あひおひの袖のふれにしやどの竹よよはへにけりわがともとして
| ai’oi no sode no furenishi yado no take yoyo wa henikeri wa ga tomo toshite | Growing together, Brushing my sleeves, The bamboo at my house Has passed through the ages— My friend, it is.[i] |
667
[i] See: 晋騎兵参軍王子猷 栽称此君 唐太子賓客白楽天 愛為吾友 shin no kihei sangun ōshi iu / uete kono kimi to shōsu / tō no Taishi hinkaku hakurakuten / aishite wa ga tomo to su ‘In Chin times, Administrator for Cavalry Wang Tzu-yu / Planted it and called it “This Gentleman.” / In T’ang times, Adviser to the Heir Apparent Po Lo-t’ien / loved it as being “my friend.”’ (Rimer and Chaves 1997, 132) Fujiwara no Atsumochi (Wakan rōeishū II: 432); and: When His Majesty was yet a prince and had paid a visit to the Toba Palace to converse the Hachijō’in Princess, Her Highness recited, ‘The bamboo has been my friend these many years,’ so His Majesty composed a poem [along with others present]. わが友と君がみかきのくれ竹は千代にいく世のかげをそふらん wa ga tomo to / kimi ga migaki no / kuretake wa / chiyo ni ikuyo no / kage o souran ‘As “my friend” does / My Lady see, by her fence / Black bamboo— / Its thousand knots o’er how many ages / To her will show their shape?’ Master of the Dowager Empress Household Office, Toshinari (Senzaishū X: 608).
Bamboo and Felicitations.
竹の葉にふりおほふ雪のうれをおもみしたにも千世の色はかくれず
| take no ha ni furi’ōu yuki no ure o omomi shita ni mo chiyo no iro wa kakurezu | The bamboo leaves Are covered with fallen snow, Tips so heavy, but Beneath, a thousand ages Hue cannot be concealed.[i] |
664
[i] See: Topic unknown. ささのはにふりつむ雪のうれをおもみ本くだちゆくわがさかりはも sasa no ha ni / furitsumu yuki no / ure o omomi / moto kudachiyuku / wa ga sakari wa mo ‘The dwarf bamboo leave are / Piled with fallen snow, / Tips so heavy that / They droop down to the roots— / So, too, my prosperity!’ Anonymous (Kokinshū XVII: 891)
さとみこがみゆたてざさのそよそよになびきおきふしよしや世中
| satomiko ga miyu tatezasa no soyosoyo ni nabiki okifushi yoshi ya yo no naka | A local shrine maiden Purifies bamboo with sacred hot waters, Back and forth the leaves Trail, falling and rising— Indeed, that’s how this world is![i] |
648
[i] There was a shrine purification ritual whereby a shrine maiden (miko 巫女) would soak a branch of dwarf bamboo (sasa 笹) in water which she had heated, and then shake the water from the leaves, moving the branch up and down, scattering the droplets over both herself and pilgrims to the shrine. Sanetomo’s poem uses a description of this ritual as a preface (jo 序), before pivoting at the end of the fourth stanza to say that everyday life is just a sequence of both getting up and then going back to sleep (lying down) again and again (Higuchi 2016, 148).
しながどりゐなののはらのささ枕まくらの霜ややどる月かげ
| shinagadori inano no hara no sasamakura makura no shimo ya yadoru tsukikage | Upon waterbird-filled Inano Plain, with A pillow of bamboo— And the frost upon my pillow is The moonlight’s lodging…[i] |
583
[i] See: Topic unknown. しながどりゐなのをゆけばありまやま夕ぎり立ちぬやどはなくして shinagadori / inano o yukeba / arimayama / yūgiri tachinu / yado wa nakushite ‘Through waterbird-filled / Inano I go, as / Upon Arima Mountain / Evening mist has risen, and / Me without a lodging…’ Anonymous (Shinkokinshū X: 910)
On a folding screen for the celebrations of the birthday of Her Majesty, the Empress in Shōhei 4.[1]
色かへぬ松と竹とのすゑの世をいづれひさしと君のみぞ見む
| iro kaFenu matu to take no suwe no yo wo idure hisasi to kimi nomi zo mimu | Ever unchanging hues Have the pine and bamboo— In the ages to come Which is more eternal? My Lady, alone, will see! |
The Handmaid to the Ise Virgin
[1] The empress in question was Fujiwara no Onshi (Yasuko) 藤原穏子 (885-954), the consort of Emperor Daigo. The birthday being marked was her fiftieth, with the celebrations taking place on the 26th day of the Third Month, Shōhei 承平 4 [12.5.934].
On the wind in the bamboo before the moon.
色かへぬ竹の葉しろく月さえてつもらぬ雪をはらふ秋かぜ
| iro kaenu take no ha shiroku tsuki saete tsumoranu yuki o harau akikaze | The evergreen Bamboo leave are white Beneath the chilly moon— Snow that never drifts With the brush of autumn breezes. |
Kunaikyō
Topic unknown.
跡もなきしづが家ゐの竹のかきいぬのこゑのみおくふかくして
| ato mo naki shizu ga iei no take no kaki inu no koe nomi oku fukakushite | Not a trace remains Of the peasants’ huts’ Bamboo fences, Simply a dog barking From deep within. |
His Former Majesty [Hanazono]
From among his miscellaneous poems.
くれぬるかまがきの竹のむらすずめねぐらあらそふ声さわぐなり
| kurenuru ka magaki no take no murasuzume negura arasou koe sawagunari | Is it dusk? Along the bamboo of my lattice fence A flock of sparrows Quarrelling over roosts Is chirping noisily, indeed! |
The Jōmyōji Minister of the Left
浄妙寺左大臣
