Composed on the conception of seeing blossom every morning.
たづねきてたをるさくらの朝露に花のたもとのぬれぬ日ぞなき
| tadunekite taworu sakura no asatuyu ni Fana no tamoto no nurenu Fi zo naki | I pay a visit and Pluck, with my hand, a stem of cherry blossom; The morning dew My springtime sleeves Dampens every single day! |
The Naka-no-in Minister of the Right
When he participated in an archery display, during the reign of the Jōgan emperor [Seiwa].
けふ桜しづくにわが身いざぬれむかごめにさそふ風のこぬまに
| keFi sakura siduku ni wa ga mi iza nuremu kagome ni sasoFu kaze no konu ma ni | Today let cherry blossom Droplets my body Drench! For the scented Breeze has yet to blow… |
The Kawara Minister of the Left
[Minamoto no Tōru 源融 (822-895)]
Cherry blossom on a distant mountain.
かづらきや高間のさくらながむれば夕ゐる雲に春雨ぞ降る
| kazuraki ya takama no sakura nagamureba yū iru kumo ni harusame zo furu | In Kazuraki When on Takama Mountain’s cherries I gaze From the clouds at the cusp of dusk Falls a springtime shower. |
A place famed for cherry blossom.
音にきくよしののさくら咲きにけり山のふもとにかかる白雲
| oto ni kiku yoshino no sakura sakinikeri yama no fumoto ni kakaru shirakumo | The famed Yoshino cherries Have bloomed; Around the mountains’ feet Cling clouds of white. |
Left (Win)
さくらちるこのしたかぜはさむからでそらにしられぬゆきぞふりける
| sakura chiru ko no shitakaze wa samukarade sora ni shirarenu yuki zo furikeru | The cherry scattering Breeze beneath the trees Lacks chill— Unaware from within the skies The snow is falling. |
Tsurayuki
13[i]
Right
わがこころはるのやまべにあくがれてながながしひをけふもくらしつ
| wa ga kokoro haru no yamabe ni akugarete naganagashi hi o kyō mo kurashitsu | My heart to The mountainside in springtime Is drawn— The long, long day Today, too, has reached its dusk. |
Mitsune
14[ii]
The Left wins. ‘The Right has “long, long” which is a disagreeable word. It was hissed through pursed lips with drooping shoulders,’ and so it lost.
[i] This poem is included in Shūishū (I: 64), with the headnote, ‘From Former Emperor Uda’s Poetry Contest’.
[ii] This poem is included in Shinkokinshū (I: 81), attributed to Tsurayuki with the headnote ‘A poem from Former Emperor Uda’s Poetry Contest’.
A poem composed by Emperor Ingyō after spending the night with Princess Sotōri.
波那具波辞 佐区羅能梅涅 許等梅涅麼 波椰区波梅涅孺 和我梅豆留古羅
| hana guwashi sakura no mede koto medeba hayaku wa medezu wa ga mezuru kora | So fair the bloom, I love the cherry blossom, and Just the same do I love her—sad—that Earlier I did not love her That girl I love now. |
Bird Cherry Blossom
Left
はるがすみたちみつをみてにはかにはさくらのはなとおもひけるかな
| harugasumi tachimitsu o mite niwaka ni wa sakura no hana to omoikeru kana | The spring mists Rising to fill all, I saw, and Suddenly, of Cherry blossom Did I think! |
Tsurayuki
11
Right (Win)
はるかにはさくらのはなとみゆれどもいりてのそきはひろくぞありける
| haruka ni wa sakura no hana to miyuredomo irite no soki wa hiroku zo arikeru | From afar, as Cherry blossom Did they appear, yet Travelling there, the distance is Broad, indeed! |
Tadamine
12
Composed for Her Majesty, to say that this year, she had the liberty to bond with the blossoms.
しらくもにまがふさくらのこずゑにてちとせの春をそらにしるかな
| sirakumo ni magaFu sakura no kodue nite titose no Faru wo sora ni siru kana | The clouds, so white Blend with the cherry blossom Treetops— Are a thousand years of springtimes Known in the skies, I wonder! |
Chūnagon, in service to Empress Taikenmon’in
待賢門院中納言
At a time when she was unwell and suffering, thinking that it might caused by the wind, she kept the shutters closed; at this time she saw how some cherry blossom, which had been picked and put in a vase, scattered, and composed:
たれこめてはるのゆくゑも知らぬまにまちし桜もうつろひにけり
| tare komete Faru no yukuwe mo siranu ma ni matisi sakura mo utsuroFinikeri | While closed in and Of the progress of spring All knowing, These long-awaited cherries, too, Have faded. |
Fujiwara no Yoruka