Tag Archives: stags

Shiki koi sanshu uta’awase – Autumn

Autumn

Left

秋の夜の有明にみれど久堅の月のかつらはうつろはぬかな

aki no yo no
ariake ni miredo
hisakata no
tsuki no katsura wa
utsurouwanu kana
An autumn night’s
Dawn I see, yet
The eternal
Moon’s silver trees
Show no sign of fading!

13

秋萩の花咲く比の白露は下ばのためとわきて置くべし

aki hagi no
hana saku koro no
shiratsuyu wa
shitaba no tame to
wakite okubeshi
In autumn, the bush clover
Flowers bloom—just then
Silver dewdrops
For the under-leaves
Do fall, marking every one.

14

秋風はいなばもそよとふきつめりかりみる程と成りやしぬらん

akikaze wa
inaba mo soyo to
fukitsumeri
kari miru hodo to
nari ya shinuran
The autumn breeze
Seems to rustle the rice stalks
As it blows;
Seeing if ‘tis time to reap them—
Is that what it is, I wonder?

15

Right

銀河とわたる舟は花薄ほにいづるほどぞかげもみゆべき

ama no kawa
towataru fune wa
hanasusuki
ho ni izuru hodo zo
kage mo miyubeki
Across the River of Heaven
A boat goes ferrying:
When the silver grass
Ears burst into bloom,
Can its shape be seen.

16

女郎花さがの花をば色ながら秋をさかりといはれずもがな

ominaeshi
saga no hana oba
iro nagara
aki o sakari to
iwarezu mogana
Maidenflowers:
Blossoms from Saga
Reveal their hues, and
In autumn are most fine—that
Goes without saying!

17

小男鹿の朝たつ霧にうりふ山嶺の梢は色こかりけり

saoshika no
asa tatsu kiri ni
urifuyama
mine no kozue wa
iro kokarikeri
Stags
Within the rising morning mist on
Urifu Moutain, where
The treetops on the peak
Have taken darker hues.

18

Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase 24

ひとしれぬなみだやそらにくもりつつあきのしぐれとふりまさるらむ[1]

hito shirenu
namida ya sora ni
kumoritsutsu
aki no shigure to
furimasaruramu
Unknown to all
With tears the skies
Are ever clouded;
The autumn drizzle
Seems to fall the harder.

47

あきくれば山とよむまでなくしかに我おとらめやひとりぬるよは

aki kureba
yama toyomu made
naku shika ni
ware otorame ya
hitori nuru yo wa
When the autumn comes
The mountains echo with
The belling stags;
Will they lose to me
These nights I sleep alone?

48


[1] This poem appears in Fubokushō (5546), where it is attributed to [Ariwara no] Motokata.

Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase 15

山ざとは秋こそものはかなしけれねざめねざめにしかはなきつつ

yamazato wa
aki koso mono wa
kanashikere
nezame nezame ni
shika wa nakitsutsu
A mountain retreat in
Autumn is much more
Sad;
Waking, ever waking
To the stags constant cries…

29

ことのねをかぜのしらべにまかせてはたつたひめこそあきはひくらし

koto no ne o
kaze no shirabe ni
makasete wa
tatsustahime koso
aki wa hikurashi
A zither’s strains
By the wind tuned
Up—
Princess Tatsuta
Is plucking out the notes of autumn, it seems.

30

Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase 14

あさぎりにかたまどはしてなくかりのこゑぞたえせぬ秋の山べは

asagiri ni
kata madowashite
naku kari no
koe zo taesenu
aki no yamabe wa
In the morning mists
Having lost their way,
Crying, the geese
Call out ceaselessly
From the autumn mountain meadows.

27

山ざとはあきこそことにかなしけれしかのなくねにめをさましつつ[1]

yamazato wa
aki koso koto ni
kanashikere
shika no naku ne ni
me o samashitsutsu
In a mountain retreat
The autumn, especially,
Is lonely.
The belling of the stags
Continually awakens me.

28


[1] This poem also occurs in Kokinshū (IV: 214), where it is attributed to [Mibu no] Tadamine.

KKS XII: 582

A poem from the Poetry Contest at Prince Koresada’s house.

秋なれば山とよむまでなく鹿に我おとらめやひとり寝る夜は

aki nareba
yama toyomu made
naku sika ni
ware otorame ya
Fitori nuru yo Fa
When the autumn comes
Until the very mountains resound
Do bell the stags, but
Are their cries any less than mine,
Sleeping alone tonight…

Anonymous

SZS III: 218

Composed at the residence of the Ōmiya Former Chancellor, on the conception of when the moon in autumn seems like summer.

小萩原また花咲かぬ宮城野の鹿や今宵の月に鳴くらん

koFagiFara
mata Fana sakanu
miyagino no
sika ya koyoFi no
tuki ni nakuran
The young bush clover meadows
Are not yet in bloom;
On Miyagi plain
Do the stags tonight
Cry to the moon, I wonder?

Fujiwara no Atsunaka
藤原敦仲