Composed on seeing the mist rising on Mount Saho when he went to Yamato Province.
たがための錦なればか秋ぎりのさほの山邊をたちかくすらむ
| ta ga tame no nisiki nareba ka akigiri no saFo no yamabe wo tatikakusuramu |
For whom Is this brocade? That the Autumn mists Saho mountain Should conceal. |
Ki no Tomonori
紀友則
A poem from a poetry competition at Prince Koresada’s house.
秋風にはつかりがねぞきこゆなるたがたまづさをかけてきつらむ
| akikaze ni Fatukari ga ne zo kikoyunaru ta ga tamadusa wo kaketekituran | On the autumn wind Come the first goose cries. I hear them; Whose letters Do they bring, I wonder? |
Ki no Tomonori
紀友則
During the Kanpyō Era [889-897], on the night of the Seventh Day, His Majesty [Emperor Uda] commanded the gentlemen waiting upon him to compose poems; Tomonori composed this poem in place of someone else.
天河あさせしら浪たどりつつわたりはてねばあけぞしにける
| ama no kaFa asase shiranami tadoritutu watariFateneba ake zo sinikeru |
The River of Heaven has Shallows-white wave marked-in ignorance Searching, searching and Unable to cross, yet The dawn has broken. |
Ki no Tomonori (Fl. ca. ?850-?904)
紀友則
A poem from a poetry competition held by Her Majesty, the Empress, in the Kanpyō period.
夜やくらき道やまどへるほととぎすわがやどをしもすぎがてになく
| yo ya kuraki miti ya madoFeru Fototogisu wa ga yado wo simo sugigateni naku |
Is it night’s darkness? Or, have you lost your way, Oh, cuckoo? By my house You cannot pass, it seems, and so you sing. |
Ki no Tomonori
紀友則
A poem from a poetry competition held by Her Majesty, the Empress, in the Kanpyō period.
五月雨に物思ひをれば郭公夜ふかくなきていづちゆくらむ
| samidare ni mono’omoFi woreba Fototogisu yo Fukaku nakite iduti yukuramu |
When in the drizzling rain, I’m sunk in gloomy thoughts, A cuckoo Sings in night’s depths: And where might it be going? |
Ki no Tomonori
紀友則
Composed when he was passing through the Otowa mountains and heard a cuckoo calling.
おとは山けさこえくれば郭公こずゑはるかに今ぞなくなる
| otoFa yama kesa koekureba Fototogisu kozuwe Farukani ima zo nakunaru |
In the Otowa mountains, As I pass through this morning, A cuckoo Far distant in the treetops Is singing. |
Ki no Tomonori (d. ca. 905)
紀友則