When Spring Arrives in the Old Year 旧年立春
谷の戸をいでずとなけやうぐひすは年もあけぬに春はきにけり
| tani no to o idezu to nake ya uguisu wa toshi mo akenu ni haru wa kinikeri | Will ‘From the valley’s mouth Come not!’ you sing? O, warbler, for The year has not yet dawned, though Spring has come. |
Tadafusa
When Spring Arrives in the Old Year 旧年立春
一とせに春は二たび立ちぬれど老木の花はいかがさくべき
| hitotose ni haru wa futatabi tachinuredo oigi no hana wa ikaga sakubeki | In a single year Spring two times Has come, yet On an aged tree, blossom: How can it bloom? |
Nakazane
When Spring Arrives in the Old Year 旧年立春
年すぐる山べなこめそ朝がすみさこそは春と友にたつとも
| toshi suguru yamabe na kome so asagasumi sa koso wa haru to tomo ni tatsu tomo | The year’s passage shows On the mountain slopes – enfold them not, O, morning haze! For truly, it is as spring’s Companion that you should rise… |
Akinaka
First Snow 初雪
めもはるに花かとぞみるしもがれの草木もわかずふれる初皆
| me mo haru ni hana ka to zo miru shimogare no kusaki mo wakazu fureru hatsuyuki | Before my eyes, do spring In bloom I see? Frost-burned Trees and grasses both, I cannot tell Beneath the first snow fallen. |
Daishin
Composed when he had gone to a temple in the mountains.
宿りして春の山辺にねたる夜は夢の内にも花ぞちりける
| yadori site Faru no yamabe ni netaru yo Fa yume no uti ni mo Fana zo tirikeru | Lodging here Upon a mountainside in springtime, Sleeping at night Even my dreams are full Of scattered blossom. |
Tsurayuki
A poem from a poetry competition held by Her Majesty, the Empress, during the Kanpyō period.
春の野に若菜つまむと来し物をちりかふ花に道はまどひぬ
| Faru no no ni wakana tumamu to koshi mono wo tirikaFu Fana ni miti Fa madoFinu | To the meadows in springtime Thinking to pick fresh herbs Did I come, but Amongst the scattered blossom Have I lost my way. |
Tsurayuki
Topic unknown.
春ごとに花の盛りはありなめどあひ見む事はいのちなりけり
| Faru gotot ni Fana no sakari Fa arinamedo aFimimu koto Fa inoti narikeri | In every springtime are there Blossoms in profusion, No doubt, and yet Whether I will see them more Hangs upon my lifeline. |
Anonymous
When he had gone to the northern hills to view the blossom, he sent this to the residence of the Un’rin-in Prince.[1]
いざけふは春の山辺にまじりなむ暮れなばなげの花の影かは
| iza keFu Fa Faru no yamabe ni mazirinamu kurenaba nage no Fana no kage ka Fa | So, on this day Into the springtime mountains Let us tread! For even should dusk fall, brief Would the blossoms glow be? Surely not! |
Sosei
[1] Imperial Prince Tsuneyasu 常康親王 (?-869), the seventh son of Emperor Ninmyō.
Composed as a Spring poem.
三輪山をしかも隠すか春霞人に知られぬはなやさくらむ
| miwayama wo sikamo kakusu ka Farugasumi Fito ni sirarenu Fana ya sakuramu | Miwa Mountain Will you thus conceal, O, haze of spring? Might, unknown to all, Blossoms be blooming there? |
Tsurayuki
Topic unknown.
春の色のいたりいたらぬ里はあらじさけるさかざる花の見ゆらん
| Faru no iro no itari itaranu sato Fa arazi sakeru sakazaru Fana no miyuran | The hues of spring Spread on, and fail to reach No spots at all, so why do Some bloom, and some bloom not? These blossoms – or so it seems… |
Anonymous