A mountain home concealed by haze (霞隔山家)
Left
おぼつかなとなりもみえず成りにけり霞へだつる村雲のさと
obotsukana tonari mo miezu narinikeri kasumi hedatsuru muragumo no sato | All is hidden! My neighbours invisible Have become; The hazes form a barrier in This cloud-clustered hamlet… |
Kaya no Nuki
5
Right
春霞八重立ちぬれば尋ねゆく道もわかれずくらはしのさと
harugasumi yae tachinureba tazuneyuku michi mo wakarezu kurahashi no sato | The spring hazes Arise eightfold, so Though I go enquire No one knows the way to The estate at Kurahashi. |
Koretsune
6
Singing Girls 妓女
あけぼのにかすみこめたる花よりもあかぬはいもがにほひなりけり
akebono ni kasumi kometaru hana yori mo akanu wa imo ga nioi narikeri | At the dawning Mingled with the hazes are The blossoms, yet far more Unsated am I by my darling’s Scent. |
Daishin
Groves 原
春の中はかすみのうちに見えしかど霧も立ちけりあをやぎのはら
haru no naka wa kasumi no uchi ni mieshikado kiri mo tachikeri aoyagi no hara | In the midst of springtime, Within the hazes Have they appeared, yet now The mist has arisen among The willow groves. |
Nakazane
Love Interrupted by a Year 経年恋
立ちかはる春のかすみぞうらめしきあひみぬ年をへだつとおもへば
tachikawaru haru no kasumi zo urameshiki aiminu toshi o hedatsu to omoeba | The swiftly changing Hazes of spring, How I envy them! When, a year with no tryst Does stand between, I think… |
Daishin
When Spring Arrives in the Old Year 旧年立春
あは雪もまだふる年にたなびけばころまどはせるかすみとぞみる
awayuki mo mada furu toshi ni tanabikeba koro madowaseru kasumi to zo miru | Snow spume Still withing the old year Does trail across the skies, so Confused about the season Do the hazes seem to be! |
Toshiyori
A poem from a poetry competition held by Her Majesty, the Empress, during the Kanpyō period.
霞立春の山辺はとをけれど吹くる風は花の香ぞする
kasumi tatu Faru no yamabe Fa towokeredo Fukikuru kaze Fa Fana no ka zo suru | Hazes rise Round the mountains’ sides, So far away, and yet The gusting breeze comes Bearing the scent of blossom. |
Ariwara no Motokata
たちわたる峯の霞はもろともに志賀の 山越するにやあるらむ
tachiwataru
mine no kasumi wa
morotomo ni
shiga no yamagoe
suru ni ya aruramu |
Rising all around
Do the hazes on the peak
All together
Along the path across the Shiga Mountains
Find their way, I wonder? |
'Simply moving and elegant'