Tag Archives: plum blossom

Uhyōe shōjō sadafumi uta’awase 1

The warm feeling of spring enveloped by smoke (春気籠煙暖)

Left (Win)

梅の花雪にみゆれど春の気はけぶりをこめて寒からなくに

ume no Fana
yuki ni miyuredo
Faru no ki Fa
keburi wo komete
samurakanaku ni
The plum blossom
Seems like snow, yet
The sense of spring
Is surrounded with such smoke
I feel no chill…

Anonymous
1

Right

咲く花のひかりにもゆる春のきはけぶりをこめて晴れずぞ有りける

saku Fana no
Fikari ni moyuru
Faru no ki Fa
keburi wo komete
Farezu zo arikeru
The blooming blossom
Burning a’glow is
The sense of spring;
Surrounded by smoke that
Never clears…

Anonymous
2[1]


[1]These poems are included in Fubokushō (I: 92) and (I: 93).

KKS I: 40

On a moonlit night, when someone said they were going to pick plum blossoms, he composed this to say, ‘Pluck them.’

月夜にはそれとも見えず梅花香をたづねてぞしるべかりける

tukiyo ni Fa
sore to mo miezu
ume no Fana
ka wo tadunete zo
sirubekarikeru
On a moonlit night
Indistinguishable is
The plum blossom –
By scent, then seek it,
And you shall know it well.

Mitsune

MYS V: 815

On the 13th day of First Month Tenpyō 2, there was a gathering at the residence of the Governor General for a banquet. That year the month was truly a perfect example of early spring, with a sublime atmosphere and gentle breezes. The plum blossom bloomed with the whiteness of the powder one applies before a mirror; the orchids gave off a scent like that trailed behind one from a perfumed sachet. Moreover, in the morning the clouds moved across the peaks, and capped the pine trees with a silken gauze. Then with the evening mists rose from the mountain caverns, and birds, lost in the silken folds, flew in confusion through the woods. In the garden, new-born butterflies danced, while in the skies, geese flew homeward. Thus, with the heavens to cover us, and the land spread out before, we sat with knees close together and the wine-cups flew back and forth. All of us together quite forgot our words, and allowed our hearts to fly free in the beautiful scene. Truly, there is no way to measure the emotions of the time, so filled with pleasure were we. Were it not for poetry, how could we record our feelings? In the poetry of Cathay, there are volumes on the fallen blossoms, but what difference is there between those ancient compositions and those of the present? And so, and so, shall we not compose short poems on this garden of blossoming plum?

正月立ち春の来たらばかくしこそ梅を招きつつ楽しき終へめ

mutuki tati
paru no kitaraba
kaku shi koso
mume wo manekitutu
tanosiki opeme
The First Month appears and
With the coming of spring
Thus
Beckoned by plum blossom
Will we exhaust ourselves with joy!

Senior Assistant Governor General, Lord Ki

Love V: 21

Left (Win).
重ねずと思ふばかりぞ小夜衣匂ひは袖に移りぬるかな

kasanezu to
omou bakari zo
sayogoromo
nioi wa sode ni
utsurinuru kana
No piled robes, but
All I do is long for her:
Her night-robe’s
Scent upon my sleeves
Does dwell….

Lord Suetsune
881

Right.
匂ひ來る梢ばかりを情にて主は遠き宿の梅が枝

nioikuru
kozue bakari o
nasake nite
aruji wa tōki
yado no mume ga e
The scent drifting
From the treetops is my only
Consolation, for
Their master is as far away
As his dwelling’s plum blossom branches…

Nobusada
882

The Right state: the Left’s poem lacks any faults to indicate. The Left state: is the Right’s poem not composed upon the plum blossom of the house next door?

In judgement: for the topic of ‘Nearby Love’, poems composed where the lovers are in the same room are most likely winners. Even so, how close do their dwellings need to be? The Left’s latter section, ‘Her night-robe’s scent upon my sleeves’ (sayogoromo nioi wa sode ni) is certainly elegant. The Right’s poem has ‘Their master is as far away’ (aruji wa tōki). Simply because of this, it is certainly not composed on plum blossom. Still, the Left’s ‘night-robe’ (sayogoromo) seems a little superior to ‘The scent drifting from the treetops is my only consolation’ (nioikuru kozue bakari o nasake nite).