Tag Archives: ominaeshi

Shiki koi sanshu uta’awase – Autumn

Autumn

Left

秋の夜の有明にみれど久堅の月のかつらはうつろはぬかな

aki no yo no
ariake ni miredo
hisakata no
tsuki no katsura wa
utsurouwanu kana
An autumn night’s
Dawn I see, yet
The eternal
Moon’s silver trees
Show no sign of fading!

13

秋萩の花咲く比の白露は下ばのためとわきて置くべし

aki hagi no
hana saku koro no
shiratsuyu wa
shitaba no tame to
wakite okubeshi
In autumn, the bush clover
Flowers bloom—just then
Silver dewdrops
For the under-leaves
Do fall, marking every one.

14

秋風はいなばもそよとふきつめりかりみる程と成りやしぬらん

akikaze wa
inaba mo soyo to
fukitsumeri
kari miru hodo to
nari ya shinuran
The autumn breeze
Seems to rustle the rice stalks
As it blows;
Seeing if ‘tis time to reap them—
Is that what it is, I wonder?

15

Right

銀河とわたる舟は花薄ほにいづるほどぞかげもみゆべき

ama no kawa
towataru fune wa
hanasusuki
ho ni izuru hodo zo
kage mo miyubeki
Across the River of Heaven
A boat goes ferrying:
When the silver grass
Ears burst into bloom,
Can its shape be seen.

16

女郎花さがの花をば色ながら秋をさかりといはれずもがな

ominaeshi
saga no hana oba
iro nagara
aki o sakari to
iwarezu mogana
Maidenflowers:
Blossoms from Saga
Reveal their hues, and
In autumn are most fine—that
Goes without saying!

17

小男鹿の朝たつ霧にうりふ山嶺の梢は色こかりけり

saoshika no
asa tatsu kiri ni
urifuyama
mine no kozue wa
iro kokarikeri
Stags
Within the rising morning mist on
Urifu Moutain, where
The treetops on the peak
Have taken darker hues.

18

Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase 19

なにしおはばしひてたのまむをみなへしひとのこころのあきはうくとも[1]

na ni shi owaba
shiite tanomamu
ominaeshi
hito no kokoro no
aki wa uku tomo
If the name fits, then
Strongly, would I ask you,
Maidenflower:
Though folk’s full hearts
In autumn, be cruel…

37

あきのよをひとりねたらむあまのがはふちせたどらずいざわたりなむ

aki no yo o
hitori netaramu
ama no kawa
fuchise tadorazu
iza watarinamu
On an autumn night,
I sleep alone, it seems, for
To the River of Heaven’s
Depths and shallows I will not make my way—
However can I cross them?

39


[1] Shinchokusenshū 242; also a minor variant occurs in Kokin rokujō (3368) なにしおはばしひてたのまんをみなへし花の心の秋はうくともna ni shi owaba / shiite tanomamu / ominaeshi / hana no kokoro no / aki wa uku tomo ‘If the name fits, then / Forcefully, would I trust you, / Maidenflower: / Though a flower’s heart / In autumn, be cruel…’ Tsurayuki.

Koresada Shinnō-ke uta’awase 3

音羽山秋としなれば唐錦かけたることも見ゆる紅葉か

otowayama
aki to shi nareba
karanishiki
kaketaru koto mo
miyuru momiji ka
On Otowa Mountain
When autumn comes
Cathay brocade
Is hung about –
Seem so the scarlet leaves?

5

女郎花何の心になけれども秋はさくべきこともゆゆしく

ominaeshi
nani no kokoro ni
nakeredomo
aki wa sakubeki
koto mo yuyushiku
O, maidenflowers,
Something within my heart
Is lacking, yet
That you must bloom in autumn
Is a fine thing, indeed!

6

Fubokushō XI: 4232

A poem from the Poetry Contest held in the first year of Shōtai by former emperor Uda.[1]

wominaFesi
woritoru goto ni
matumusi no
yado Fa karenu to
naku ga kanashiki
O, maidenflowers,
Each and every time I pick you,
The pine crickets, that
Their lodging should not fade away
Do cry, and that is sad, indeed.

Anonymous


[1]The headnote is mistaken, as this poem actually comes from another maidenflower contest held by Uda, the year of which is unknown.

Love IX: 15

Left (Win)
思あまり絵にかきとめてなぐさむる妹が上にも涙落ちけり

omoi amari
e ni kakitomete
nagusamuru
imo ta ue ni mo
namida ochikeri
Too much in love
I paint a picture for
Consolation, but
Upon my darling
Tears fall…

Lord Kanemune
1109

Right
かきとめて変らぬ色もをみなへしあはれと見れば露ぞこぼるる

kakitomete
kawaranu iro mo
ominaeshi
aware to mireba
tsuyu zo koboruru
Painted in
Changeless hues is my love –
A maidenflower
I glimpse in sorrow,
Drenched with dew…

Ietaka
1110

The Right state: the Left’s poem certainly has no faults. The Left state: the Right’s poem has no conception of Love.

In judgement: both Gentlemen’s pictures are ‘painted’ (kakitomete), with the Left then using ‘upon my darling’ (imo ga ue ni mo), which certainly has a conception of love. The Right simply draws a picture of a maidenflower and drenches it with dew, so it does not seem as if he is being moved by the sight of a person. Thus, again, the Left seems the superior poem.

SIS III: 161

When he had gone to Saga to dig up plants for his garden.

日暮しに見れ共あかぬ女郎花のべにや今宵旅ねしなまし

higurasi ni
miredomo akanu
wominaFesi
nobe ni ya koyoFi
tabinesinamasi
At the sunset
I see, yet cannot get my fill
Of maidenflowers, so
In the fields tonight
Should I make a traveller’s bed?

Fujiwara no Nagayoshi
藤原長能

MYS IV: 675

[One of] five poems sent by the Elder Maiden of Nakatomi to Yakamochi, Lord Ōtomo.

をみなへし佐紀沢に生ふる花かつみかつても知らぬ恋もするかも

wominapesi
sakisapa ni opuru
panakatumi
katute mo siranu
kopi mo suru kamo
A maidenflower as,
At Saki Marsh grows
The crested iris
Still unknown is
The love I feel.

Elder Maiden of Nakatomi
中臣郎女

MYS VIII: 1538

[One of] two poems composed by Yamanoue no Okura listing the flowers of the autumn fields.

萩の花尾花葛花なでしこの花をみなへしまた藤袴朝顔の花

pagi no pana
wobana kudupana
nadesiko no pana
wominapesi
mata pudibakama
asagapo no pana
Bush clover blooms,
Silver grass and kudzu,
Pinks,
Valerian
And fujibakama,
Morning glory blooms.

Yamanoue no Okura
山上憶良