Here’s a short video discussing the language and imagery used in the Eikyū hyakushu poems on the topic of ‘Avoiding Heat’.
Avoiding Heat (避暑)
夏くればふせやが下にやすらひてし水のさとにすみつきぬべし
natsu kureba
fuseya ga shita ni
yasuraite
shimizu no sato ni
sumitsukinubeshi | When summer’s come
Beneath a crude hut’s roof
Do I take my ease, and
In spring waters at the estate
Must I make my home! |
Daishin
Avoiding Heat (避暑)
おりたちてし水のさとにすみつればなつをば外にききわたるかな
oritachite
shimizu no sato ni
sumitsureba
natsu oba hoka ni
kikiwataru kana | Descending to stand in
Spring waters – at that estate
Have I made my home, so
Summer so far away
Does sound! |
Higo
Avoiding Heat (避暑)
玉だれのみすさわぐまでかへす風よどののうちもすずしかりけり
tamadare no
misu sawagu made
kaesu kaze
yodo no nochi mo
suzushikarikeri | Gem strung
Curtains rattle noisily,
Turned by the wind;
After stillness returns then
All is cool! |
Kanemasa
Avoiding Heat (避暑)
すずむとてしづのまろやを立ちつれば程なくあせの入りにけるかな
suzumu tote
shizu no maroya o
tachitsureba
hodo naku ase no
irinikeru kana | Thinking to cool myself
A poor man’s reed-roofed hut
Did I erect, but
In a moment, sweat
Had entered within! |
Tadafusa
Avoiding Heat (避暑)
みづはよしあたりもしみに吹過ぐる風さへさゆる玉川のさと
mizu wa yoshi
atari mo shimi ni
fukisuguru
kaze sae sayuru
tamakawa no sato | The waters are fine, and
The surrounds, too, are keenly
Blown by
The breeze, cooling
The estate at Tamakawa! |
Toshiyori
Avoiding Heat (避暑)
おほはらやおぼろの水に行きふれば夏はをちなる物にぞ有りける
ōhara ya
oboro no mizu ni
yukifureba
natsu wa ochinaru
mono ni zo arikeru | When at Ōhara
Misty waters
Brush me by
Summer is a distant
Thing, indeed! |
Nakazane
Avoiding Heat (避暑)
きくにさへすずしく成りぬ若松のもりの木ずゑの秋のしらべに
kiku ni sae
suzushikunarinu
wakamatsu no
mori no kozue no
aki no shirabe ni | Just simply listening
Has brought a touch of coolness;
The young pines in
The forest: their treetops
Sing the song of autumn… |
Akinaka
'Simply moving and elegant'