Tag Archives: Iwashiro

Love VIII: 9

Left (Tie)
何とかく結ぼほるらん君はよもあはれとだにも岩代の松

nani to kaku
musubohoruran
kimi wa yomo
aware to dani mo
iwashiro no matsu
For what should we be so
Entwined?
He simply
Thinks of me with pity,
And says nothing, O pines of Iwashiro!

Lord Kanemune
1037

Right
人戀ふる宿の櫻に風吹けば花も涙になりにけるかな

hito kouru
yado no sakura ni
kaze fukeba
hana mo namida ni
narinikeru kana
Loving him,
My dwelling’s cherry trees
Are blown by the wind,
Petals, my tears
Have become…

Nobusada
1038

The Gentlemen of the Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults to mention. The Gentlemen of the Left state: we wonder about the appropriateness of ‘petals, my tears’ (hana mo namida ni).

In judgement: the Left’s poem, with ‘he simply’ (kimi wa yomo) followed by ‘Thinks of me with pity, O pines of Iwashiro!’ (aware to dani mo iwashiro no matsu) is certainly elegant. The Right’s poem does have ‘petals, my tears’ (hana mo namida ni). It commences, ‘loving him, my dwelling’s cherry trees’ (hito kouru yado no sakura) and, when they are blown by the wind, the lady’s eyes darken with tears, and she is unable to distinguish the mass of blossom. It unclear which of the two should be winner, or loser. Thus, I shall make this a tie.

MYS II: 146

A poem composed on the occasion of the Imperial visit to the province of Ki in the first year of Taihō [701].

後見むと君が結べる磐代の小松がうれをまたも見むかも

noti mimu to
kimi ga musuberu
ipasiro no
komatu ga ure wo
mata mo mimu kamo
Thinking to see it more
The Prince did tie
At Iwashiro
Pine saplings’ tips –
I wonder, will he see them more…

This poem appears in the Kakinonomoto no Hitomaro Collection.

MYS II: 143

Two poems composed by Naga no imiki Okimaro, grieving at the sight of the bound pine.

磐代の岸の松が枝結びけむ人は帰りてまた見けむかも

ipasiro no
kisi no matu ga e
musubikemu
pito pa kaperite
mata mikemu kamo
On Iwashiro’s
Shore, a pine’s branches
It seems he tied –
I wonder, will he return
And see them once more…

Naga no Okimaro
長意吉麻呂

MYS II: 141

Two poems composed by Prince Arima, on feeling sorrowful and tying the branches of a pine tree together.

磐白の浜松が枝を引き結びま幸くあらばまた帰り見む

ipasiro no
pamamatu ga e wo
pikimusubi
masakiku araba
kaperimimu
At Iwashiro,
A beach-pine’s branches
I draw and bind together;
If fortune favours me,
I’ll return to see them once more…

Prince Arima
有間皇子

MYS I: 10

A poem from when Empress Naka had gone to the hot-springs in Kii.

君之齒母 吾代毛所知哉 磐代乃 岡之草根乎 去来結手名

君が代もわがよも知るやいはしろのをかの草ねをいざ結びてな

kimi ga yo mo
wa ga yo mo siru ya
ipasiro no
woka no kusane wo
iza musubite na
For my Lord’s life
And for mine, too-we govern
Iwashiro’s
Hills: the grasses’ roots
Let us weave together.

Empress Naka