つらきをば思ひはれじとおもへども身をしる雨の所せくかな
| tsuraki oba omoihareji to omoedomo mi o shiru ame no tokoroseku kana | Your cruelty Would never vanish from my thoughts, I felt, but The gentle rain knows me too well— How unmanageable it is! |
Kodashin
37
おもはずにふりそふ雨の歎をばみかさの山をさしてちかはん
| omowazu ni furisou ame no nageki oba mikasa no yama o sashite chikanan | Unexpectedly, Rainfall covers all With grief, as On Mount Mikasa, my umbrella I raise as it draws near. |
Supernumerary Middle Counsellor Toshitada
38
Spring
Left
春のたつ霞の衣うらもなく年を経てこそ花の散りけれ
| haru no tatsu kasumi no koromo ura mo naku toshi o hete koso hana no chirikere | Spring does sew A robe of haze Without an underlay, The year passes by in A scattering of blossom |
1
春の野の雪間をわけていつしかと君がためとぞ若菜摘みつる
| haru no no no yuki ma o wakete itsushika to kimi ga tame to zo wakana tsumitsuru | Across the springtime meadows Do I forge between the snows, Eagerly, so eagerly, For you, my Lord, Have I gathered fresh herbs! |
2
春霞かすみこめたる山里はこほりとくともかげはみえじを
| harugasumi kasumi kometaru yamazato wa kōri toku tomo kage wa mieji o | The haze of spring Blurs all around A mountain retreat, Even were the ice to melt I could see no sign of it! |
3
Right
梅枝にきゐる鶯年毎に花の匂ひをあかぬ声する
| ume ga e ni ki’iru uguisu toshigoto ni hana no nioi o akanu koesuru | Upon the plum tree’s branches Has come to rest the warbler; Every single year, that Of the blossoms’ scent He cannot get his fill he sings. |
4
桜色に花さく雨はふりぬとも千しほぞそめてうつろふなそで
| sakurairo ni hana saku ame wa furinu tomo chishio zo somete utsurou na sode | Cherry-coloured Blossoms flower, as the rain Falls on, yet Dyed a thousand times Fade not, o, my sleeves! |
5
青柳のいとはるばると緑なる行末までも思ひこそやれ
| aoyagi no ito harubaru to midori naru yukusue made mo omoi koso yare | The willow’s Branches dangle lengthily So green Right to the very end Will I fondly think of you. |
6
On winter rain, from a hundred poem sequence on the four seasons, composed in Jōkyū 2 [1220].
都人ちぎりしものをはつ雪に松の葉をしき夕暮の雨
| miyakobito chigirishi mono o hatsuyuki ni matsu no ha o shiki yūgure no ame | Capital folk Did make a vow: Upon the first snows Pine needles spread By the evening rain. |
Lord Ietaka, Junior Second Rank
From among the poems he composed daily in Bun’ei 7 [1270].
冬の雨の名残のきりはあけ過ぎてくもらぬ空にのこる月かげ
| fuyu no ame no nagori no kiri wa akesugite kumoranu sora ni nokoru tsukikage | The winter rain’s Remnants of mist Have cleared away, and In the cloudless sky Lingers moonlight. |
Minister of Popular Affairs, Lord Tame’ie
On summer trees, when His Majesty, the Former Emperor, ordered him to produce a thirty poem sequence.
虹のたつふもとの杉は雲にきえて峰よりはるるゆふだちのあめ
| niji no tatsu fumoto no sugi wa kumo ni kiete mine yori haruru yūdachi no ame | A rainbow rises above Cedars in the foothills, Vanishing in the clouds Clearing from the peaks, With an evening shower of rain. |
Former Senior Assistant Governor General of Dazai Toshikane
あめふればかさとり山のもみぢばはゆきかふ人のそでさへぞてる[1]
| ame fureba kasatoriyama no momijiba wa yuki kau hito no sode sae zo teru | When rain falls on Kasatori Mountain, take your umbrella, For the scarlet leaves set Passing folks’ Sleeves alight! |
19
くりかへし我がみをわけてなみだこそ秋のしぐれにおとらざりけれ
| kurikaeshi wa ga mi o wakete namida koso aki no shigure ni otorazarikere | Time and again Am I broken By tears; The autumn drizzle Cannot outdo them… |
20
[1] This poem was included in Kokinshū (V: 263), attributed to Mibu no Tadamine.
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
Clouds 雲
白雲は雨やみてこそかへりけれはなぞめならばかからましやは
| shirakumo wa ame yamite koso kaerikere hanazome naraba kakaramashi ya wa | From the clouds so white The rain has ceased, and Headed home! Were they but light indigo, then Would they be like this? |
Tadafusa
Left (Win)
忘らるゝ人に軒端の忍ぶ草涙の雨ぞ露けかりける
| wasuraruru hito ni nokiba no shinobugusa namida no ame zo tsuyukekarikeru |
Forgotten by Him, beneath my eaves The ferns bring back memories; A rain of tears Leaves them dew-drenched. |
Lord Kanemune
1021
Right
戀づまのやがて軒端になり行けばいとど忍ぶの草ぞ茂れる
| koizuma no yagate nokiba ni nariyukeba itodo shinobu no kusa zo shigereru |
My man is Far away; beneath my eaves Are the signs: How many memories and Ferns grow thickly… |
Lord Tsune’ie
1022
Both Left and Right state: we find no faults to mention.
In judgement: both poems refer to ‘memory ferns’ (shinobugusa), and there is not a great deal of difference in quality between them, but the Left’s ‘rain of tears’ (namida no ame), with its association of dew, is slightly better than the Right’s ‘ferns grow thickly’ (kusa zo shigereru), and so should win.
A poem by Ōtomo no sukune Katami.
石上降るとも雨につつまめや妹に逢はむと言ひてしものを
| isonokami puru tomo ame ni tutumame ya imo ni apamu to ipitesi mono wo |
At Isonokami in Furu, the rain may fall But will it interfere? For to meet my darling Have I said I would… |
Ōtomo no Katami
大伴像見