matsushima ya ojima ga iso ni yoru nami no tsuki no kōri ni chidori nakunari
In Matsushima Upon Ojima’s rocky shore Break waves, while from The moon’s ice The plovers are a’calling.[i]
12
[i] See: I went to the province of Sanuki and arrived at harbour called Minotsu. The moon was bright and bamboo racks for growing seaweed filled the bay. Gazing across, into the distance, I saw seabirds arriving and soaring above them. しきわたす月のこほりをうたがひてひびのてまはるあぢのむらとり shikiwatasu / tsuki no kōri o / utagaite / hibi no te mawaru / aji no muradori ‘Spread out all o’er, / The moon for ice / Mistaking / Above the bamboo racks a’circling / Is a flock of teal…’ Saigyō (Sankashū 1404); and: Waterbirds beneath the moon (poetry match) すはのうみの月のこほりにゐるかもはさえぬをりにやおもひとくらん suwa no umi no / tsuki no kōri ni / iru kamo wa / saenu ori ni ya / omoitokuran ‘At the Suwa Sea / Upon the moon’s ice / Rest ducks: / That ’tis not chill at all / I wonder, will they work it out?’ (Hirokoto-shū 66)
Composed on seeing an aged pine on the rocky shore while on the road to a place called Misaki.[i]
いその松いくひささにか成りぬらんいたく木高き風のおとかな
iso no matsu ikuhisasa ni ka narinuran itaku kodakaki kaze no oto kana
The pine tree on the rocky shore Has for how many eternities Endured? The tree, so very high, as is The sound of the wind!
695
[i] Misaki 三崎 lies on the Miura Peninsula 三浦半島 on the far eastern side of Sagami Bay. Sanetomo is known to have visited Misaki in the Third Month, Kenryaku 2 [April 1212] and this poem was probably composed then.
During the reign of the Kanpyō emperor, the gentlemen in service to His Majesty, sent a sake jar to the ladies waiting upon Her Majesty, the empress, with a request for some leftover imperial sake. Her Majesty’s chamberlains, laughing, presented the jar before Her Majesty, but in the end said nothing to her, and when a messenger arrived to inform the gentlemen of this, he sent this back from among His Majesty’s chamberlains.
玉だれのこがめやいづらこよろぎのいその浪わけおきにいでにけり
tamadare no kogame ya idura koyogi no iso no nami wake oki ni idenikeri
Hung with jewels, O, where has gone that little flask? From the rocky shore of Koyogi, Forging through the waves into the offing Has it departed.
adusayumi isobe no komatu ta ga yo ni ka yoroduyo kanete tane wo makikemu
A catalpa bow, The dwarf pine upon the rocky shore Has through whose lifetimes lived? “That it last ten thousand ages!” Was with its seed a’planted, perhaps?
