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
The Empress Dowager’s reply:
みづのえのかたみとおもへどうぐひすの花のくしげはあけてだにみず
midu no e no
katami to omoFedo
uguFisu no
Fana no kusige Fa
akete dani mizu | By the waters’ edge
A keepsake, I thought this was, yet
The warbler’s
Comb box of blossom on
Opening, I see not within… |
The Shichijō Empress
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? |
Ise
Boats 船
水あさみ川せの波はたつものをくだすう舟のみつや何なる
mizu asami
kawase no nami wa
tatsu mono o
kudasu ubune no
mitsu ya ika naru | How shallow the waters in
The river rapids where waves
Arise –
What will become of the cormorant boats, sailing down
If they be full? |
Tadafusa
Waterweed 萍
世の中は水のうへなるうき草のうきにたへたる身をいかにせん
yo no naka wa
mizu no uenaru
ukikusa no
uki ni taetaru
mi o ikani sen | In this mundane world
Atop the waters lies
A waterweed –
In endless misery,
O, what am I to do? |
Higo
Waterweed 萍
水の上によるべさだめぬうき草のよそへられぬる我が身なりけり
mizu no ue ni
yorube sadamenu
ukikusa no
yosoerarenuru
wa ga mi narikeri | Upon the water,
With no hope of haven,
A waterweed is
How I imagine
Myself to be. |
Nakazane
Temples 寺
谷ふかみ跡だに見えぬ山寺はかけひの水のゆくにてぞ知る
tani fukami
ato dani mienu
yamadera wa
kakehi no mizu no
yuku nite zo shiru | Deep within the valley
No tracks lead to
This mountain temple:
Water through the culverts’
Passing reveals it. |
Akinaka
すべらぎのながゐの池は水すみてのどかにちよのかげぞ見えける
suberagi no
nagai no ike wa
mizu sumite
nodoka ni chiyo no
kage zo miekeru | Our Sovereign’s
Nagai Pond has
Water so clear, that
In peaceful calm a thousand generations
Shape is revealed. |
Higo
Waterfalls 滝
谷川やおちくる滝のしらいとを水のあやには織るにやあるらん
tanikawa ya
ochikuru taki no
shira’ito o
mizu no aya ni wa
oru ni ya aruran | From a stream within the valley
Comes tumbling a cataract of
White threads:
A motley pattern of water
Do they seem to weave? |
Daishin
Stones 石
いかにして水の下なるさざれ石のなかのおもひのきえせざるらん
ika ni shite
mizu no shita naru
sazare’ishi no
naka no omoi no
kiezaruran | O, what am I to do?
Beneath the waters
Pebbles lie, as many as
My passionate thoughts within
That show no signs of fading… |
Daishin
'Simply moving and elegant'