Tag Archives: dawn

SCSS I: 15

A spring poem, from when he composed a fifty-poem sequence at the residence of Cloistered Prince Shukaku.

山のはもそらもひとつに見ゆるかなこれやかすめるはるのあけぼの

yama no ha mo
sora mo hitotsu ni
miyuru kana
kore ya kasumeru
haru no akebono
The mountains’ edge and
The sky, too, as one
Do seem!
This is the hazy
Dawn in springtime!

Minamoto no Moromitsu
源師光

An image of hazy mountains at dawn

Sagyokushū II: 325-326

Round 8

Left

花の色はかすみのひまにほのみえて山のはにほふ春の暁

hana no iro wa
kasumi no hima ni
honomiete
yama no ha niou
haru no akebono
The blossoms’ hues
Between the shifting haze
I briefly glimpse, and
The mountains’ edges glow
With the dawn in springtime.

325

Right

あだし夜の花にとききてゆく雁の名残もいとど有明のそら

adashiyo no
hana ni toki kite
yuku kari no
nagori mo itdodo
ariake no sora
To fleeting night’s
Blossoms has the time come, and
The departing geese leave
A keepsake more brief
In the skies at dawn.

326

This round, again, it seems difficult to distinguish between the the two poems.

Former Emperor Gosukō (1372-1456)
後崇光院

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

Kanpyō no ōntoki chūgū uta’awase 5

Round Five

Left (Win)

なつの夜のふすかとすればほととぎす鳴く一声に明くるしののめ

natsu no yo no
fusu ka to sureba
hototogisu
naku hitogoe ni
akuru shinonome
On summer nights,
I’m wondering whether to go to bed, when
A cuckoo’s
Single call
Brightens the dawn.

Ki no Tsurayuki
9

Right

郭公をちかへりなけうなゐこがうちたれがみの五月雨の空

hototogisu
ochikaerinake
unaiko ga
uchitaregami no
samidare no sora
A cuckoo
Calls again and again;
A child’s shoulder-brushing
Hair dangling down:
A summer shower fills the skies.

Ōshikōchi no Mitsune 10[1]


[1] Shūishū II: 116: For a poetry contest at Sadafun’s house.

Kanpyō no ōntoki chūgū uta’awase 4

Summer

Round Four

Left

匂ふよりここちあだなる花ゆゑにのどけきはるの風もうらみじ

niou yori
kokochi adanaru
hana yue ni
nodokeki haru no
kaze mo uramiji
From their fragrance
Fickle feelings
Do these blossoms have, so
Peaceful spring’s
Breezes I would likely not resent.

7

Right (Win)

夏の夜のぬるほどもなく明けぬればあしたのまをぞかこちよせつる

natsu no yo no
nuru hodo mo naku
akenureba
ashita no ma o zo
kakochiyosetsuru
On a summer night
I’ve lacked time to sleep, and
Dawn has come, so
I’ll do it on the morrow—
That is my excuse!

8