Spring
Composed on the First day of the First Month
今朝みれば山もかすみて久かたのあまのはらより春は来にけり
kesa mireba yama mo kasumite hisakata no ama no hara yori haru wa kinikeri Gazing out this morning [i]
1
Created with Soan . [i] The reference to the ‘plains of Heaven’ (ama no hara 天の原) being ‘eternal’ (hisakata 久方) implies that the poet has been long awaiting the arrival of spring—a nuance which I have attempted to capture with the final ‘at last’.
Left
Mibu no Tadamine Ariwara no Motokata Taira no Sadafun
Right
Sakanoue no Korenori Ki no Tsurayuki Ōshikōchi 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
Tadamine
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
Mitsune
Composed at the poetry match at Taira no Sadafun’s house.
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
Faru tatu to Spring is here
Mibu no Tadamine
Orchids
Left
はるきてはきのふばかりをあさみどりなべてけさこくのはな りにけり
haru kite wa kinō bakari o asamidori nabete kesa koku no wa na rikeri Spring’s coming means, though
Tsurayuki
Right
はるさめにしべゆるぶらし春のくさこくのはな べてさきみちにけり
harusame ni shibe yuruburashi haru no kusa koku no wa na bete sakimichinikeri In the springtime rain,
20
Left
あきごとにさきはくれどもをみなへしけふをまつとのなにこそありけれ
aki goto ni saki wa kuredomo ominaeshi kyō o matsu to no na ni koso arikere Every single autumn
5[1]
Right
さやかにもけさはみえずやをみなへしきりのまがきにたちかくれつつ
sayaka ni mo kesa wa miezu ya ominaeshi kiri no magaki ni tachikakuretsutsu Clearly
6[2]
[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 518
[2] Shinsen man’yōshū 540
Left
恋しきに侘びてたましひまどひなば空しきからの名にやのこらむ
koishiki ni wabite tamashii madoinaba munashiki kara no na ni ya nokoramu If, for love of you and
190[1]
Right
あかずして今朝のかへりぢおもほえず心をひとつおきてこしかば
akazushite kesa no kaeriji omohoezu kokoro o hitotsu okitekoshikaba Still hungering for you
191
[1] Kokinshū XII: 571/Shinsen man’yōshū 219/Kokin rokujō IV: 1983
New Year’s Day
冬の夜を旅の空にてあかしてや都に春の今朝は来るらむ
fuyu no yo o A winter’s night
Kanemasa
Cicadas (蟬)
東路や今朝たちくればせみの声たかしの山にいまぞ鳴くなる
azumaji ya Upon the Eastern roads
Nakazane
桜にも枝さしかはす桃なれば空さへ今朝はさかやもひせり
sakura ni mo
When even the cherry
Minamoto no Shunrai
誰も皆今朝は桜をうちすてて桃をたづねて過ぐすなりけり
tare mo mina
Every single one
Minamoto no Shunrai
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