From the pond at Ōsawa in Saga. From this point on, poems refer to flowers on the suhama.
人本と思ひしものを大沢の池の底にも誰か植ゑけむ
| Fitomoto to omoFisi mono wo oFosaFa no ike no soko ni mo tare ka uwekemu |
A single bloom Did I think it was, but In Ōsawa Pond’s depths Who might have planted it there? |
Tomonori
2
Composed as a love poem when a hundred poem sequence was presented to former Emperor Sutoku.
恋をのみ菅田の池に水草ゐてすまでやみなむ名こそ惜しけれ
| koFi wo nomi sugata no ike ni mikusa wite sumade yaminamu na koso woshikere |
Our love is simply Form – Sugata Pond Fills with waterweed, and Grows stagnant – such an ending Leaves only regret… |
Ikuhōmon’in no Aki
郁芳門院安芸
This poem is also Kyūan hyakushu 1266.
置く霜に生ひたる葦の枯れ伏して菅田の池にあらはれにけり
| okushimo ni oitaru ashi no karefushite sugata no ike ni arawarenikeri |
With the frost fall The shapes of grown reeds Withering down At Sugata Pond Have appeared! |
Minamoto no Morotoki
源師時
乙女子が菅田の池の蓮葉は心よげにも花咲きにけり
| otomego ga sugata no ike no hachisuba wa kokoroyoge ni mo hana sakinikeri |
In maiden Form at Sugata Pond The lotuses Cheerfully Have bloomed! |
Minamoto no Moroyori
源師頼
池の辺の小槻の下の小竹な刈りそねそれをだに君が形見に見つつ偲はむ
| ike no pe no wotuki no sita no sino na kari so ne sore wo dani kimi ga katami ni mitutu sinopamu |
Beside the pond, Beneath the young zelkova tree, Reap not the arrow bamboo! For that, alone, Is my keepsake of you, and I would gaze on it and remember what is gone… |
Hitomaro kashū
人麻呂歌集
In the same conception – that of the moon over Hirosawa Pond – when people were composing poetry at the Henjō Temple.
宿しもつ月の光のををしさはいかにいへども広沢の池
| yadoshi motsu tsuki no hikari no ooshisawa ika ni iedomo hirosawa no ike |
Lodging had The moon’s light there: Of magnificence, All I can say is: The pond at Hirosawa! |
Saigyō
西行
秋の月宿りし水となりぬればいづれもおなじ広沢の池
| aki no tuki yadorisi midu to narinureba idure mo onazi FirosaFa no ike |
When autumn moon With the waters found lodging And as one did become, then Ever unchanging is The pond at Hirosawa. |
いにしへの人は水際に影絶えて月のみ澄める広沢の池
| inishie no hito wa migiwa ni kage taete tsuki nomi sumeru hirosawa no ike |
In ancient times Did folk by the water’s edge Leave their shadows – gone now, and Only the moon is clear above The pond at Hirosawa. |
Minamoto no Yorimasa
源頼政
細く降る弥生の雨やいとならむ水にあやおる広沢の池
| hosuku furu yayoi no ame ya ito naramu mizu ni aya oru hirosawa no ike |
Thinly falls, The Third Month rain: Does it thread become To weave a crest upon The pond at Hirosawa? |
Kodaishin, from the Residence of the Hanazono Minister of the Left
花園左大臣家小大進
A poem presented to Imperial Prince Niitabe.
勝間田の池は我れ知る蓮なししか言ふ君が鬚なきごとし
| katumata no ike pa ware siru patisu nasi sika ipu kimi ga pige naki gotosi |
Katsumata Pond, I do know well: It has no lotus; And you say so, my Lord, Have no beard, either! |
A certain person has told me they had heard the following about this poem: Prince Niitabe had left the precincts of the capital for a pleasure trip and, on seeing Kasumata Pond, was deeply moved. On his return, his interest in the pond did not abate. Then, he said to a lady, ‘If you saw Katsumata Pond, where I went today, words could not describe the sight of the light reflecting brilliantly from the surface of the waters, and special beauty of the lotus flowers, which were in full bloom.’ Then the lady composed this humourous poem and sang it to him.