Composed on the conception of the beginning of winter.
草の葉もはや霜がれの色みえて外山かたかけ冬はきにけり
| kusa no ha mo haya shimogare no iro miete toyama katakake fuyu wa kinikeri | The blades of grass, Swiftly, their frost burned Hues do show All o’er the distant mountains Has the winter come. |
The Lay Priest and Former Regent and Minister of Left
Round Twelve
Left
冬の夜の月はとほくやわたりけんかげみしみづのまづしこほれば
| fuyu no yo no tsuki wa tōku ya watariken kage mishi mizu no mazu shi kōreba | On a winter’s night Does the moon distantly Pass by? For The waters where I saw its face Are the first to freeze… |
22
Right
ながれくるみづこほりぬる冬さへやなほうき草のあとはさだめぬ
| nagarekuru mizu kōrinuru fuyu sae ya nao ukikusa no ato wa sadamenu | Flowing down The waters have frozen With the winter, so will The drifting waterweed still Leave little trace? |
23
Left
あすは又けふをばこぞといひすててをしみしものとおもひだにせじ
| asu wa mata kyō o ba kozo to iisutete oshimishi mono to omoi dani seji | Tomorrow, once again Will be as today I’ll say easily and All those things that I regretted- I’ll not even think of them! |
Lord Sueyoshi
2080
Right
ふゆのそらわびつつけふになりにけりあとなきにはのゆきとみながら
| fuyu no sora wabitsutsu kyō ni narinikeri ato naki niwa no yuki to minagara | The winter sky is Ever a source of grief-today Has just turned out that way, While my gardens trackless Snow fills my gaze. |
Ienaga
2081
Judgement: I wonder how the central ‘I’ll say easily’ leads in to the concluding section. The Right’s poem is a little better, I’d say.
When people were commanded to compose a seventeen poem sequence.
冬の空日影みじかき比なればいとどほどなく暮るる年かな
| fuyu no sora hikage mijikaki koro nareba itodo hodo naku kururu toshi kana | The winter sky’s Sunlight hours are Brief, so Shortly, very shortly The year will reach its evening. |
Dharma Seal Kakkan
Topic unknown
冬の池の鴨のうはげにおくしものきえて物思ふころにもあるかな
| Fuyu no ike no kamo no uFage ni oku simo no kiete mono’omoFu koro ni mo aru kana | At a pond in winter Upon the ducks’ down Falls frost; it Vanishes and gloom Takes all my time! |
Anonymous
Here’s the second video on the topics and images used in waka on the season of winter. This one covers: Topography (winter mountains, ice and icicles); Life(style) (being sealed in winter, blankets and bedding); and Events (the ceremony for the Recitation of the Buddhas’ Names (butsumyōe 仏名会)).
Winter
Left
冬くれば紅葉ふりしく神無月佐保の山辺はむべもりぬらん
| fuyu kureba momiji furishiku kaminazuki saho no yamabe wa mube morinuran | When the winter comes, Scarlet leaves, falling and scattering In the Godless Month, Upon the slopes of Mount Saho, Indeed, are at their finest. |
19
冬ごもりかれてみゆらん梅がえは今はた花の春はにほはん
| fuyugomori karete miyuran ume ga e wa ima hata hana no haru wa niowan | Sealed in winter, and All withered seeming, The plum tree’s branches, Now, for sure, the blossoms’ Spring will scent. |
20
冬みれば水もまかせぬ小山田にいつすき返し種をまきけん
| fuyu mireba mizu mo makasenu oyamada ni itsu sukikaeshi tane o makiken | ‘Tis winter, I see, so There’s no water to draw for The little mountain paddies: O, when might I till them, and Sow my seeds, I wonder? |
21
Right
時雨降る宿にすまへば冬の夜に錦とみゆる木木の花かな
| shigure furu yado ni sumaeba fuyu no yo ni nishiki to miyuru kigi no hana kana | Showers fall Upon the house where I do dwell, so Upon a winter’s night As brocade do seem The blossoming trees! |
22
ゆふだすき神の社にかけつればしもし降るにもたのもしきかな
| yūdasuki kami no yashiro ni kaketsureba shimo shi furu ni mo tanomashiki kana | Sacred mulberry cords Around the God’s shrine Are hung, so Even amidst the frost fall, The future does seem bright! |
23
白雲のふたへふりしくときは山うらはへとしはみどりなりけれ
| shiragumo no futae furishiku tokiwa yama ura hae toshi wa midori narikere | Clouds of white Lie scattered, twofold, upon The unchanging mountain: Stretching out behind, the year Is simply green. |
24
From among the poems he composed daily in Bun’ei 7 [1270].
冬の雨の名残のきりはあけ過ぎてくもらぬ空にのこる月かげ
| fuyu no ame no nagori no kiri wa akesugite kumoranu sora ni nokoru tsukikage | The winter rain’s Remnants of mist Have cleared away, and In the cloudless sky Lingers moonlight. |
Minister of Popular Affairs, Lord Tame’ie
Winter moonlight at a mountain retreat.
やまおろしのけしきばかりやふゆならむみやこなりせば秋のよの月
| yama’oroshi no keshiki bakari ya fuyu naramu miyako nariseba aki no yo no tsuki | The wind howling down the mountain Simply sets a scene of Seeming winter, but Were I in the capital, An autumn night’s moon, would this be… |
On the day when the following day would mark the beginning of spring, he saw the snow being blown by the wind from the house next door, so he composed this and sent it over.
冬ながら春の隣のちかければなかがきよりぞ花はちりける
| Fuyu nagara Faru no tonari no tikakereba nakagaki yori zo Fana wa tirikeru | ‘Tis winter, yet Spring as a neighbour Lies so close, so From the fence between Blossom has scattered. |
Kiyowara no Fukayabu