On the moon at dawn, during the Kasuga Poetry Contest:
霜こほる袖にもかげはのこりけりつゆよりなれしありあけの月
shio kôru
sode ni mo kage wa
nokorikeri
tsuyu yori nareshi
ariake no tsuki |
From frost frozen
Sleeves, your glitter
Arises.
Accustomed to rising from dewdrops,
O, daybreak moon. |
Commander of the Bodyguards of the Right [Minamoto no] Michitomo (1171-1227)
Topic unknown.
かさゝぎのわたせるはしにをくしものしろきを見ればよぞふけにける
kasasagi no
wataseru hashi ni
oku shimo no
shiroki o mireba
yo zo fukenikeru |
On a magpie
Crossed bridge
Frost lies;
Seeing the whiteness
Night, indeed, is over. |
Middle Councillor [Ōtomo no] Yakamochi
大伴家持
From when he presented a hundred poem sequence.
さゝの葉はみ山もさやにうちそよぎこほれる霜を吹嵐かな
sasa no ha wa
miyama mo saya ni
uchisoyogi
koreru shimo o
fuku arashi kana |
The bamboo grass leaves
On Miyama clearly
Rustle:
The frozen frost
Blown by the storm, perhaps? |
The Regent and Grand Minister [Fujiwara no Yoshitsune] (1169 – 1206)
藤原良経
Composed on the spirit of the start of winter, in a poetry contest in 1500 rounds.
をきあかす秋のわかれのそでのつゆ霜こそむすべ冬やきぬらん
oki akasu
aki no wakare no
sode no tsuyu
shimo koso musube
fuyu ya kinuran |
Still awake at dawn,
Parting from autumn,
The dew upon my sleeves
Is laced through with frost:
Winter has come, perhaps. |
Master of the Dowager Empress’ Household [Fujiwara no] Toshinari (1114 – 1204)
藤原俊成
At a time when the Regent and Grand Minister was a colonel, he had this composed for him as part of a hundred poem sequence.
かさゝぎの雲のかけはし秋くれて夜半には霜やさえわたるらん
kasasagi no
kumo no kakewashi
aki kurete
yowa ni wa shimo ya
saewataruran |
The magpies’
Bridge, spans the clouds,
And at the end of autumn
In night’s depths, is it the frost
That falls all around. |
The Monk Jakuren (d. 1202)
寂蓮
In the conception of chrysanthemums on a lattice fence in the moonlight, from when she presented a fifty poem sequence.
霜をまつまがきのきくのよゐのまにをきまよふ色は山のはの月
shimo wo matsu
magaki no kiku no
yoi no ma ni
okimayou iro wa
yama no ha no tsuki |
Awaiting frost
The chrysanths on the lattice fence
At night
Are touched with colour, most confusing:
Moonlight from the mountains’ edge. |
Lady Kunaikyō
In a fifty-poem sequence for Priest-Prince Shukaku
しもまよふそらにしほれしかりがねのかへるつばさに春雨ぞふる
shimo mayou
sora ni shioreshi
kari ga ne no
kaeru tsubasa ni
harusame zo furu |
Wracked by frosts,
The skies, where drenched
The geese, calling,
Homeward bound, wingbeats
Stirring Spring rains’ fall. |
Fujiwara no Sada’ie
藤原定家
Composed as a travel poem during a hundred poem sequence.
花咲きし野べの景色も霜がれぬ是にてぞ知る旅の日數を
Fana sakisi
nobe no kesiki mo
simogarenu
kore nite zo siru
tabi no Fi kazu wo |
The flowers bloomed
Within the fields-the scene
Now frost-seared;
From this it is I know
The number of my journey’s days. |
The Ōimikado Minister of the Right [Fujiwara no] Kin’yoshi
Composed as a poem on the beginning of Winter.
冬來ては一夜ふたよをたま笹の葉わけの霜の處せきまで
Fuyu kite Fa
Fito yo Futa yo wo
tamasasa no
Fawake no simo no
tokoro seki made |
Since Winter’s coming-
In but a single night or maybe two-
Upon the bamboo grass
Leaves, the frost
Has left no gap at all. |
Fujiwara no Sada’ie
藤原定家
Topic unknown.
草枯れの冬までみよと露霜のをきてのこせる白菊の花
kusagare no
Fuyu made miyo to
tuyu simo no
wokite nokoseru
siragiku no Fana |
The grass is sere
In winter-til then, behold!
Dewdrops and frost
Fallen, removed and remaining
Upon white chrysanthemum blooms. |
Sone no Yoshitada
曾禰好忠
'Simply moving and elegant'