わぎもこがひもゆふぐれのきくなればあかずぞはなのいろはみえける
wagimoko ga hi mo yūgure no kiku nareba akazu zo hana no iro wa miekeru | My darling girl Both day and eve is As a chrysanthemum, so Never sated am I with this flower’s Hues I see. |
Korenori
5
きくのはなふゆののかぜにちりもせでけふまでとてやしもはおくらん
kiku no hana fuyu no kaze ni chiri mo sede kyō made tote ya shimo wa okuran | Chrysanthemum blooms In the winter wind Scatter not; Is it that up to today is when Frost is said to fall? |
Korenori
6
かげさへやこよひはにほふきくのはなあまてるつきにかのそはるらん
kage sae ya koyoi wa niou kiku no hana ama teru tsuki ni ka no sowaruran | Even their shape Fills tonight with a scented glow; Chrysanthemum blooms To the heaven-shining moon Seem to add their fragrance. |
Korenori
7
Plum-scented robes.
うめがかはわが衣手に匂ひきぬ花より過ぐる春の初かぜ
ume ga ka wa wa ga koromode ni nioikinu hana yori suguru haru no hatsukaze | The fragrance of plum My sleeves has Come to scent, Carried from the blossom by The first breeze of spring. |
Created with Soan.
Plum blossom at an ancient estate.
ふる郷にたれしのべとか梅のはなむかしわすれぬかににほふらん
furusato ni tare shinobedo ka ume no hana mukashi wasurenu ka ni niouran | At this ancient estate Who is it I recall? The plum blossom Unforgettable days gone by With fragrance seems to bring to life. |
Image created with Adobe Firefly.
Created with Soan.
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
Image created with Adobe Firefly.
Created with Soan.
A warbler between the blossom.
春くれば先さくやどのむめのはなかをなつかしみうぐひすぞ鳴く
haru kureba mazu saku yado no mume no hana ka o natsukashimi uguisu zo naku | When the spring has come, First to bloom at my house is Plum blossom Fond of its fragrance Does the warbler sing! |
Created with Soan.
かをるかによそふるよりはほととぎすきかばやおなじこゑやしたると
kaoru ka ni yosouru yori wa hototogisu kikaba ya onaji koe ya shitaru to | Scenting their fragrance In place of his – rather The cuckoo I would hear, wondering if his call Is just the same… |
Izumi Shikibu
In a fifty-poem sequence…
たが袖のにほひをかりて梅の花人のとがむる香にはさくらん
ta ga sode no nioi o karite ume no hana hito no togamuru ka ni wa sakuran | From whose sleeves Have you borrowed the scent Of plum blossom— Will a lady be called out By its fragrance blooming forth? |
Prince Munetaka (1242-1274)
宗尊親王
Bird cherry.
ゆきふかきかきねのむめのいかにしてなほうづもれぬかにはさくらん
yuki fukaki kakine no mume no ika ni shite nao uzumorenu ka ni wa sakuran | Deep with the snow is The plum blossom by my brushwood fence: O, what will become of it— Still buried Will its fragrance bloom forth? |
The Former Kinugasa Minister of the Centre [Kinugasa no Ieyoshi 衣笠家良 (1192-1264)]
衣笠前内大臣
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
鴬のこつたふ枝の移り香は桜の花のときの待つ衣
ugupisu no
ko tutapu eda no
uturika pa
sakura no pana no
toki no matu kinu |
The bush warbler
Tells me of the branches’
Fragrance:
For cherry blossom
Season does my robe await. |
Yamabe no Akahito
山辺赤人
'Simply moving and elegant'