Left (Win)
はるかぜのふかぬよにだにあらませばこころのどかにはなはみてまし
harukaze no
fukanu yo ni dani
aramaseba
kokoro nodoka ni
hana wa mitemashi | The spring breezes
Not blowing of an evening—if only
That were so, then
With peace in my heart
I would view the blossom |
His Majesty
11
Right
ちりぬともありとたのまむさくらばなはるはすぎぬとわれにきかすな
chirinu tomo
ari to tanomamu
sakurabana
haru wa suginu to
ware ni kikasu na | You have fallen, yet
That you are here, I will believe,
O, cherry blossom!
That spring is past—
Don’t tell me that! |
12
‘The Left’s poem is my own—it really should lose, shouldn’t it?’
On ‘Love and Travel’ at the Sumiyoshi Shrine Poetry Contest in Jōgen 2 [1209].
いかにせんせめては旅の空だのめむなしくまたん夕暮もがな
ika ni sen
semete wa tabi no
soradanome
munashiku matan
yūgure mogana | O, what am I to do?
At least, it’s due to travel’s
Unreliable skies that
Emptily I would wait
This evening—if only that were so! |
Iehira, Junior Third Rank
従三位家衡
をみなへしやまののくさとふりしかどさかゆくときもありけるものを
ominaeshi
yamano no kusa to
furishikado
sakayuku toki mo
arikeru mono o | The maidenflowers
With the mountain meadow grasses
Have grown old, yet
A time to flourish
Did they have once… |
45[1]
をみなへしさけるやまべのあきかぜはふくゆふかげをたれかかたらむ
ominaeshi
sakeru yamabe no
akikaze wa
fuku yūkage o
tare ka kataramu | A maidenflower
Blooming in a mountain meadow, with
The autumn wind’s
Evening gusts revealed, but
Who is there to tell the tale? |
46
[1] This poem is almost identical to poem 4 in Uda-in ominaeshi uta’awase.
Topic unknown.
をしめども春の限のけふの又ゆふぐれにさへなりにけるかな
wosimedomo
Faru no kagiri no
keFu no mata
yuFugure ni sae
narinikeru kana | I regret it, yet
The limit of spring has come
Today, once more
Evening, truly
Has arrived! |
Anonymous
A miscellaneous poem on spring.
ひさかたの天の香具山この夕霞たなびく春立つらしも
pisakata no
ama no kaguyama
kono yupube
kasumi tanabiku
paru taturasi mo | Upon eternal
Heavenly fragrant Mount Kagu
This evening
The haze trails across, and
Spring seems to have arrived, indeed! |
On the day of an imperial visit to the Naniwa Palace, in Kyōun 3 [706].
あし辺ゆくかものはがひにしもふりてさむきゆふべのことをしぞおもふ
ashibe yuku
kamo no hagai ni
shimo furite
samuki yūbe no
koto o shi zo omou | Huddled in the reeds
Upon the ducks’ folded wings
Frost falls and
In the evening’s cold
My mind is full of thoughts. |
The Tawara Emperor
When he visited the Naniwa Palace in Kyōun 3 [706]
葦邊行 鴨之羽我比尓 霜零而 寒暮夕 和之所念
葦辺行く鴨の羽交ひに霜降りて寒き夕は大和し思ほゆ
asibe yuku
kamo no pagapi ni
simo purite
samuki yupube pa
yamato si omopoyu | Huddled in the reeds
Upon the ducks’ folded wings
Frost falls and
In the evening’s cold
My thoughts dwell upon Yamato. |
Prince Shiki
Love
Left
恋せじと御手洗川に御祓して神うけつらんとおもほゆるかな
koi seji to
mitarashigawa ni
oharaishite
kami uketsuran to
omohoyuru kana | I’ll not fall in love, and
At the River Mitarashi
Purify myself—
Would the gods then accept me,
I wonder! |
25
恋なれどそこにもすまぬひれはみづにごれりとおもほゆるかな
koi naredo
soko ni mo sumanu
hire wa mizu
nigoreri to
omohoyuru kana | This is love, yet
The deeps are all disturbed, with
Fins the waters
Clouding,
I feel! |
26
こひわたる程のふかさにそめ川の色あさからじとおもほゆるかな
koiwataru
hodo no fukasa ni
somekawa no
iro asakaraji to
omohoyuru kana | So long have I loved you that
The depths of
Dyers’ River have
Lost their pale hues
I feel! |
27
Right
おもふとて夕ぐれがたのながめをや人待つほどの恋といふらん
omou tote
yūguregata no
nagame o ya
hito matsu hodo no
koi to iuran | Thinking of him
As evening draws on, and
I gaze on long rains falling; is
Time pining for a man
Being in love, I wonder? |
28
年の内にあまる月日の有りければかぞへのうちにははわぶるかな
toshi no uchi ni
amaru tsuki hi no
arikereba
kazoe no uchi ni
haha waburu kana | Throughout the year
The days and months mount up
So
Counting them
My mother grieves! |
29
On winter rain, from a hundred poem sequence on the four seasons, composed in Jōkyū 2 [1220].
都人ちぎりしものをはつ雪に松の葉をしき夕暮の雨
miyakobito
chigirishi mono o
hatsuyuki ni
matsu no ha o shiki
yūgure no ame | Capital folk
Did make a vow:
Upon the first snows
Pine needles spread
By the evening rain. |
Lord Ietaka, Junior Second Rank
Composed when he presented a hundred poem sequence, during the reign of former Emperor Horikawa.
山ざとはさびしかりけりこがらしのふく夕ぐれのひぐらしのこゑ
yamazato Fa
sabisikarikeri
kogarasi no
Fuku yuFugure no
higurasi no kowe | A mountain retreat is
Lonely, indeed;
The biting wind
Blows of an evening with
The sundown cicadas’ cries. |
Fujiwara no Nakazane
藤原仲実
'Simply moving and elegant'