Tag Archives: mizu

Kanpyō no ōntoki chūgū uta’awase 12

Round Twelve

Left

冬の夜の月はとほくやわたりけんかげみしみづのまづしこほれば

fuyu no yo no
tsuki wa tōku ya
watariken
kage mishi mizu no
mazu shi kōreba
On a winter’s night
Does the moon distantly
Pass by? For
The waters where I saw its face
Are the first to freeze…

22

Right

ながれくるみづこほりぬる冬さへやなほうき草のあとはさだめぬ

nagarekuru
mizu kōrinuru
fuyu sae ya
nao ukikusa no
ato wa sadamenu
Flowing down
The waters have frozen
With the winter, so will
The drifting waterweed still
Leave little trace?

23

Horikawa-in Enjo Awase 12

つらしともいざやいかがはいはし水あふせまだきにたゆる心は

tsurashi to mo
iza ya ikaga wa
iwashimizu
ause madaki ni
tayuru kokoro wa
How cruel!
Why as
Spring waters rushing from the rocks did
Our meeting swiftly
Did you wish to end?

Kazusa, in service to the Empress
23

In reply

世世ふともたえじとぞ思ふ神がきの岩ねをくぐる水の心は

yo yo futomo
taeji to zo omou
kamigaki no
iwane o kuguru
mizu no kokoro wa
Age upon age may pass, yet
Never shall we end, I feel, as from
The sacred precinct’s
Rocky roots flow
Waters—that is my heart!

24

Horikawa-in enjo awase 1

This match took place when, hearing that his courtiers were composing poetry, His Majesty ordered them to compose love poems to the ladies in attendance.

おもひあまりいかでもらさんおく山の岩かきこむる谷の下みづ

omoi’amari
ikade morasan
okuyama no
iwa kakikomuru
tani no shitamizu
My passion’s full, so
How should it o’erflow?
Deep within the mountains
Hemmed in by crags are
The waters of the valley floor…

Major Counsellor Kinzane
1

In reply

いかなれば音にのみきく山川の浅きにしもはこころよすらん

ika nareba
oto ni nomi kiku
yamakawa no
asaki ni shimo wa
kokoro yosuran
For some reason,
I simply hear the sound
Of a mountain stream;
Into the shallows, indeed, has
Your heart been swept, it seems!

[Nakako,] The Suō Handmaid
2

Shiki koi sanshu uta’awase – Love

Love

Left

恋せじと御手洗川に御祓して神うけつらんとおもほゆるかな

koi seji to
mitarashigawa ni
oharaishite
kami uketsuran to
omohoyuru kana
I’ll not fall in love, and
At the River Mitarashi
Purify myself—
Would the gods then accept me,
I wonder!

25

恋なれどそこにもすまぬひれはみづにごれりとおもほゆるかな

koi naredo
soko ni mo sumanu
hire wa mizu
nigoreri to
omohoyuru kana
This is love, yet
The deeps are all disturbed, with
Fins the waters
Clouding,
I feel!

26

こひわたる程のふかさにそめ川の色あさからじとおもほゆるかな

koiwataru
hodo no fukasa ni
somekawa no
iro asakaraji to
omohoyuru kana
So long have I loved you that
The depths of
Dyers’ River have
Lost their pale hues
I feel!

27

Right

おもふとて夕ぐれがたのながめをや人待つほどの恋といふらん

omou tote
yūguregata no
nagame o ya
hito matsu hodo no
koi to iuran
Thinking of him
As evening draws on, and
I gaze on long rains falling; is
Time pining for a man
Being in love, I wonder?

28

年の内にあまる月日の有りければかぞへのうちにははわぶるかな

toshi no uchi ni
amaru tsuki hi no
arikereba
kazoe no uchi ni
haha waburu kana
Throughout the year
The days and months mount up
So
Counting them
My mother grieves!

29

Shiki koi sanshu uta’awase – Winter

Winter

Left

冬くれば紅葉ふりしく神無月佐保の山辺はむべもりぬらん

fuyu kureba
momiji furishiku
kaminazuki
saho no yamabe wa
mube morinuran
When the winter comes,
Scarlet leaves, falling and scattering
In the Godless Month,
Upon the slopes of Mount Saho,
Indeed, are at their finest.

19

冬ごもりかれてみゆらん梅がえは今はた花の春はにほはん

fuyugomori
karete miyuran
ume ga e wa
ima hata hana no
haru wa niowan
Sealed in winter, and
All withered seeming,
The plum tree’s branches,
Now, for sure, the blossoms’
Spring will scent.

20

冬みれば水もまかせぬ小山田にいつすき返し種をまきけん

fuyu mireba
mizu mo makasenu
oyamada ni
itsu sukikaeshi
tane o makiken
‘Tis winter, I see, so
There’s no water to draw for
The little mountain paddies:
O, when might I till them, and
Sow my seeds, I wonder?

21

Right

時雨降る宿にすまへば冬の夜に錦とみゆる木木の花かな

shigure furu
yado ni sumaeba
fuyu no yo ni
nishiki to miyuru
kigi no hana kana
Showers fall
Upon the house where I do dwell, so
Upon a winter’s night
As brocade do seem
The blossoming trees!

22

ゆふだすき神の社にかけつればしもし降るにもたのもしきかな

yūdasuki
kami no yashiro ni
kaketsureba
shimo shi furu ni mo
tanomashiki kana
Sacred mulberry cords
Around the God’s shrine
Are hung, so
Even amidst the frost fall,
The future does seem bright!

23

白雲のふたへふりしくときは山うらはへとしはみどりなりけれ

shiragumo no
futae furishiku
tokiwa yama
ura hae toshi wa
midori narikere
Clouds of white
Lie scattered, twofold, upon
The unchanging mountain:
Stretching out behind, the year
Is simply green.

24

Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase 7

たつたがはあきはみづなくあせななむあかぬもみぢのながるればをし[1]

tatsutagawa
aki wa mizu naku
asena namu
akanu momiji no
nagarureba oshi
The river Tatsuta
In autumn, lacks water and
Is shallow, indeed, but though
I never tire of the scarlet leaves
When they flow by, how I do regret it!

13

いなづまはあるかなきかに見ゆれどもあきのたのみはほにぞいでける

inazuma wa
aru ka naki ka ni
miyuredomo
aki no tanomi wa
ho ni zo idekeru
A flash of lightning:
It may, or may not
Appear, yet
In autumn you can trust that
Ripened ears of rice will.

14


[1] This poem was included in Gosenshū (VII: 416).

Uhyōe shōjō sadafumi uta’awase 2

The depth of colour of spring waters (春水添色深)

Left (Win)

水のいろをそめては深くみゆれども春はよどまぬものにざりける

midu no iro wo
somete Fa Fukaku
miyuredomo
Faru Fa yodomanu
mono ni zarikeru
The waters’ hues
So deeply dyed
Do appear that
Spring ever unclouded
Truly ever will be.

3

Right

春のいろは底なき水にそへりとも流れて深くあらむとぞ思ふ

Faru no iro Fa
soko naki midu ni
soFeri tomo
nagarete Fukaku
aramu to zo omoFu
The hue of spring across
Bottomless waters
Does lie, and yet
How deeply must they flow
I wonder?

4

SKKS I: 65

A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Empress Dowager during the reign of the Kanpyō emperor.

水の面にあやをりみだる春雨や山のみどりをなべて染むらん

mizu no omo ni
ayaori midaru
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?

Ōchikōchi no Mitsune