Tag Archives: sakurabana

Teiji-in uta’awase 19

Left

さくらばなちりぬるかぜのなごりにはみづなきそらになみぞたちける

sakurabana
chirinuru kaze no
nagori ni wa
mizu naki sora ni
nami zo tachikeru
The cherry blossom
Scattering wind as
A keepsake in
The waterless skies
Has roused the waves.

Tsurayuki
37

Right

みなそこにはるやくるらんみよしののよしののかはにかはづなくなり

minasoko ni
haru ya kururan
miyoshino no
yoshino no kawa ni
kawazu nakunari
To the water’s depths
Has the spring arrived, it seems, for
In fair Yoshino
From the Yoshino River
The frogs are singing.

Tsurayuki
38

The Right won. His Majesty remarked, ‘There is a Royal poem here, so how could it lose?’

Teiji-in uta’awase 12

Left (Tie)

うつつにはさらにもいはじさくらばなゆめにもちるとみえばうからむ

utsutsu ni wa
sara ni mo iwaji
sakurabana
yume ni mo chiru to
mieba ukaramu
In the waking world
There is nothing more I might say,
O, cherry blossom!
You scattering through my dreams—
How I would hate to see it!

Mitsune
23

Right

はなのいろをうつしとどめよかがみやまはるよりのちにかげやみゆると

hana no iro o
utsushi to tomeyo
kagamiyama
haru yori nochi ni
kage ya miyuru to
The blossoms’ hues’
Reflection: hold it,
Mirror Mountain!
That after the springtime’s gone
I might see their shades.

Korenori
24[i]


[i] This poem is included in Shūishū (I: 73), attributed to Korenori, with the headnote, ‘From Former Emperor Uda’s Poetry Contest.’

Teiji-in uta’awase 11

Ten Poems on the Third Month

Left (Tie)

みてかへるこころあかねばさくらばなさけるあたりにやどやからまし

mitekaeru
kokoro akaneba
sakurabana
sakeru atari ni
yado ya karamashi
Seeing you and returning home
Leaves my heart unsated,
O, cherry blossom!
In the place where you do bloom is
Where I would borrow lodging…

Okikaze
21

Right

しののめにおきてみつればさくらばなまだよをこめてちりにけるかな

shinonome ni
okite mitsureba
sakurabana
mada yo o komete
chirinikeru kana
At the edge of dawn,
When I arise to gaze upon
The cherry blossoms
Within the night’s span
Have they scattered!

Yorimoto
22

The Right’s poem was just as His Majesty said: ‘It expresses affection for the blossom through gazing and gazing upon them.’ When it was suggested to him that the work produced by Lord Sadakata and Lord Noboru conveyed the same overall impression, he took his time to consider the matter, then said, ‘In that case,’ and made the round a tie.

Teiji-in uta’awase 08

Left (Tie)

さくらばないかでかひとのをりてみぬのちこそまさるいろもいでこめ

sakurabana
ikadeka hito no
orite minu
nochi koso masaru
iro mo idekome
O, cherry blossom!
Why would people
Pick you—can not they see that
‘Tis later that your best
Hues will emerge?

Mitsune

15

Right

うたたねのゆめにやあるらむさくらばなはかなくみてぞやみぬべらなる

utatane no
yume ni ya aruramu
sakurabana
hakanaku mite zo
yaminuberanaru
Dozing fitfully
In my dreams might there be
Cherry blossom?
A brief glimpse, that
Can be held right here…

Mitsune

16

Teiji-in uta’awase 06

Left (Win)

はるかぜのふかぬよにだにあらませばこころのどかにはなはみてまし

harukaze no
fukanu yo ni dani
aramaseba
kokoro nodoka ni
hana wa mitemashi
The spring breezes
Not blowing of an evening—if only
That were so, then
With peace in my heart
I would view the blossom

His Majesty

11

Right

ちりぬともありとたのまむさくらばなはるはすぎぬとわれにきかすな

chirinu tomo
ari to tanomamu
sakurabana
haru wa suginu to
ware ni kikasu na
You have fallen, yet
That you are here, I will believe,
O, cherry blossom!
That spring is past—
Don’t tell me that!

12

‘The Left’s poem is my own—it really should lose, shouldn’t it?’

Teiji-in uta’awase 04

Left

いそのかみふるのやまべのさくらばなこぞみしはなのいろやのこれる

isonokami
furu no yamabe no
sakurabana
kozo mishi hana no
iro ya nokoreru
In Isonokami
At Furu, on the mountainside is
Cherry blossom—
The flowers I did see last year:
Are their hues lingering on?

Suekata[i]
7

Right

ほどもなくちりなむものをさくらばなここらひささもまたせつるかな

hodo mo naku
chirinamu mono o
sakurabana
kokora hisasa mo
matasetsuru kana
Before a moment’s gone
Seem to scatter
The cherry blossoms, after
Everyone forever
Having made to wait!

Ise
8

The Left only shows affection for the past year, and lacks a conception of the current one—a loss.


[i] Suekata 季方.The identity of this poet is unclear. Hagitani (1963, 174) suggests he could have been the son of any one of a number of nobles: Prince Koga 興我王 (dates unknown); Fujiwara no Toshiyuki 藤原敏行 (?-901/07); Fujiwara no Sugane 藤原菅根 (856-908); or the younger brother of Taira no Atsuyuki 平篤行 (?-910).

Teiji-in uta’awase 02

Left

さかざらむものならなくにさくらばなおもかげにのみまだきみゆらむ

sakazaramu
mono naranaku ni
sakurabana
nao mo kage ni nomi
madaki miyuramu
Wishing not to bloom
Will not remain
The cherry blossom, but
Even so their shape alone
Swiftly, I would wish to see!

Mitsune
3

Right

やまざくらさきぬるときはつねよりもみねのしらくもたちまさりけり

yamazakura
sakinuru toki wa
tsune yori mo
mine no shirakumo
tachimasarikeri
When the mountain cherry
Has bloomed,
Earlier than usual
Clouds of white around the peak
Do rise spectacularly!

Tsurayuki
4[i]

The Left uses ‘wish’[ii] twice; the Right places the mountain cherries at a distance—that make the round a tie.


[i] This poem is included in Gosenshū (I: 118), with the headnote, ‘A poem from Former Emperor Uda’s Poetry Contest’.

[ii] Uda is objecting to Mitsune’s double usage of the auxiliary verb -ramu in his judgement here.

MYS XIII: 3305

A question and response poem.

物不念 道行去毛 青山乎 振放見者 茵花 香未通女 桜花 盛未通女 汝乎曽母 吾丹依云 吾 毛曽 汝丹依云 荒山毛 人師依者 余所 留跡序云 汝心勤

物思はず 道行く行くも 青山を 振り放け見れば つつじ花 にほえ娘子 桜花 栄え娘子 汝れをぞも 我れに寄すといふ 我れをもぞ 汝れに寄すといふ 荒山も 人し寄すれば 寄そるとぞいふ 汝が心ゆめ

mono’omowazu
michi yukuyuku mo
aoyama o
furisakemireba
tsutsujibana
nioe otome
sakurabana
hae otome
nare o somo
ware ni yosu to iu
ware o mo
nare ni yosu to iu
arayama mo
hito shi yosureba
yosuru to zo iu
na ga kokoroyume
Unburdened by gloomy thoughts
Along the path I went on and on,
To the green-growing mountain,
When in the distance I saw
An azalea
Fair bright maiden,
A cherry blossom
Glorious maiden:
O, you, truly
Give your heart to me;
And I, too,
Will give my heart to you;
Upon the wild mountain
Folk give their hearts
To one another, so
Never will I abandon you!

MYS III: 257

A poem on Mount Kagu by Kamo no Taruhito.

天之芳来山 霞立 春尓至婆 松風尓 池浪立而 櫻花 木乃晩茂尓 奥邊波 鴨妻喚 邊津方尓 味村左和伎 百礒城之 大宮人乃 退出而 遊船尓波 梶棹毛 無而不樂毛 己具人奈四二

天降りつく 天の香具山 霞立つ 春に至れば 松風に 池波立ちて 桜花 木の暗茂に 沖辺には 鴨妻呼ばひ 辺つ辺に あぢ群騒き ももしきの 大宮人の 退り出て 遊ぶ船には 楫棹も なくて寂しも 漕ぐ人なしに

amorituku
ame no kaguyama
kiri tatu
paru ni itareba
matukaze ni
ikenami tatite
sakurabana
ko no kuresige ni
okipe ni pa
kamo tuma yobapi
petupe ni
adi murasawagi
momosiki no
opomiyabito no
makaridete
asobu pune ni pa
kadisawo mo
nakute sabusi mo
kogu pito nasi ni
Descended from heaven is
Sacred Mount Kagu where
Mists arise
When the spring does come,
The wind through the pines
Raises waves from pond waters, and
Cherry blossom’s
Profusion shades the trees, while
Out in the offing,
Ducks call for a mate and
On the shore
Teals flock noisily;
Hundredfold,
The palace folk were wont to
Travel out
On pleasure boats, but
Oars and poles
Are there none—so sad—
For there’s not a soul to row them…