Tag Archives: asa

GSIS VI: 398

Composed on the conception of being buried in frosty fallen leaves.

落ちつもる庭の木の葉を夜のほどにはらひてけりと見する朝霜

otitumoru
niwa no ko no Fa wo
yo no hodo ni
FaraFitekeri to
misuru asasimo
Fallen, piled high at
My estate, the leaves from the trees
Within the space of a single night
Have been swept away,
It seems, by the morning frost.

Anonymous

Shiki koi sanshu uta’awase – Autumn

Autumn

Left

秋の夜の有明にみれど久堅の月のかつらはうつろはぬかな

aki no yo no
ariake ni miredo
hisakata no
tsuki no katsura wa
utsurouwanu kana
An autumn night’s
Dawn I see, yet
The eternal
Moon’s silver trees
Show no sign of fading!

13

秋萩の花咲く比の白露は下ばのためとわきて置くべし

aki hagi no
hana saku koro no
shiratsuyu wa
shitaba no tame to
wakite okubeshi
In autumn, the bush clover
Flowers bloom—just then
Silver dewdrops
For the under-leaves
Do fall, marking every one.

14

秋風はいなばもそよとふきつめりかりみる程と成りやしぬらん

akikaze wa
inaba mo soyo to
fukitsumeri
kari miru hodo to
nari ya shinuran
The autumn breeze
Seems to rustle the rice stalks
As it blows;
Seeing if ‘tis time to reap them—
Is that what it is, I wonder?

15

Right

銀河とわたる舟は花薄ほにいづるほどぞかげもみゆべき

ama no kawa
towataru fune wa
hanasusuki
ho ni izuru hodo zo
kage mo miyubeki
Across the River of Heaven
A boat goes ferrying:
When the silver grass
Ears burst into bloom,
Can its shape be seen.

16

女郎花さがの花をば色ながら秋をさかりといはれずもがな

ominaeshi
saga no hana oba
iro nagara
aki o sakari to
iwarezu mogana
Maidenflowers:
Blossoms from Saga
Reveal their hues, and
In autumn are most fine—that
Goes without saying!

17

小男鹿の朝たつ霧にうりふ山嶺の梢は色こかりけり

saoshika no
asa tatsu kiri ni
urifuyama
mine no kozue wa
iro kokarikeri
Stags
Within the rising morning mist on
Urifu Moutain, where
The treetops on the peak
Have taken darker hues.

18

Koresada Shinnō-ke uta’awase 3

音羽山秋としなれば唐錦かけたることも見ゆる紅葉か

otowayama
aki to shi nareba
karanishiki
kaketaru koto mo
miyuru momiji ka
On Otowa Mountain
When autumn comes
Cathay brocade
Is hung about –
Seem so the scarlet leaves?

5

女郎花何の心になけれども秋はさくべきこともゆゆしく

ominaeshi
nani no kokoro ni
nakeredomo
aki wa sakubeki
koto mo yuyushiku
O, maidenflowers,
Something within my heart
Is lacking, yet
That you must bloom in autumn
Is a fine thing, indeed!

6

Love X: 21

Left
朝夕にみ山に通ふ賤だにも歎きはこらぬ物とこそ聞け

asa yū ni
miyama ni kayou
shizu dani mo
nageki wa koranu
mono to koso kike
Morning and evening,
Travelling to the mountain deeps and back,
Even the woodsmen
Will not fell the tree of grief,
Or so I hear…

Lord Kanemune
1181

Right (Win)
賤の男よ思ひはわれもこりぬべしをのが苦しき妻木ならねど

shizu no o yo
omoi wa ware mo
korinubeshi
ono ga kurushiki
tsumaki naranedo
O, woodsman!
I, too, in fires of passion
Must burn on;
My longing for my love, your axe
To kindling will not hew, and yet…

Nobusada
1182

The Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults to indicate. The Left state: the Right’s poem sounds like it is chopping kindling that the woodsman will do no more.

In judgement: ‘Travelling to the mountain deeps and back, the woodsmen’ (miyama ni kayou shizu) should ‘fell the tree of grief’ (nageki o koru), but in the poem they ‘do not fell’ (koranu) it – I wonder how appropriate this is. This conception seems to be one not relating to grief, but simply to tree-felling. ‘I, too, in fires of passion must burn on’ (omoi wa ware mo korinubeshi) seems somewhat difficult to interpret, but I must say that the configuration of the final section is superb.