As a poem on willows.
青柳のいともてぬける白露の玉こきちらす春の山かぜ
aoyagi no ito mo tenukeru shiratsuyu no tama kokichirasu haru no yamakaze | Pale green willow Threads are strung With silver dewdrops— Gems scattered by The breeze from off the mountains in springtime. |
Created with Soan.
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.
Composed when the former Teishi Emperor made a progress to Naniwa.
君がため波の玉しくみつの浜ゆき過ぎがたしおりてひろはん
kimi ga tame nami no tamashiku mitsu no hama yukisugigatashi orite hirowan | For my Lord’s sake The waves scatter gems On the beach at Mitsu— So hard it is to pass them by I would disembark and gather them up! |
Prince Sadakazu
Wisteria
Left (Win)
おくつゆのひかりてたまぞみえまがふちのはながらにきえずもあらなむ
oku tsuyu no hikarite tama zo miemagau chi no ha nagara ni kiezu mo aranamu | The fallen dewdrops Shine like gems Within my sight; From the budding leaves I would they vanished not! |
21
Right
あまつそらてりみくもりみゆくつきのふちのはなどはさやけかるらん
ama tsu sora terimi kumorimi yuku tsuki no fuchi no ha nado wa sayakekaruran | Through the heaven-bound skies Shining, then clouding, Goes the moon, so Why, by this deep pool’s edge Should it show so clear? |
Fukayabu
22
Kerria
Left
はなをらでわれぞややまふきのはなるつゆをたまにてけたじとおもへば
hana orade ware zo ya yamau ki no ha naru tsuyu o tama nite ketaji to omoeba | Leave the blossom unplucked, and As it is, I will, that From the tree’s leaves The dewdrop gems Will not disappear, or so I wish… |
Sadafun
13
Right (Win)
いづこともわかずはるさめふりやまふきのはなべてももえにけるかな
izuko to mo wakazu harusame furiyamau ki no ha nabete mo moenikeru kana | Everywhere Without exception, springtime showers Have ceased to fall, so All the leaves upon the trees Have budded! |
14
Left
我のみやあはれとおもはむきりぎりす鳴く夕かげのやまとなでしこ
ware nomi ya aware to omowan kirigirisu naku yūkage no yamato nadeshiko | Is it only I Who loves it so? Crickets Chirping in the evening shadows On the wild pinks. |
Sosei
80[1]
Right
秋の野の草はいととはみえなくにおく白露の玉とつらなる
aki no no no kusa wa ito to wa mienaku ni oku shiratsuyu no tama to tsuranaru | In the autumn meadows The grasses, threads Do not appear to be, yet The fallen silver dewdrop Gems are strung upon them. |
Tsurayuki
81
[1] Kokinshū IV: 244
From the beach at Ajiro in Ise.
磯に咲く網代の小菊汐間は玉とぞ求めむ波の下草
iso ni saku
aziro no wogiku
shiFokaFi Fa
tama to zo tomemu
nami no sitagusa |
Blooming on the rocks
Ajiro’s tiny chrysanths
Between the tides are
Gems that I would seek,
Weeds beneath the waves… |
9
Hidden Love
つつみかね袖より玉のちる時はしのぶおもひや人はみるらん
tsutsumikane sode yori tama no chiru toki wa shinobu omoi ya hito wa miruran | I cannot bear that When from my sleeves gems Do fall, I wonder, has my secret love She seen? |
Tadafusa
宮城野のま萩が上の白露を玉にしきても宿る月かな
miyagino no
mahagi ga ue no
shiratsuyu o
tama ni shikitemo
yadoru tsuki kana |
On Miyagi plain
Upon the fair bush clover
Silver dewdrops
Are spread like gems
Where the moon takes rest. |
Ietaka
百年を人に留むる玉なればあだにやは見る菊の上の露
momotose wo
Fito ni todomuru
tama nareba
ada ni ya Fa miru
kiku no uFe no tuyu |
A century
For folk is halted
By these gems, so
Can I look lightly on
Dewdrops upon chrysanthemums? |
Ki no Tsurayuki
紀貫之
'Simply moving and elegant'