Composed on the conception of cormorants on the river for a hundred poem sequence.
はやせ川みをさかのぼるうかひ舟まつこの世にもいかかくるしき
| FayasegaFa mi wo sakanoboru ukaFibune matu kono yo ni mo ikaga kurusiki |
Upon the River Hayase Poling upstream go The cormorant boats: Awaiting them tonight Is sad beyond all measure. |
Emperor Sutoku
This poem is also Kyūan hyakushu 28.
On the last day of the Third Month, when His Majesty’s gentlemen had been summoned before Him and commanded to compose on the spirit of the end of Spring, His Majesty composed the following.
おしむとてこよひかきをく言の葉やあやなく春のかたみなるべき
| osimu tote koyoFi kakiwoku koto no Fa ya ayanaku Faru no katami narubeki |
Feeling regret, Tonight I write down These lines, So empty; of Spring Might they serve as a reminder…? |
The New Retired Emperor [Sutoku (1119 – 1164; r. 1123 – 1141)]
Part of a hundred-poem sequence, composed on the spirit of the start of autumn.
いつしかとおぎの葉むけのかたよりにそゝや秋とぞ風もきこゆる
| itsushika to ogi no ha muke no kata yori ni sosoya aki to zo kaze mo kikoyuru |
All at once The reed leaves show Their other side – Just so! Just so! Autumn! Is in the wind. |
Retired Emperor Sutoku (1119-1164) (r. 1123-1141)
Composed on the conception of the end of Spring, when He composed a hundred-poem sequence.
花は根に鳥は古巣に歸るなり春のとまりをしる人ぞなき
| Fana Fa ne ni tori Fa Furusu ni kaFeru nari Faru no tomari wo siru Fito zo naki | Blossoms to the roots, and Birds to their nests of old, Return; Where Spring’s lodging lies Knows no one at all. |
Emperor Sutoku
崇徳天皇