] Akisue

Sahyōe no suke sadafumi uta’awase 1

Left

Mibu no TadamineAriwara no MotokataTaira no Sadafun

Right

Sakanoue no KorenoriKi no TsurayukiŌshikōchi no Mitsune

The Beginning of Spring

Left (Tie)

はるたつといふばかりにやみよしののやまもかすみてけさはみゆらむ

haru tatsu to
iu bakari ni ya
miyoshino no
yama mo kasumite
kesa wa miyuramu
Spring is here
They simply say, but
Is fair Yoshino
Mountain, too, all hazed
In view this morning, I wonder?

Tadamine
1

Right

はるたちてなほふるゆきはむめのはなさくほどもなくちるかとぞみる

haru tachite
nao furu yuki wa
mume no hana
saku hodo mo naku
chiru ka to zo miru
Spring is here, yet
Still the snow falls—does, as
Plum blossoms’
Brief flowering then
Scattering, it truly seem?

Mitsune
2

Uda-in uta’awase 12

Regretting the Day of the Rat

Left

むねのひををしもぬかねばみだれおつるなみだのたまにかつぞけちつる

mune no hi o
o shimo nukaneba
midare’otsuru
namida no tama ni
katsu zo kechitsuru
The fire within my breast
Will not thread upon a string, but
My disorderly dripping
Gemstone tears will
Yet extinguish it.

Tsurayuki
23

Right (Win)

くらきよにともすほたるのむねのひををしもとけたるたまかとぞ見る

kuraki yo ni
tomosu hotaru no
mune no hi o
o shimo toketaru
tama ka zo zo miru
On a night so dark,
The kindled fireflies of
The fire within my breast;
Loosened from their string
As scattered gemstones they appear.

Tadamine
24

Uda-in uta’awase 11

Wisteria

Left (Win)

おくつゆのひかりてたまぞみえまがふちのはながらにきえずもあらなむ

oku tsuyu no
hikarite tama zo
miemagau
chi no ha nagara ni
kiezu mo aranamu
The fallen dewdrops
Shine like gems
Within my sight;
From the budding leaves
I would they vanished not!

21

Right

あまつそらてりみくもりみゆくつきのふちのはなどはさやけかるらん

ama tsu sora
terimi kumorimi
yuku tsuki no
fuchi no ha nado wa
sayakekaruran
Through the heaven-bound skies
Shining, then clouding,
Goes the moon, so
Why, by this deep pool’s edge
Should it show so clear?

Fukayabu
22

Uda-in uta’awase 10

Orchids

Left

はるきてはきのふばかりをあさみどりなべてけさこくのはなりにけり

haru kite wa
kinō bakari o
asamidori
nabete kesa koku
no wa narikeri
Spring’s coming means, though
Yesterday was simply
Pale green,
Everywhere, this morning deeper-hued
Have the meadows become.

Tsurayuki
19

Right

はるさめにしべゆるぶらし春のくさこくのはなべてさきみちにけり

harusame ni
shibe yuruburashi
haru no kusa
koku no wa nabete
sakimichinikeri
In the springtime rain,
The flowers’ hearts seem loosened, so
With spring plants’ hues
Deepening, the meadows everywhere
Have filled with blossom.

20

Ise-shū 465

Attached to some lilac daphne.

花のいろのこきをみすとてこきたるをおろかに人はおもふらんやぞ

Fana no iro no
koki o misu tote
kokitaru o
oroka ni Fito Fa
omoFuran ya zo
‘The blossom’s hues’
Depth show me!’ you say, and
Deeply—but
O, how foolish, would it be
For me to care for you?