Tag Archives: flowers

Kinkai wakashū 30

Plum blossom at an ancient estate.

年ふればやどはあれにけり梅のはな花はむかしの香ににほへども

toshi fureba
yado wa arenikeri
ume no hana
hana wa mukashi no
ka ni nioedomo
The years have passed, so
The house has into ruin fallen, yet
The plum’s blossoming
Flowers, as in days long gone
Scent the air with fragrance.

30

An AI generated image of a ruined old Japanese house surrounded by blossoming plum trees.
Image created with Adobe Firefly.
A kuzushiji version of the poem's text.
Created with Soan.

Teiji-in uta’awase 37

Left

夏夜のまだもねなくにあけぬれば昨日今日ともおもひまどひぬ

natsu no yo no
mada mo nenaku ni
akenureba
kinō kyō tomo
omoimadoinu
On a summer night,
Still sleep has eluded me,
When dawn breaks—
Is it yet yesterday, or today,
I wonder in confusion.

74

Right

うのはなのさけるかきねは白雲のおりゐるとこそあやまたれけれ

u no hana no
sakeru kakine wa
shirakumo no
ori’iru to koso
ayamatarekere
Deutzia flowers
Are blooming by the brushwood fence—
Clouds of white
Have descended there, I think—
How strange…

75

Teiji-in uta’awase 36

Five poems on Summer—not matched.

Left

いづれをかそれともわかむうのはなのさけるかきねをてらすつきかげ

izure o ka
sore tomo wakamu
u no hana no
sakeru kakine o
terasu tsukikage
How is it that
I might distinguish them:
Deutzia flowers
Blooming on a brushwood fence, and
Shining moonlight?

72

Right

この夏もかはらざりけりはつこゑは習志の岡になくほととぎす

kono natsu mo
kawarazarikeri
hatsukoe wa
narashi no oka ni
naku hototogisu
This summer, too,
Is no different;
The first song
Upon Narashi Hill is
A calling cuckoo.

73

Teiji-in uta’awase 04

Left

いそのかみふるのやまべのさくらばなこぞみしはなのいろやのこれる

isonokami
furu no yamabe no
sakurabana
kozo mishi hana no
iro ya nokoreru
In Isonokami
At Furu, on the mountainside is
Cherry blossom—
The flowers I did see last year:
Are their hues lingering on?

Suekata[i]
7

Right

ほどもなくちりなむものをさくらばなここらひささもまたせつるかな

hodo mo naku
chirinamu mono o
sakurabana
kokora hisasa mo
matasetsuru kana
Before a moment’s gone
Seem to scatter
The cherry blossoms, after
Everyone forever
Having made to wait!

Ise
8

The Left only shows affection for the past year, and lacks a conception of the current one—a loss.


[i] Suekata 季方.The identity of this poet is unclear. Hagitani (1963, 174) suggests he could have been the son of any one of a number of nobles: Prince Koga 興我王 (dates unknown); Fujiwara no Toshiyuki 藤原敏行 (?-901/07); Fujiwara no Sugane 藤原菅根 (856-908); or the younger brother of Taira no Atsuyuki 平篤行 (?-910).

Hon’in sadaijin-ke uta’awase 10

Evergreens

ちりかはる心なけれどみやまぎのときはは秋もしられざりけり

chirikawaru
kokoro nakeredo
miyamagi no
tokiwa wa aki mo
shirarezarikeri
A flighty
Heart, has it not, yet
Deep within the mountains, that the trees
Are evergreen, even the autumn
Seems not to know…

19

Gentian

した草の花をみつればむらさきに秋さへふかくなりにけるかな

shitagusa no
hana o mitsureba
murasaki ni
aki sae fukaku
narinikeru kana
When in the undergrowth
Flowers I do see, their
Violet in
Autum much deeper
Has become!

20

Hon’in sadaijin-ke uta’awase 01

Topics

Pinks  Silver grassKarukayaMaidenflowers
Orchids  Bush cloverMarlberryScarlet leaves
BambooAstersEvergreensGentian

Poetry Match    

Pinks

Left

あきののの花はさきつつうつろへどいつともわかぬやどのとこ夏

aki no no no
hana wa sakitsutsu
utsuroedo
itsu to mo wakanu
yado no tokonatsu
In the autumn meadows,
The flowers ever bloom, then
Fade away, yet
Never will that happen to
The pink where I do dwell…

1

Right

秋ののをみるよりも又あしひきの山となでしこさきにけるかな

aki no no o
miru yori mo mata
ashihiki no
yamato nadeshiko
sakinikeru kana
Upon the autumn meadows
I gaze—but better yet that
In the leg-wearying
Mountains of Yamato a pink
Has bloomed!

2

Uda-in uta’awase 9

Lilac Daphne

Left (Tie)

かたをかにひのはなばなにみえつるはこのもかのもにたれかつけつる

kataoka ni
hi no hanabana ni
mietsuru wa
konomo kanomo ni
tare katsuketsuru
Upon the hillside
The fires as flowers
Do appear—
Here and there,
Who has kindled them?

Tsurayuki
17

Right

わたつみのおきなかにひのはなれいでてもゆとみゆるはあまつほしかも

watatsumi no
oki naka ni hi no
hanare’idete
moyu to miyuru wa
ama tsu hoshi kamo
Across the broad sea sweep
Upon the offing, fires
In the distance
Burn it seems—
Stars within the heavens, perhaps…

Tomonori
18

Teishi-in ominaeshi uta’awase 14

せきやまちふみまがひかぞらにむやそのあきのらぬやまべに

osekiyama
michi fumimagai
nakazora ni
hemu ya sono aki no
shiranu yamabe ni
On Oseki Mountain
I wander lost upon the paths;
All uncertain
Will I pass the days of autumn in
Unknown mountain meadows?

27[1]

りもちてしはなゆゑにごりなくまさへまがひみつきにけり

orimochite
mishi hana yue ni
nagori naku
tema sae magai
shimitsukinikeri
A bunch picked in hand,
I gazed at the flowers, and thus
Utterly
Lost track of time,
Completely captivated.

28


[1] A variant of this poem occurs in Uda-in ominaeshi uta’awase (9).