Tag Archives: mists

Sahyōe no suke sadafumi uta’awase 6

The Beginning of Autumn

Left (Win—in a certain book Tie)

しぐれにもあめにもあらぬはつぎりのたつにもそらはさしくもりけり

shigure ni mo
ame ni mo aranu
hatsugiri no
tatsu ni mo sora wa
sashikumorikeri
Neither a shower
Nor rain,
The first mists
Simply rise into the skies
And cover all with cloud.

11

Right

としごとにあふとはすれどたなばたのぬるよのかずぞすくなかりける

toshi goto ni
au to suredo
tanabata no
nuru yo no kazu zo
sukunakarikeru
Every year
She meets him, yet
The Weaver Maid’s
Nights of passion
Are few indeed.

Mitsune
12

MYS III: 257

A poem on Mount Kagu by Kamo no Taruhito.

天之芳来山 霞立 春尓至婆 松風尓 池浪立而 櫻花 木乃晩茂尓 奥邊波 鴨妻喚 邊津方尓 味村左和伎 百礒城之 大宮人乃 退出而 遊船尓波 梶棹毛 無而不樂毛 己具人奈四二

天降りつく 天の香具山 霞立つ 春に至れば 松風に 池波立ちて 桜花 木の暗茂に 沖辺には 鴨妻呼ばひ 辺つ辺に あぢ群騒き ももしきの 大宮人の 退り出て 遊ぶ船には 楫棹も なくて寂しも 漕ぐ人なしに

amorituku
ame no kaguyama
kiri tatu
paru ni itareba
matukaze ni
ikenami tatite
sakurabana
ko no kuresige ni
okipe ni pa
kamo tuma yobapi
petupe ni
adi murasawagi
momosiki no
opomiyabito no
makaridete
asobu pune ni pa
kadisawo mo
nakute sabusi mo
kogu pito nasi ni
Descended from heaven is
Sacred Mount Kagu where
Mists arise
When the spring does come,
The wind through the pines
Raises waves from pond waters, and
Cherry blossom’s
Profusion shades the trees, while
Out in the offing,
Ducks call for a mate and
On the shore
Teals flock noisily;
Hundredfold,
The palace folk were wont to
Travel out
On pleasure boats, but
Oars and poles
Are there none—so sad—
For there’s not a soul to row them…

Teishi-in ominaeshi uta’awase 18

をみなへしあきののをわけをりつればやどあれぬとてまつむしぞなく

ominaeshi
aki no no o wake
oritsureba
yado arenu tote
matsumushi zo naku
O, maidenflower,
Through the autumn meadows did I press
To pick you, so
My home has gone to ruin where
The pine crickets sing.

Yasuki
35

むしのねになきまどはせるをみなへしをればたもとにきりのこりゐる

mushi no ne ni
naki madowaseru
ominaeshi
oreba tamoto ni
kiri nokori’iru
The insects’ cries
With her sobs are confused, that
Maidenflower,
I pluck her, and within my sleeve
Traces of the mists do linger.

Amane
36

Teishi-in ominaeshi uta’awase 03

Left

あきごとにさきはくれどもをみなへしけふをまつとのなにこそありけれ

aki goto ni
saki wa kuredomo
ominaeshi
kyō o matsu to no
na ni koso arikere
Every single autumn
Does her time to bloom arrive, yet
This maidenflower
Has been waiting for this day
Or so the rumour goes!

5[1]

Right

さやかにもけさはみえずやをみなへしきりのまがきにたちかくれつつ

sayaka ni mo
kesa wa miezu ya
ominaeshi
kiri no magaki ni
tachikakuretsutsu
Clearly
This morning I cannot glimpse
That maidenflower
In the mists along the brushwood fence
Ever does she hide herself away.

6[2]


[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 518

[2] Shinsen man’yōshū 540

Kanpyō no ōntoki chūgū uta’awase 10

Round Ten

Left

千鳥啼くさほの川霧たちぬなり嶺の紅葉の色まさりけり

chidori naku
sao no kawagiri
tachinu nari
mine no momiji no
iro masarikeri
Plovers cry, as
The mists from the Sao River
Have risen;
On the peaks the scarlet leaves’
Hues are fine, indeed.

19

Right

This poem is missing from the surviving texts of the competition.

Kanpyō no ōntoki chūgū uta’awase 9

Round Nine

Left

川ぎりのふもとをこめて立ちぬれば空にぞ秋の山はみえける

kawagiri no
fumoto o komete
tachinureba
sora ni zo aki no
yama wa miekeru
The river mists
Around the foothills
Have risen, so
‘Tis in the skies that autumn
On the mountains is revealed.

Fukayabu
17

Right

年毎の紅葉ばながす立田川みなとや秋のとまりなるらん

toshigoto no
momijiba nagasu
tatsutagawa
minato ya aki no
tomari naruran
Every single year
Scarlet leaves wash down
The Tatsuta River;
Is it at the mouth that autumn
Might find its port?

18

MYS XVII: 4003

A poem with two envoys, composed in respectful response to Tachiyama.

朝日さし そがひに見ゆる 神ながら 御名に帯ばせる 白雲の 千重を押し別け 天そそり 高き立山 冬夏と 別くこともなく 白栲に 雪は降り置きて 古ゆ あり来にければ こごしかも 岩の神さび たまきはる 幾代経にけむ 立ちて居て 見れども異し 峰高み 谷を深みと 落ちたぎつ 清き河内に 朝さらず 霧立ちわたり 夕されば 雲居たなびき 雲居なす 心もしのに 立つ霧の 思ひ過ぐさず 行く水の 音もさやけく 万代に 言ひ継ぎゆかむ 川し絶えずは

asapi sasi
sogapi ni miyuru
kamu nagara
mina ni obasesu
sirakumo no
tipe wo osiwake
ama sosori
takaki tatiyama
puyu natu to
waku koto mo naku
sirotape ni
yuki pa puri okite
inisipe yu
arikinikereba
kogosikamo
ipa no kamusabi
tama kiparu
ikuyo penikemu
tatiwite
miredomo ayasi
minedakami
tani wo pukami to
otitagitu
kiyoki ka puti ni
asa sarazu
kiri tati watari
yupu sareba
kumowi tanabiki
kumowi nasu
kokoro mo sino ni
tatu kiri no
omopi sugusazu
yuku midu no
woto mo sayakeku
yoroduyo ni
ipitugi yukamu
kapa si taezu wa
The morning sun shines
At my back,and
Divine
Your great name links:
Clouds of white
In a thousand layers, you pierce, and
Tower into the heavens,
Tall Tachiyama!
In winter and, in summer both
Indistinguishably are you
Clad in mulberry white
Fallen drifts of snow;
Since ancient days
Ever has been your estate,
Fastened round with
Crags divine;
‘til all souls end
Have countless ages passed!
Standing here,
I see you, yet am awed by
Your lofty peak and
Valley’s deep, where
Plunge seething cataracts of
Waters pure to pools where
Morning never leaves –
Mists rise and roll across, and
When the evening comes
Clouds trail in and
Cover all,
Even, with sadness, my heart, so
The rising mists
Never leave my thoughts, and of
Your running waters’
Clear, pure sound
Through ten thousand ages
Will I ever tell
Unending as a river’s flow…

Ōtomo no Ikenushi
大伴池主