Warblers
草ふかき霞の谷にはぐくもるうぐひすのみやむかしこふらし
| kusa fukaki kasumi no tani ni hagukumoru uguisu nomi ya mukashi kourashi | Deep within the grasses of The haze-filled valley, Wing-wrapped does The warbler fledgling, alone, Think fondly of times long gone? |
Orchids
Left
はるきてはきのふばかりをあさみどりなべてけさこくのはなりにけり
| haru kite wa kinō bakari o asamidori nabete kesa koku no wa narikeri | Spring’s coming means, though Yesterday was simply Pale green, Everywhere, this morning deeper-hued Have the meadows become. |
Tsurayuki
19
Right
はるさめにしべゆるぶらし春のくさこくのはなべてさきみちにけり
| harusame ni shibe yuruburashi haru no kusa koku no wa nabete sakimichinikeri | In the springtime rain, The flowers’ hearts seem loosened, so With spring plants’ hues Deepening, the meadows everywhere Have filled with blossom. |
20
Topic unknown.
木にもあらず草にもあらぬ竹のよのはしにわが身はなりぬべらなり
| ki ni mo arazu kusa ni mo aranu take no yo no hasi ni wa ga mi Fa narinuberanari | ’Tis not a tree, Nor yet a grass, but On bamboo stalks Brief as the space between the joints Does seem to be my fate… |
Anonymous
A certain person states that this is a poem by Prince Takatsu.
をみなへしやまののくさとふりしかどさかゆくときもありけるものを
| ominaeshi yamano no kusa to furishikado sakayuku toki mo arikeru mono o | The maidenflowers With the mountain meadow grasses Have grown old, yet A time to flourish Did they have once… |
45[1]
をみなへしさけるやまべのあきかぜはふくゆふかげをたれかかたらむ
| ominaeshi sakeru yamabe no akikaze wa fuku yūkage o tare ka kataramu | A maidenflower Blooming in a mountain meadow, with The autumn wind’s Evening gusts revealed, but Who is there to tell the tale? |
46
[1] This poem is almost identical to poem 4 in Uda-in ominaeshi uta’awase.
ときのまもあきのいろをやをみなへしながきあだなにいはれはてなん
| toki no ma mo aki no iro o ya ominaeshi nagaki adana ni iwarehatenan | For such a brief time In her autumn hues is A maidenflower, and yet Ever is she faithless Said to be… |
39
あきのののくさをみなへししらぬみははなのなにこそおどろかれぬれ
| aki no no no kusa o mina heshi shiranu mi wa ana no na ni koso odorokarenure | Through all the autumn meadows’ Grasses have I passed, yet I know them not, so When I learned her name How surprised I was! |
40
In the year after that in which the Teishi Emperor relinquished the throne, he held a maidenflower match, making no instruction as to who should lead the teams of the Left and Right, so His Majesty and Her Majesty, the Empress, fulfilled those roles.
Left
くさがくれあきすぎぬべきをみなへしにほひゆゑにやまづみえぬらむ
| kusagakure aki suginubeki ominaeshi nioi yue ni ya mazu mienuramu | Hidden ‘mongst the grasses Has she spent the autumn, This maidenflower— Is it for her glow that She is soon discovered? |
1[1]
Right
あらがねのつちのしたにてあきへしはけふのうらてをまつをみなへし
| aragane no tsuchi no shita nite aki heshi wa kyō no urate o matsu ominaeshi | As ore Below the earth Has she spent the autumn, For today’s first round Awaiting—a maidenflower. |
2[2]
[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 508
[2] Shinsen man’yōshū 530; Fubokushō 4229.
For a folding screen for the residence of Minister of the Right Tsunesuke.
野辺見ればわかなつみけりむべしこそかきねの草もはるめきにけれ
| nobe mireba wakana tumikeri mube si koso kakine no kusa mo Farumekinikeri | When I gaze upon the meadows, and Have picked fresh herbs Indeed, indeed The grasses along my brushwood fence Have grown most springlike! |
Tsurayuki