Topic unknown.
きえぬべき露のうき身の置所いづれの野べの草葉なるらん
| kienubeki tsuyu no ukimi no okidokoro izure no nobe no kusaba naruran | Surely to vanish As the dewdrops is my pitiful lot, and The place I fall Will be in some meadow Among the blades of grass, no doubt… |
Inpumon’in no Taiyu
Among poems composed with a character from the Tang poem ‘Looking at my life, ‘tis but a rootless grass upon the shore’ as its initial sound.[1]
つゆをのみくさばのうへとおもひしはときまつほどのいのちなりけり
| tsuyu o nomi kusaba no ue to omoishi wa toki matsu hodo no inochi narikeri | Simply as a dewdrop, Resting atop a blade of grass— So I did think; Such a short thing Is life. |
Izumi Shikibu
[1] The kanshi in question appears in Wakan rōeishū (II: 789): 観身岸額離根草 論命江頭不繋舟 ‘Thinking on my life, ‘tis but a rootless grass upon the shore; / Thinking on my fate, ‘tis as uncertain as an unmoored boat upon the bank.’ If read as Japanese, this poem would be: mi o kanzureba kishi no hitai ni ne o hanaretaru kusa / mei o ronzureba e no hotori ni tsunagazaru fune. Izumi Shikibu’s poem links with the initial tsu of tsunagazaru, beginning as it does with tsuyu ‘dew’.
Among poems composed with a character from the Tang poem ‘Looking at my life, ‘tis but a rootless grass upon the shore’ as its initial sound.[1]
つゆを見てくさばのうへとおもひしはときまつほどのいのちなりけり
| tsuyu o mite kusaba no ue to omoishi wa toki matsu hodo no inochi narikeri | As a dewdrop it appears Resting atop a blade of grass— So I did think; Such a short thing Is life. |
Izumi Shikibu
[1] The kanshi in question appears in Wakan rōeishū (II: 789): 観身岸額離根草 論命江頭不繋舟 ‘Thinking on my life, ‘tis but a rootless grass upon the shore; / Thinking on my fate, ‘tis as uncertain as an unmoored boat upon the bank.’ If read as Japanese, this poem would be: mi o kanzureba kishi no hitai ni ne o hanaretaru kusa / mei o ronzureba e no hotori ni tsunagazaru fune. Izumi Shikibu’s poem links with the initial tsu of tsunagazaru, beginning as it does with tsuyu ‘dew’.
つゆをみて草葉のうへとおもひしは時まつ程の命なりけり
| tsuyu o mite kusaba no ue to omoishi wa toki matsu hodo no inochi narikeri | As a dewdrop it appears Resting atop a blade of grass— So I did think; Such a short thing Is life. |
Composed when the Naka Chancellor [Fujiwara no Michitaka] returned from another woman’s residence with the dawn, but rather than coming in, remained outside and went back to his own house.
暁のつゆはまくらにおきけるを草葉のうへとなにおもひけん
| akatuki no tuyu Fa makura ni okikeru wo kusaba no uFe to nani omoFiken | At the dawning Dewdrops upon my pillow Have fallen, but Resting atop a blade of grass— Is that what you think of me? [1] |
The Kō Handmaid
[1] An allusive variation on Izumi shikibu-shū 304/Mandaishū XVIII: 3559.
Left (Tie)
しぐれつつ草ばもなべてもみづともときはの山にあきはとまれり
| shiguretsutsu kusaba mo nabete momizu to mo tokiwa no yama ni aki wa tomareri | Ever falls the drizzling rain, and Both leaves and grasses, all, Take on autumn hues, yet Within the evergreen mountains Autumn has halted. |
9
Right
をしめども秋はとまらぬ竜田山もみぢを幣とそらにたむけん
| oshimedomo aki wa tomaranu tatsutayama momiji o nusa to sora ni tamuken | How I regret it, yet Autumn does not linger upon Tatsuta Mountain: Its autumn leaves as a garland To the skies it seems to offer. |
10
On lightning.
いなづまのしばしもとめぬひかりにも草葉のつゆのかずはみえけり
| inazuma no shibashi mo tomenu hikari ni mo kusaba no tsuyu no kazu wa miekeri | The lightning Fails to linger for even a moment, yet In its flash of light Upon every blade of grass Appear numerous dewdrops. |
Lord Fujiwara no Tamehide
When he had begun to live with the Katsura Princess, and felt that she did not wish to see him.
人知れず物思頃の我が袖は秋の草葉に劣らざりけり
| Fito sirezu mono’omoFu koro no wa ga sode Fa aki no kusaba ni otorazarikeri | When unknown to all I am sunk in gloomy thought My sleeves To blades of grass in autumn Lack nothing! |
Prince Sadakazu
These are poems which His Majesty had everyone in attendance compose on the day.
わがやどをみなへしひとのすぎゆかばあきのくさばはしぐれざらまし
| wa ga yado o mina heshi hito no sugiyukaba aki no kusaba wa shigurezaramashi | Should my house By all the passing folk Be passed by, then Would not the autumn grasses Scatter showers? |
Minamoto no Tsuruna
29
をしめどもえだにとまらぬもみぢばをみなへしおきてあきののちみむ
| oshimedomo eda ni tomaranu momijiba o mina heshi okite aki no nochi mimu | I regret it, yet On the branches have not lingered Scarlet leaves— I will press them, every one, To gaze on after autumn’s passing. |
Muneyuki
30
Left
おしなべて五月のそらを見渡せば草葉も水もみどりなりけり
| oshinabete satsuki no sora o miwataseba kusaba mo mizu mo midori narikeri | When the entire Fifth Month sky I gaze across, Blades of grass and water, too, Are green. |
72[1]
Right
くるるかとみれば明けぬる夏の夜をあかずとや鳴く山郭公
| kururu ka to mireba akenuru natsu no yo o akazu to ya naku yamahototogisu | Did you think ’twas sunset? When a glance would show the breaking dawn Of this summer night- Unsated by your song, do you sing on, Cuckoo in the mountains? |
73[2]
[1] Shinchokusenshū III: 152/Kokin rokujō I: 89
[1] Kokinshū III: 157, attributed to Mibu no Tadamine/Shinsen man’yōshū 57/Kokin rokujō VI: 4437