Left
おしなべて五月のそらを見渡せば草葉も水もみどりなりけり
oshinabete satsuki no sora o miwataseba kusaba mo mizu mo midori narikeri When the entire
72[1]
Right
くるるかとみれば明けぬる夏の夜をあかずとや鳴く山郭公
kururu ka to Did you think ’twas sunset?
73[2]
[1] Shinchokusenshū III: 152/Kokin rokujō I: 89
[1] Kokinshū III: 157, attributed to Mibu no Tadamine/Shinsen man’yōshū 57/Kokin rokujō VI: 4437
Left
いつの間に花かれにけむながくだにありせば夏のかげとみましを
itsu no ma ni hana karenikemu nagaku dani ariseba natsu no kage to mimashi o In an instant
66
Right
幾千たび鳴きかへるらむ足引の山ほととぎす声はわすれて
ikuchi tabi nakikaeruramu ashihiki no yamahototogisu koe wa wasurete How many thousand times,
67
Left
春ながら年はくれなん散る花ををしと鳴くなる鶯のこゑ
haru nagara toshi wa kurenan chiru hana o oshi to nakunaru uguisu no koe ‘Tis spring, but
23[1]
Right
大空をおほふばかりの袖もがな春咲く花を風にまかせじ
ōzora o ōu bakari no sode mogana haru saku hana o kaze ni makaseji If only the heavens
24[2]
[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 35; Shinchokusenshū II: 88.
[2] Shinsen man’yōshū 263.
Left
駒なべてめも春の野にまじりなむ若菜摘みつる人は有りやと
koma nabete me mo haru no no ni majirinamu wakana tsumitsuru hito wa ari ya to Mounts all over
21[1]
Right
鶯の谷よりいづる声なくは春くることを誰かつげまし
uguisu no tani yori izuru koe naku wa haru kuru koto o tare ka tsugemashi If the bush-warbler
22[2]
[1] Shisen manyōshū 13; Kokin rokujō II: 1137, ‘Springtime meadows’
[2] A minor variant of this poem occurs in Kokinshū (I: 14), attributed to Ōe no Chisato: 鶯の谷よりいづる声なくは春来ることを誰かしらまし uguisu no / tani yori izuru / koe naku wa / haru kuru koto o / tare ka shiramashi ‘If the bush-warbler / From the valleys / Did not sing his song, / That spring is coming / Would anyone realise at all?’; also Shinsen man’yōshū 261.
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Dowager Empress during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.
秋のせみさむき声にぞきこゆなる木のはの衣を風やぬぎつる
aki no semi samuki koe ni zo kikoyunaru ko no ha no kinu o kaze ya nugitsuru In the autumn, the cicadas’
Anonymous
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Dowager Empress during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.
琴の音にひびきかよへる松風をしらべてもなく蝉のこゑかな
koto no ne ni hibikikayoeru matsukaze wa shirabetemo naku semi no koe kana A zither’s strains
Anonymous
Being quiet in company with a bush warbler (鶯閑中友)
Left
うぐひすのこゑを友にてくらすかなひとりながむる春の山里
uguisu no koe o tomo nite kurasu kana hitori nagamuru haru no yamazato O, with a warbler’s
3
Right
山家はなく鶯のこゑのみぞのどけき春の友ときこゆる
yama ie wa naku uguisu no koe nomi zo nodokeki haru no tomo to kikoyuru In a dwelling in the mountains
Fujiwara no Kunimoto, Ranked without Office
Round Ten: Insects’ songs from behind thickets of grass
Left
たづねくるかひもあるかな草村に我まつむしの声ぞきこゆる
tazunekuru kai mo aru kana kusamura ni ware matsumushi no koe zo kikoyuru Paying a visit here—
A Court Lady
Right
松虫のこゑもたえせぬ草むらはたづねぬ人も尋ねきにけり
matsumushi no koe mo taesenu kusamura wa tazunenu hito mo tazunekinikeri Pine crickets’
A Court Lady
たなばたに心をかくるこよひさへあかずきこゆるすずむしのこゑ
tanabata ni kokoro o kakuru koyoi sae akazu kikoyuru suzumushi no koe At Tanabata
Lady Shōjō
Insects
あきくればむしもやものをおもふらんこゑもをしまずねをもなくかな
aki kureba When the autumn comes,
His Majesty
Right
あきごとにとこめづらなるすずむしのふりてもふりぬこゑぞきこゆる
akigoto ni Each and every autumn,
Lord Kintō
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'Simply moving and elegant'