Tag Archives: keepsake

Sagyokushū

Sagyokushū II: 325-326

Leave a comment

Round 8

Left

花の色はかすみのひまにほのみえて山のはにほふ春の暁

hana no iro wa
kasumi no hima ni
honomiete
yama no ha niou
haru no akebono		The blossoms’ hues
Between the shifting haze
I briefly glimpse, and
The mountains’ edges glow
With the dawn in springtime.

325

Right

あだし夜の花にとききてゆく雁の名残もいとど有明のそら

adashiyo no
hana ni toki kite
yuku kari no
nagori mo itdodo
ariake no sora		To fleeting night’s
Blossoms has the time come, and
The departing geese leave
A keepsake more brief
In the skies at dawn.

326

This round, again, it seems difficult to distinguish between the the two poems.

Former Emperor Gosukō (1372-1456)
後崇光院

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta'awase

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 78

Leave a comment

Left

月夜には花とぞ見ゆる竹のうへに降りしく雪を誰かはらはむ

tsukiyo ni wa
hana to zo miyuru
take no ue ni
furishiku yuki o
tare ka harawamu		On a moonlit night
As blossom it appears, so
From the bamboo
The fallen, scattered, snow—
Who would sweep it away?

151

Right

しら雪を分けてわかるるかたみには袖に涙のこほるなりけり

shirayuki o
wakete wakaruru
katami ni wa
sode ni namida no
kōru narikeri		That through the snow so white
I pressed on, forging,
A keepsake is
The tears upon my sleeves,
All frozen.

152

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta'awase

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 19

Leave a comment

Left

春霞色の千ぐさにみえつるはたなびく山の花のかげかも

harugasumi
iro no chigusa ni
mieturu wa
tanabiku yama no
hana no kage kamo		The haze of spring has
Countless hues
It does appear;
Streaming across the mountains with
The blossoms’ glow.

Okikaze

37[1]

Right

日くるればかつちる花をあたらしみ春のかたみにつみぞいれつる

hi kurureba
katsu chiru hana o
atarashimi
haru no katami ni
tsumi zo iretsuru		When the sun goes down,
With the scattering blossoms
Feel renewed—
As a keepsake of spring
Have I plucked them up!

38

[1] Kokinshū II: 102/Shinsen man’yōshū 25/Kokin rokujō I: 620

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta'awase

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 10

Leave a comment

Left

水のうへにあやおりみだる春雨や山のみどりをなべてそむらん

mizu no ue ni
aya orimidaru
harusame ya
yama no midori o
nabete somuran		Upon the waters
A confusing pattern paints
The rain of spring—
Will it now the mountains
All dye with green, I wonder?

19[1]

Right

色ふかくみる野辺だにも常ならば春は行くともかたみならまし

iro fukaku
miru nobe dani mo
tsune naraba
haru wa yuku tomo
katami naramashi		Deep the hues
On display within the meadows—if that
Should be the norm, then
Even when the spring is gone
A keepsake they would be.

20[2]

[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 1/Kokin rokujō I: 460/A minor variant of this poem also occurs in Shinkokinshū (I: 65), where it is attributed to Ise: 水のおもにあやおりみだる春雨や山のみどりをなべてそむらん mizu no omo ni / aya orimidaru / harusame ya / yama no midori o / nabete somuran ‘Upon the water’s surface / A confusing pattern paints / The rain of spring— / Will it now the mountains / All dye with green, I wonder?’

[2] Shinchokusenshū II: 89

Shinchokusenshū

SCSS II: 89

Leave a comment

A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Empress Dowager during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.

色ふかくみる野辺だにも常ならば春は行くともかたみならまし

iro fukaku
miru nobe dani mo
tsune naraba
haru wa yuku tomo
katami naramashi		Deep the hues
On display within the meadows—if that
Should be the norm, then
Even when the spring is gone
A keepsake they would be.

Anonymous