Left (Tie)
ふるさとにかすみとびわけゆくかりはたびのそらにやはるをすぐらむ
furusato ni
kasumi tobiwake
yuku kari wa
tabi no sora ni ya
haru o suguramu | Above an ancient estate
Flying through the parting haze
Go the geese:
In the skies they journey through,
I wonder, will they pass the springtime? |
Mitsune
19
Right
ちるはなをぬきしとめねばあをやぎのいとはよるともかひやなからむ
chiru hana o
nukishi tomeneba
aoyagi no
ito wa yoru tomo
kai ya nakaramu | The scattered blossom
Has been pierced, but not stayed, so,
The green willow’s
Threaded fronds are spun together, yet
It useless seems… |
20
‘“Sewn but not halted”—it really does seem so.’
Topic unknown.
いづ方によるとかは見む青柳のいと定めなき人の心を
idukata ni
yoru to ka Fa mimu
awoyagi no
ito sadamenaki
Fito no kokoro wo | Where is it that
You might be headed, I wonder? Twisted
The green willow’s
Threaded fronds are inconstant as
A man’s heart. |
Anonymous
Composed on willows.
青柳之 絲乃細紗 春風尓 不乱伊間尓 令視子裳欲得
青柳の糸のくはしさ春風に乱れぬい間に見せむ子もがも
awoyagi no
ito no kupasisa
parukaze ni
midarenu ima ni
misemu ko mo gamo | The green willow
Fronds’ fresh beauty is
By the spring breezes
Untangled now—
If only I had a girl I would show her! |
Anonymous
Spring
Ten Poems on the Second Month
Left
あをやぎのえだにかかれるはるさめはいともてぬけるたまかとぞみる
aoyagi no
eda ni kakareru
harusame wa
ito mo te nukeru
tama ka to zo miru | Upon the green willow
Branches hang
Spring raindrops—
As if each frond were hand-threaded
With gems do they appear. |
Ise
1
Right
あさみどりそめてみだれるあをやぎのいとをばはるのかぜやよるらむ
asamidori
somete midareru
aoyagi no
ito oba haru no
kaze ya yoruramu | Pale green
Dyes the tangled
Willow
Fronds—do spring’s
Breeze they seem to beckon? |
Korenori
2
I’d say both of these are good—a tie.
Karukaya
Left
しらつゆにいろかはりゆくかるかやのほにいでてあきをあはれとぞ思ふ
shiratsuyu ni
iro kawariyuku
karukaya no
ho ni idete aki o
aware to zo omou | With silver dewfall
The hues do change
Of the pampas grass—
Fronds emerge and autumn’s
Sorrow I keenly feel. |
5
Right
よそめにはこともやすらにかるかやをなど秋風のふきみだるらん
yosome ni wa
koto mo yasura ni
karukaya o
nado akikaze no
fukimidaruran | When glanced at
So peaceful is
The pampas grass, so
Why might the autumn wind
Blow it to such confusion? |
6
Silver Grass
Left
ひとしれずおひぬものから花すすきなどかあきしもほにはいづらん
hito shirezu
oinu mono kara
hanasusuki
nado ka aki shimo
ho ni wa izuran | Unknown to all
Does grow
The silver grass, so
Why with the autumn frosts
Might the fronds emerge? |
3
Right
まねくかとみてたちよれば花すすきうちふくかぜになびくなりけり
maneku ka to
mite tachiyoreba
hanasusuki
uchifuku kaze ni
nabiku narikeri | Wondering at being beckoned,
I gazed, and then drew near to
The silver grass, but
The gusting wind
Was trailing ‘cross it! |
4
From among his spring poems
河ぎしのかげ行く水にうちなびき波の玉ぬく青柳の糸
kawagishi no
kage yuku mizu ni
uchinabiki
kawa no tama nuku
aoyagi no ito | By the bank’s
Shade flow waters where
Trailing
Threaded with the river’s jewels
Are the willow fronds. |
Ki no Yukinaga
紀行長
Topic unknown.
をぎのはにつゆふきむすぶこがらしのおとぞよさむになりまさるなる
wogi no Fa ni
tuyu Fukimusubu
kogarasi no
oto zo yosamu ni
narimasaru naru | Silver grass fronds
Blown with tangling dewdrops,
The biting wind’s
Howl, night’s chill
Does make the stronger. |
Fujiwara no Akitsuna
Composed on the conception of thinking about flowers in the meadows.
今はしも穂に出でぬらむ東路の石田の小野の篠の小薄
ima wa simo
Fo ni idenuramu
adumadi no
iFata no wono no
sino no wosusuki |
Now it is that
Their fronds seem to appear:
On the eastern roads,
Through Iwata meadows,
Fresh silver-grass among the arrow bamboo. |
Fujiwara no Kore’ie
藤原伊家
From a hundred poem sequence.
葦の葉に隠れて住みし津の国の昆陽もあらはに冬は来にけり
asi no Fa ni
kakurete sumisi
tu no kuni no
koya mo araFa ni
Fuyu Fa kinikeri |
Among the reed fronds
Hidden, did I dwell
In the land of Tsu
To the surface of my hut
Has come the winter. |
Minamoto no Shigeyuki
源重之
'Simply moving and elegant'