Tag Archives: dew

Hon’in sadaijin-ke uta’awase 09

Bamboo

Left

つゆもおけとなびくものからたけのはのいろうつろへるあきもみぬかな

tsuyu mo oke to
nabiku mono kara
take no ha no
iro utsuroeru
aki mo minu kana
‘Fall, O, dewdrops!’, I say, then
Weighed down
The bamboo leaves’
Hues fading
I’ll see not this autumn!

18

Asters

Right

あきののにいろなきつゆはおきしかどわかむらさきに花はそみけり

aki no no ni
iro naki tsuyu wa
okishikado
wakamurasaki ni
hana wa somikeri
Upon the autumn meadows
Colourless dew
Has fallen, yet
With pale violet
Have the blooms been dyed.

18

Teishi-in ominaeshi uta’awase 04

Left

しらつゆのおけるあしたのをみなへしはなにもはにもたまぞかかれる

shiratsuyu no
okeru ashita no
ominaeshi
hana ni mo ha ni mo
tama zo kakareru
Silver dewdrops
Fallen in the morning on
A maidenflower:
Both bloom and leaves
Are all hung with pearls.

7[1]

Right

をみなへしたてるのざとをうちすぎてうらみむつゆにぬれやん

ominaeshi
tateru nozato o
uchisugite
uramimu tsuyu ni
nure ya wataran
A maidenflower
Stands at a house upon the plains
As I pass by;
Is it her resentful dew
That has drenched me on my way?

8


[1] Gyokuyōshū 526; Shinsen man’yōshū 606; Kokin rokujō 3687

Akazome emon-shū 549

Said by someone to be composed on the feelings of Wang Zhaojun when she was travelling to the kingdom of Hu.

なげきこしみちの露にもまさりけりなれにしさとをこふるなみだは

nagekikoshi
michi no tsuyu ni mo
masarikeri
narenishi sato o
kouru namida wa
A source of grief,
The dew upon this road, too,
Is great, indeed, as
For my familiar home I
Shed tears of longing.

Akazome Emon

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 55

Left

唐ころもほせど袂の露けきは我が身の秋になればなりけり

karakoromo
hosedo tamoto no
tsuyukeki wa
wa ga mi no aki ni
nareba narikeri
My Cathay robe
I dry, and yet the sleeves
Dew dampness is because
For me autumn
Has come.

108[1]

Right

秋の露色のことごとおけばこそ山も紅葉も千くさなるらめ

aki no tsuyu
iro no kotogoto
okeba koso
yama mo momiji mo
chigusa narurame
The autumn dewdrops
In a medley of colours
Do truly fall, so
The mountains and the autumn leaves, too,
Turn a multitude of hues.

109


[1] Shinchokusenshū V: 298

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 52

Left

白露の染めいだす萩の下紅葉衣にうつすあきは来にけり

shiratsuyu no
some’idasu hagi no
shita momiji
koromo ni utsusu
aki wa kinikeri
Silver dewdrops
Lay dye upon the bush clover’s
Scarlet underleaves:
Reflected in its garb,
Autumn has come!

102

Right

風寒み啼く秋虫のなみだこそ草に色どる露とおくらめ

kaze samumi
naku akimushi no
namida koso
kusa ni irodoru
tsuyu to okurame
The wind is chill, with
The crying autumn insects’
Tears;
Bringing colour to the grasses,
The dew seems to fall…

103

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 24

Left

かりそめのみやたのまれぬ夏の日をなど空蝉のなきくらしつる

karisome no
mi ya tanomarenu
natsu no hi o
nado utsusemi no
nakikurashitsuru
Is my transient
Flesh untrustworthy?
On a summer day
Why does the cicada, an empty shell,
Cry the day away?

47[1]

Right

はかもなき夏のくさ葉におく露を命とたのむ虫のはかなさ

haka mo naki
natsu no kusaba ni
oku tsuyu o
inochi to tanomu
mushi no hakanasa
Fleetingly
Upon the blades of summer grass
Falls the dew—
A lifetime, I expect, for
The short-lived insects.

48


[1] A minor variant of this poem, with a headnote associating it with this contest, occurs in Shokugosenshū (XVI: 1058): かりそめの世やたのまれぬ夏の日をなどうつせみのなきくらしつる karisome no / yo ya tanomarenu / natsu no hi o / nado utsusemi no / nakikurashitsuru ‘Is this transient / World untrustworthy? / On a summer day / Why does the cicada, an empty shell, / Cry the day away?’

Horikawa-in Enjo Awase 15

人しれぬ袖ぞ露けき逢ふことはかれのみまさる山のした草

hito shirenu
sode zo tsuyukeki
au koto wa
kare nomi masaru
yama no shitagusa
Unknown to all
My sleeves are drenched with dew;
For our meetings
Excel only in being withered
As the scrub grass on the mountainside.

[Nakako,] The Suō Handmaid
29

In reply.

おく山の下かげ草はかれやする軒ばにのみはおのれなりつつ

oku yama no
shitakagegusa wa
kare ya suru
nokiba ni nomi wa
onore naritsutsu
Deep within the mountains, have
The grasses growing in the trees’ dark shade
Really withered away?
Simply beneath your eaves,
Is where I ever am…

The Consultant Middle Captain
30

A picture of the eaves of a traditional Japanese house.
Image by joyfultta from Pixabay