A poem by Kamō, the dancing girl.
雪嶋 巌尓殖有 奈泥之故波 千世尓開奴可 君之挿頭
ゆきのしま いはほにうゑたる なでしこは ちよにさかぬか きみがかざしに
yuki no sima ipapo ni uwetaru nadesiko pa tiyo ni sakanu ka kimi ga kazasi ni Snow lies heavy on the garden’s Rocks where grow The pinks: O, won’t you bloom a thousand years? That my Lord may wear you in his hair…
Composed on plovers on the road to the barrier.
淡路島かよふちどりのなくこゑにいく夜ねざめぬ須磨の関守
awajishima kayou chidori no naku koe ni ikuyo nesamenu suma no sekimori To Awaji Isle Fly back and forth the plovers— Their calling cries have Wakened, on how many nights, The wardens of Suma barrier?
Minamoto no Kanemasa
Cathay Folk 唐人
おしてるやちへの白波わけしのぎわがしき島にいかできつらん
oshiteru ya chie no shiranami wake’shinogi wa ga shikishima ni ikade kitsuran Sparkling are The thousandfold whitecaps Through which you forge your way To our scattered isles – How could you have made it?
Nakazane
Left (Tie)
身を捨てゝ思へといはゞ唐国の虎臥す谷に世をもつくさん
mi o sutete
omoe to iwaba
karakuni no
tora fusu tani ni
yo o mo tsukusan
‘Abandon all restraint, and
Love me!’ say that, and
In far Cathay,
In a valley where tiger’s lie
Would I end my life!
Kenshō
1065
Right
もろこしの虎臥す嶋もへだつらん思はぬ中のうときけしきは
morokoshi no
tora fusu shima mo
hedatsuran
omowanu naka no
utoki keshiki wa
In Cathay,
Isles where tigers lie
Stand in between:
A heedless love’s
Chill is such a sight!
Jakuren
1066
Left and Right together: both tigers do not seem to emphasise anything in particular.
In judgement: both poems refer to ‘tigers’ (tora ), with the Left having ‘a valley where tigers lie’ (tora fusu tani ) and the Right ‘isles where tigers lie’ (tora fusu shima ). These seem to be an attempt to differ from the standard ‘meadow’ (nobe ). Saying ‘valley’ or ‘isles’ makes both poems sound modern. They are of the same quality.
難波潟鶴ぞ鳴くなるこれやこの田蓑の島のわたりなるらむ
naniFagata
tadu zo nakunaru
kore ya kono
tamino no sima no
watari naruramu
At the shore of Naniwa
The cranes are crying;
Is it true that
Tamino Isle
Does lie nearby?
Minamoto no Moroyori
源師頼
Rarely Visited Love
干る塩のとどみならずは八十島に絶えまがちなる浦みせましや
Firu siFo no
todomi narazu Fa
yasosima ni
taemagatinaru
uramisemasi ya
Salt drying
Backwaters these are not:
On all the many islands
If only broken into pieces were
The shorelines, as my despair…
Minamoto no Toshiyori
源俊頼
'Simply moving and elegant'