Composed when I heard that someone had come to a mountain retreat to view the blossom and never once asked after my wellbeing.
年をへておなじこずゑににほへども花こそ人にあかれざりけれ
| toshi o hete onaji kozue ni nioedomo hana koso hito ni akarezarikere | Through the passing years On the same treetops Have they glowed, yet Of the blossom ‘tis that Folk have never tired. |
89
しらかはのこずゑをみてぞなぐさむるよしのの山にかよふ心を
| shirakawa no kozue o mite zo nagusamuru yoshino no yama ni kayou kokoro | Shirakawa’s[i] Treetops glimpsing Brings some comfort, for The mountains of Yoshino are Where my heart does ever go… |
69
[i] A location to the north of the capital famous for its cherry blossoms. See:
Composed when the court ladies of the Takakura First Princess had gone to view the blossom at Shirakawa.
なにごとをはるのかたみにおもはまし今日しらかはの花みざりせば
| nani goto o haru no katami ni omowamashi kyō shirakawa no hana mizariseba | What Of spring a keepsake Would one think? If, today, Shirakawa’s Blossom we had not seen… |
The Iga Minor Captain
Goshūishū I: 119
Fifty Poems on the Moon and Blossom
Blossom on the mountains blooming unevenly.
おしなべて風こそかをれ春の山咲く桜あればさかぬ梢も
| oshinabete kaze koso kaore haru no yama saku sakura areba sakanu kozue mo | Each and every Breeze is truly scented! The mountains in spring Have blossoming cherries, but Bloomless treetops, too…[i] |
19
[i] See: Spring いづくより花のにほひをさそひきてさかぬ梢も風かをるらむ izuku yori / hana no nioi o / sasoikite / sakanu kozue mo / kaze kaoruramu ‘From somewhere / The scent of blossom / Invites; / The bloomless treetops, too, / Have a fragrant breeze.’ The Third Prince [Imperial Prince Kore’akira 惟明親王] (Shōji shodo hyakushu 113)
On the same conception, while I was at a place called Futami in Ise.
浪こすとふたみのまつの見えつるはこずゑにかかる霞なりけり
| nami kosu to futami no matsu no mietsuru wa kozue ni kakaru kasumi narikeri | As waves breaking O’er the pines at Futami Did it appear, Clinging to the treetops, The haze.[i] |
13
[i] See: 君をおきてあだし心を我がもたば末の松山波もこえなん kimi o okite / adashi kokoro o / wa ga motaba / sue no matsu yama / nami mo koenan ‘To abandon you / An inconstant heart / Would I have, but sooner / Over Sue-no-Matsuyama / Would waves break!’ (Kokinshū XX: 1093)
Round Eighty-Seven
Left
けふまでも木ずゑは冬のいろながらこぞにはかはるゆきのした草
| kyō made mo kozue wa fuyu no iro nagara kozo ni wa kawaru yuki no shitagusa | Until today The treetops winter’s Hues did hold, but With the change to the year before Grasses grow up ‘neath the snow. |
Lord Yasusue
173
Right
くれはどりあやにながめのなりゆくかみどりの空にあそぶいとゆふ
| kurehadori aya ni nagame no nariyuku ka midori no sora ni asobu itoyū | A chequered Pattern–when I gaze out how strange It becomes: In the verdant skies Sports heat haze… |
The Minister of the Centre
174
Although it sounds a bit difficult to grasp the sense of the Left’s ‘grasses ‘neath the snow with the change to the year before’, there’s nothing wrong with composing about grasses growing beneath fallen snow, so the configuration is pleasant. The Right’s poem, too, has no faults to mention, so this round, too, should tie.
In the spring of Kenryaku 2 [1212] when there had been a match of Cathay-style poetry at the palace, he composed this on the topic of ‘a spring dawn at a dwelling in the mountains’.
月かげのこずゑにのこる山のはに花もかすめるはるのあけぼの
| tsukikage no kozue ni nokoru yama no ha ni hana mo kasumeru haru no akebono | The moonlight Lingers ‘pon the treetops On the mountains’ edge; The blossoms are all hazy At the dawn in sprintime. |
The Rokujō Lay Priest and Former Chancellor
[Fujiwara no Yorizane 藤原頼実 (1155-1225)]
