On a thin layer of ice remaining atop a pond, for a Poetry Contest held at the Residence of Imperial Princess Miwako.
うす氷残りすくなくなりにけり池のかがみと冬はみしかど
| usugōri nokori sukunaku narinikeri ike no kagami to fuyu wa mishikado | The film of ice Mere remnants Has become; Yet in the mirror of the pond Winter was once seen… |
Musashino
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Dowager Empress during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.
秋のせみさむき声にぞきこゆなる木のはの衣を風やぬぎつる
| aki no semi samuki koe ni zo kikoyunaru ko no ha no kinu o kaze ya nugitsuru | In the autumn, the cicadas’ Chill song I hear; Has the trees’ garb of leaves Been stripped from them by the wind? |
Anonymous
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Dowager Empress during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.
まきもくのひばらの山にたちかへり見れども花におどろかれつつ
| makimoku no hibara no yama ni tachikaeri miredomo hana no odorokaretsutsu | In Makimoku among The mountain cypress groves Rising and departing, I see it, yet the blossom Ever does amaze me… |
Anonymous
On winter rain, from a hundred poem sequence on the four seasons, composed in Jōkyū 2 [1220].
都人ちぎりしものをはつ雪に松の葉をしき夕暮の雨
| miyakobito chigirishi mono o hatsuyuki ni matsu no ha o shiki yūgure no ame | Capital folk Did make a vow: Upon the first snows Pine needles spread By the evening rain. |
Lord Ietaka, Junior Second Rank
From a poetry contest at Sadafun’s house.
みねはもえふもとはこほるふじ川のわれもうき世を住みぞわづらふ
| mine Fa moe Fumoto Fa koForu FuzigaFa no ware mo ukiyo wo sumi zo waduraFu | At the peak it burns and At the foot does freeze: The Fuji River, just as I, too, in this cruel world Live and suffer. |
Fukayabu
This is the sole surviving poem from ‘Sadafumi’s Poetry Contest‘.
On waves chilled to the heart due to snow, from the poetry contest at Sadafun’s house, Engi 6.
ふる雪に波の心もさむからしかざがくれとやへたにたちよる
| Furu yuki ni nami no kokoro mo samukararashi kazagakure to ya Feta ni tachiyoru | With the falling snow The waves’ hearts, too, Must be so cold; Do they seek shelter from the wind Breaking on the shore? |
Anonymous