Tag Archives: blades of grass

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 37

Left

おしなべて五月のそらを見渡せば草葉も水もみどりなりけり

oshinabete
satsuki no sora o
miwataseba
kusaba mo mizu mo
midori narikeri
When the entire
Fifth Month sky
I gaze across,
Blades of grass and water, too,
Are green.

72[1]

Right

くるるかとみれば明けぬる夏の夜をあかずとや鳴く山郭公

kururu ka to
mireba akenuru
natsu no yo o
akazu to ya naku
yamahototogisu
Did you think ’twas sunset?
When a glance would show the breaking dawn
Of this summer night-
Unsated by your song, do you sing on,
Cuckoo in the mountains?

73[2]


[1] Shinchokusenshū III: 152/Kokin rokujō I: 89

[1] Kokinshū III: 157, attributed to Mibu no Tadamine/Shinsen man’yōshū 57/Kokin rokujō VI: 4437