Category Archives: Shinkokinshū

SKKS XII: 1134

On the conception of love, in a hundred poem sequence.

あふ事のむなしき空のうき雲は身をしる雨の便りなりけり

au koto no
munashiki sora no
ukigumo wa
mi o shiru ame no
tayori narikeri
Meeting you is
A vain hope—empty as the skies, where
Drifting clouds are
The rainfall of my misery’s
Harbingers.

Prince Kore’akira
惟明親王

An allusive variation on KKS XIV: 705.

SKKS VI: 574

From the Poetry Contest held by the Empress Dowager during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.

神無月しぐれふるらしさほ山のまさきのかづら色まさり行く

kaminazuki
shigure fururashi
saoyama no
masaki no kazura
iro masarikeri
In the Godless Month
Showers fall, it seems, for
On Sao Mountain
The evergreen arrowroot’s
Hues are fine, indeed.

Anonymous

SKKS II: 109

From the Poetry Contest held by the Dowager Empress during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.

霞立つ春の山辺にさくら花あかず散るとやうぐひすの鳴く

kasumi tatsu
haru no yamabe ni
sakurabana
akazu chiru to ya
uguisu no naku
Hazes rise from
The springtime moutainside, where
With cherry blossoms’
Scattering unsated, perhaps,
The warbler sings.

Anonymous