Tag Archives: snow

Teiji-in uta’awase 07

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’.

Sahyōe no suke sadafumi uta’awase 10

The End of Winter

Left

したぎえのゆきまをみればふゆながらはるのけちかきここちこそすれ

shitagie no
yukima o mireba
fuyu nagara
haru no kechikaki
kokochi koso sure
Melting below,
Gaps in the snow, I see, so
Though ‘tis yet winter
Spring’s sensation closer
Comes, I feel!

19

Right (Win)

みよしののやまのしらゆきつもるらしふるさとさむくなりまさるなり

miyoshino no
yama no shirayuki
tsumorurashi
furusato samuku
narimasaru nari
On fair Yoshino
Mountain white snow fall
Drifts high, it seems,
For in this ancient place the chill
Grows ever stronger.

Korenori
20

Sahyōe no suke sadafumi uta’awase 1

Left

Mibu no TadamineAriwara no MotokataTaira no Sadafun

Right

Sakanoue no KorenoriKi no TsurayukiŌshikōchi no Mitsune

The Beginning of Spring

Left (Tie)

はるたつといふばかりにやみよしののやまもかすみてけさはみゆらむ

haru tatsu to
iu bakari ni ya
miyoshino no
yama mo kasumite
kesa wa miyuramu
Spring is here
They simply say, but
Is fair Yoshino
Mountain, too, all hazed
In view this morning, I wonder?

Tadamine
1

Right

はるたちてなほふるゆきはむめのはなさくほどもなくちるかとぞみる

haru tachite
nao furu yuki wa
mume no hana
saku hodo mo naku
chiru ka to zo miru
Spring is here, yet
Still the snow falls—does, as
Plum blossoms’
Brief flowering then
Scattering, it truly seem?

Mitsune
2