Tag Archives: mizu

KYS IX: 582

The first time he spoke with Kamo no Narisuke, he took a shallow wine-cup and composed:

ききわたるみたらしがはの水きよみそこのこころをけふぞみるべき

kikiwataru
mitarashigawa no
mizu kiyomi
soko no kokoro o
kyō zo mirubeki
Listening,
The River Mitarashi’s
Waters are so pure
That to the bottom of my heart
I can see today.

Kunimoto, the Governor of Tsu


GSIS II: 145

Composed on seeing scattered cherry blossoms floating on the stream at his house.

ここにこぬ人もみよとてさくらばな水の心にまかせてぞやる

koko ni konu
Fito mo miyo tote
sakurabana
midu no kokoro ni
makasete zo yaru
To folk who fail to come
Here, I’d say, ‘Behold!’
O, cherry blossoms,
The water’s heart
I’ll trust, to send you on your way.

Ōe no Yoshitoki

Shūgyokushū 1916

Blossom falls wordlessly from the trees, while the waters flow into the souless pond.

はなも水も心なぎさやいかならむ庭に浪たつはるの木のもと

hana mo mizu mo
kokoro nagisa ya
ikanaramu
niwa ni nami tatsu
haru no ko no moto
Both the blossoms and the waters, too,
Touch the shores of my heart—
Why should that be?
At my estate the breaking waves
Of spring wash the bases of the trees.

Jien

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 79

Left

白露ぞ霜となりける冬のよはあまの河さへ水こほりけり

shiratsuyu zo
shimo to narikeru
fuyu no yo wa
ama no kawa sae
mizu kōrikeri
Silver dewdrops
Have turned to frost
On this winter’s night
Even the River of Heaven’s
Waters have frozen.

153

Right

冬の海に降りいる雪やそこにゐて春たつ浪の花とさくらん

fuyu no umi ni
furi’iru yuki ya
soko ni ite
haru tatsu nami no
hana to sakuran
Upon the sea in winter,
Falling down, is the snow:
Does it rest upon the bed and
With the waves breaking in springtime
Bloom into blossom?

154

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 38

Left

夏の月ひかりをしまず照る時はながるる水にかげろふぞたつ

natsu no tsuki
hikari o shimazu
teru toki wa
nagaruru mizu ni
kagerō zo tatsu
When summer moon’s
Light lightly
Shines
From the running waters
Haze arises!

74

Right

琴の音にひびきかよへる松風はしらべても鳴く蝉の声かな

koto no ne ni
hibikikayoeru
matsukaze wa
shirabetemo naku
semi no koe kana
A zither’s strains
Echoing back and forth:
The wind through the pines,
In tune with the cries
In the cicadas’ song!

75[1]


[1] Shinshūishū III: 303/Shinsen man’yōshū 73/Kokin rokujō I: 398/Fubokushō IX: 3584

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 37

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