つゆむすぶあきはて方のきりぎりすくさのねごとにさむくこそなけ
| tsuyu musubu akihategata no kirigirisu kusa no ne goto ni samuku koso nake | Drenched with dew At the far edge of dawn The crickets Crying from the roots of every stalk, So cold, do sing.[i] |
5[ii]
[i] This poem is built around a wordplay in its final section, which has kusa no ne goto ni 草の根ごとに (‘the roots of every stalk of grass’) and ne goto ni samuku 音ごとに寒く (‘every chirp coldly’).
[ii] Motozane-shū (64) with the headnote ‘Crickets’ (kirigirisu きりぎりす).
高砂の尾上の萩を折りつれば鹿の立どやうすくなるらむ
| takasago no onoe no hagi o oritsureba shika no tachido ya usukunaruramu | When on Takasago Peak, the bush-clover I pick, Does the stag’s resting place Seem to fade away? |
3[i]
[i] Motozane-shū (62) with the headnote ‘Bush clover’ (hagi 萩); the poem is also included in Fubokushō (XI: 4170), attributed to Motozane, with the headnote ‘Composed for the “Poetry Match held by the Empress’ Court Ladies” kōshin, night of the 13th day of the Ninth Month, Tentoku 3’. This is erroneous, as kōshin actually fell on the 18th of that month, as indicated by the headnote to poem (1) in Motozane-shū.
難波潟漕げど小舟は葦わかのえざるほどこそ久しかりけり
| naniwagata kogedo obune wa ashiwaka no ezaru hodo koso hisashikarikeri | Through Naniwa Inlet I row, yet my little boat The reed shoots Cannot navigate—the time Lasts forever![i] |
1[ii]
[i] This poem is an acrostic containing the hidden expression kanoesaru 庚申 (‘senior metal monkey’), which was the fifty-seventh in the Sinitic calendrical cycle. The Sino-Japanese reading of 庚申 is kōshin, and it was every sixty days when kanoesaru came up that kōshin was observed by Heian aristocrats (and others). Motozane cleverly works the reference into his poem, with the final line referring to how the time dragged when one had to stay up all night.
[ii] Motozane-shū (60) with the additional headnote (topic), ‘Kōshin’.
