Tag Archives: shirushi

Kyōgoku no miyasudokoro uta’awase 13

Original

ちりまがふかすがのやまのさくらばなひかりにきえぬゆきと見えつつ

chirimagau
kasuga no yama no
sakurabana
hikari ni kienu
yuki to mietsutsu
Tangledly scattering on
The mount of Kasuga are
The cherry blossoms—as
Not fading with the sunlight
Does this snow, it ever seems…

37

Left

さくらばななにかはきえむしろたへのいろばかりこそゆきににるらめ

sakurabana
nanika wa kienu
shirotae no
iro bakari koso
yuki ni niruramu
Cherry blossoms—
Why should they fade away?
White as mulberry cloth,
In their hue alone
Do they resemble snow, I’d say!

38

Right (Win)

やまざくらゆきにまがひてちりくれどきえぬばかりぞしるしなりける

yamazakura
yuki ni magaite
chirikuredo
kienu bakari zo
shirushi narikeru
Mountain cherry blossoms
Tangle with the snowflakes, and
Come a’scattering, yet
‘Tis only that they fade not that’s
The sign of what they are!

39

GSS XVIII: 1271

Composed when I was at a certain place and telling tales with sundry others before a lady’s curtains and heard a woman’s voice – one of her attendants, no doubt – say, ‘He seems to be strangely knowledgeable about matters of the heart for such an old man!’

あはれてふ事にしるしはなけれどもいはではえこそあらぬ物なれ

aFare teFu
koto ni sirusi Fa
nakeredomo
iFade Fa e koso
aranu mono nare
Of sensitivity
Surface signs
Are their none, yet
Saying nothing, indeed, is
What makes it plain!

Tsurayuki

Kyōgoku no miyasudokoro uta’awase 07

Original

わかなつむとしはへぬれどかすがのののもりはけふやはるをしるらむ

wakana tsumu
toshi wa henuredo
kasugano no
nomori wa kyō ya
haru o shiruramu
Plucking fresh herbs do
The years pass by, yet
On Kasuga Plain,
The wardens today
Must truly know ‘tis spring. [1]

Mitsune
19

Left (Tie)

けふ見てぞわれはしりぬるはなはなほかすがののべのものにぞありける

kyō mite zo
ware wa shirinuru
hana wa nao
kasuga no nobe no
mono ni zo arikeru
Today did I see, and
Understood it well, that
Blossom, truly,
Upon the meadows of Kasuga
Is best of all.

20

Right

ありへてもかすがののもりはるにあふはとしもわかなもつめるしるしか

arihete mo
kasuga no nomori
haru ni au wa
toshi mo wakana mo
tsumeru shirushi ka
Over passing ages,
For the wardens of Kasuga,
Encountering the springtime,
The years and the fresh herbs, both,
Have garnered as a sign, perhaps.

21


[1] A variant of this poem occurs in Shokugosenshū: In the twenty-first year of the same era, on a day when the Kyōgoku Lady of the Bedchamber visited the shrine at Kasuga, he composed this in place of the official from the province of Yamato. としごとにわかなつみつつかすが野ののもりもけふやはるをしるらん toshi goto ni / wakana tsumitsutsu / kasugano no / nomori mo kyō ya / haru o shiruran ‘Every single year / Ever plucking fresh herbs / On Kasuga Plain / The wardens, too, today / Must truly know ‘tis spring.’Mitsune (XVI: 1032/1029)

Kinkai wakashū 173

Composed on seeing the blinds being moved by the wind one evening, around the 20th day of the Waterless Month.

秋ちかくなるしるしにや玉簾こすのまとほし風のすずしき

aki chikaku
naru shirushi ni ya
tamasudare
kosu no ma tōshi
kaze no suzushiki
Of approaching autumn
Is this a sign, perhaps?
Hung with jewels
The blinds’ gaps reveal
The coolness of the wind.[i]

[i] An allusive variation on: Composed on the moon. 玉垂之 小簾之間通 独居而 見験無 暮月夜鴨 tamadare no / osu no ma tōshi / hitori ite / miru shirushinaki / yūzukuyo kamo ‘Hung with jewels / The blinds’ gaps reveal / Me sitting here alone / How pointless to be gazing out / At the rising moon tonight!’ Anonymous (MYS VII: 1073).

Daikōtaigōgū daijin kiyosuke-ason ke uta’awase 23

Round Twenty-Three

Left (Win)

雪ふかみしづのふせ屋もうづもれて煙ばかりぞしるしなりける

yuki fukami
shizu no fuseya mo
uzumorete
keburi bakari zo
shirushi narikeru
Snow so deep that
The peasants’ huts, too,
Are buried, and
The smoke, alone, is
Their only sign!

Kinshige
45

Right

花の春もみぢの秋もしるかりし松の木ずゑもみえぬ白雪

hana no haru
momiji no aki mo
shirukarishi
matsu no kozue mo
mienu shirayuki
By blossom is spring, and
By scarlet leaves is autumn
Known—
The treetops of the pines
Invisible with snow, so white.

Kūnin
46

The Left poem’s conception of ‘sign of smoke’ sounds particularly profound. As for the Right, it is possible for enough snow to fall to conceal a pine’s lower leaves, too, so the poem does not sound satisfying.

Daikōtaigōgū daijin kiyosuke-ason ke uta’awase 19

Round Nineteen

Left (Win)

うちはらふ枕のちりもかくれなくあれたる宿をてらす月影

uchiharau
makura no chiri mo
kakurenaku
aretaru yado o
terasu tsukikage
Needing to be swept away,
The dust upon my pillow
Cannot be concealed
In my dilapidated dwelling, when
The moonlight shines within…

Taifu
37

Right

秋の夜の月みる袖におく露やひるにかはれるしるしなるらん

aki no yo no
tsuki miru sode ni
oku tsuyu ya
hiru ni kawareru
shirushi naruran
On an autumn night
Upon my sleeves, when gazing at the moon,
Fall dewdrops—
That all is changed from daytime
Might they be a sign?

Yorisuke
38

In both the moon is bright, and I feel they reflect the essential meaning of the topic, but as its diction is currently slightly more familiar, I make the Left the winner. It would be possible to call this a tie, too, though.

SCSS III: 192

A poem for a folding screen on the occasion of a Junior Consort’s entrance to the palace in Kangi 1.

風そよぐならのを川の夕ぐれはみそぎぞ夏のしるしなりける

kaze soyogu
nara no ogawa no
yūgure wa
misogi zo natsu no
shirushi narikeru
Whispers on the wind
Through the oaks at Nara stream
Of an evening:
Lustrations, alone, of summer
Are the sign.[i]

Ietaka, Senior Third Rank

A kuzushiji version of the poem's text.
Created with Soan.

[i] An allusive variation on SKKS XV: 1376.

SZS I: 46

Composed on the conception of visiting distant blossom in the mountains, on a day when he was due to return after paying a visit to the residence of the regent.

たづねつる花のあたりになりにけりにほふにしるしはるの山かぜ

tazuneturu
Fana no atari ni
narinikeri
nioFu ni sirusi Fa
Faru no yamakaze
I have paid a visit to
A place of blossom
Here;
Of their scent a sign is carried
On the spring mountain breezes.

Former Emperor Sutoku

A kuzushiji version of the poem's text.
Created with Soan.

SZS XIX: 1211

Composed when he was on a pilgrimage to worship Kannon at thirty-three places, and saw oil emerging at Tanigumi, in Mino.[1]

よをてらすほとけのしるしありければまだともし火もきえぬなりけり

yo wo terasu
Fotoke no sirusi
arikereba
mada tomosibi mo
kienu narikeri
Shining light upon the world,
This Buddha, a sign
Does give:
As yet, the lanterns
Never have gone out!

Former Archbishop Kakuchū
前大僧正覚忠


[1] This poem was composed at the Kegonji 華厳寺 temple on Mount Tagumi (Tagumisan 谷汲山) in the middle of what is now Gifu 岐阜 prefecture.