When Spring Arrives in the Old Year 旧年立春
あづまやの軒ばのたるひ薄くは雪かき分けて春や立つらん
azumaya no nokiba no taruhi usuraku wa yuki kakiwakete haru ya tatsuran | On an eastern hut’s Eaves, the icicles Seem more slender now; Forging through the snows Has spring come to call? |
Higo
Lingering Cold
春なれど雪ふるとしのなほちかみをののすみがま今朝や焼くらむ
haru naredo yuki furu toshi no nao chikami ono no sumigama kesa ya yakuramu | It is spring, yet The year of falling snows Is still close by; Do the charcoal kilns at Ono Burn this morn, I wonder? |
Higo
Left. Spring
あら玉の年もかはらぬふるさとの雪のうちにも春はきにけり
aratama no
toshi mo kawaranu
furusato no
yuki no uchi ni mo
haru wa kinikeri |
To the fresh jeweled
Year the change has yet to come, yet
Around my familiar home
Even within the snows
The spring is here! |
1
Ninnaji gojūshu, Kenkyū 1 [1190]
Right
冬ながら花ちる空のかすめるは雲のこなたに春やきつらむ
fuyu nagara
hana chiru sora no
kasumeru wa
kumo no konata ni
haru ya kitsuramu |
It’s winter now, yet
Are the blossom-scattering skies
Hazed
Beneath the clouds by
The arrival of spring, perhaps? |
2
鶯の飛火野野辺の雪の内にそれかとばかり匂ふ梅が枝
uguisu no
tobubino nobe no
yuki no uchi ni
sore ka to bakari
niou ume ga e |
The warbler on
The meadows of Tobuhi Plain
Among the snows
Simply wonders if
‘tis the glow of branching plum… |
Gotoba
後鳥羽
'Simply moving and elegant'