Topic unknown.
あすからはわかなつまんとしめし野にきのふもけふもゆきはふりつつ
| asu kara wa wakana tsuman to shimeshi no ni kinō mo kyō mo yuki wa furitsutsu | From the morrow I thought to pick fresh herbs, but Upon my roped off meadow Yesterday and today, too, The snow is ever falling… |
Yamabe no Akahito
For a painting of fresh herbs on a folding screen.
かすがののとぶひののもりけふとてや昔かたみに若なつむらん
| kasuga no no tobuhi nomori kyō tote ya mukashi katami ni wakana tsumuran | Upon the plain of Kasuga At Tobuhi, a field warden Wonders if ‘twas today Long ago? His basket of memories With fresh herbs filled, perhaps… |
Fresh herbs in the snow.
わかなつむ衣手ぬれてかた岡のあしたのはらにあは雪ぞふる
| wakana tsumu koromode nurete kataoka no ashita no hara ni awayuki zo furu | Picking fresh herbs, My sleeves are soaked, for In Kataoka Upon the plain of Ashita Falls a froth of snow. |
On seeing snow at the beginning of spring.
春たたばわかなつまむとしめおきしのべともみえず雪のふれれば
| haru tataba wakana tsumamu to shime’okishi nobe to mo miezu yuki no furereba | If spring comes then Going to pick fresh herbs Is what I did expect, but The meadows are beyond my sight In the falling snow… |
For a folding screen for the residence of Minister of the Right Tsunesuke.
野辺見ればわかなつみけりむべしこそかきねの草もはるめきにけれ
| nobe mireba wakana tumikeri mube si koso kakine no kusa mo Farumekinikeri | When I gaze upon the meadows, and Have picked fresh herbs Indeed, indeed The grasses along my brushwood fence Have grown most springlike! |
Tsurayuki
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 The springtime meadows before my eyes Are mixed; A’plucking of fresh herbs, Are there folk there, I wonder? |
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 From the valleys Did not sing his song, That spring is coming Would anyone announce it at all? |
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.
Spring
Left
春のたつ霞の衣うらもなく年を経てこそ花の散りけれ
| haru no tatsu kasumi no koromo ura mo naku toshi o hete koso hana no chirikere | Spring does sew A robe of haze Without an underlay, The year passes by in A scattering of blossom |
1
春の野の雪間をわけていつしかと君がためとぞ若菜摘みつる
| haru no no no yuki ma o wakete itsushika to kimi ga tame to zo wakana tsumitsuru | Across the springtime meadows Do I forge between the snows, Eagerly, so eagerly, For you, my Lord, Have I gathered fresh herbs! |
2
春霞かすみこめたる山里はこほりとくともかげはみえじを
| harugasumi kasumi kometaru yamazato wa kōri toku tomo kage wa mieji o | The haze of spring Blurs all around A mountain retreat, Even were the ice to melt I could see no sign of it! |
3
Right
梅枝にきゐる鶯年毎に花の匂ひをあかぬ声する
| ume ga e ni ki’iru uguisu toshigoto ni hana no nioi o akanu koesuru | Upon the plum tree’s branches Has come to rest the warbler; Every single year, that Of the blossoms’ scent He cannot get his fill he sings. |
4
桜色に花さく雨はふりぬとも千しほぞそめてうつろふなそで
| sakurairo ni hana saku ame wa furinu tomo chishio zo somete utsurou na sode | Cherry-coloured Blossoms flower, as the rain Falls on, yet Dyed a thousand times Fade not, o, my sleeves! |
5
青柳のいとはるばると緑なる行末までも思ひこそやれ
| aoyagi no ito harubaru to midori naru yukusue made mo omoi koso yare | The willow’s Branches dangle lengthily So green Right to the very end Will I fondly think of you. |
6
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Empress Dowager during the reign of the Kanpyō emperor.
春霞たなびく野べの若菜にもなり見てし哉人も摘むやと
| Farugasumi tanabiku nobe no wakana ni mo narimitesigana Fito mo tumu ya to | Spring haze Drifting through the fields over The new herbs I would become— For then she might pick me, perhaps… |
Fujiwara no Okikaze
Left
けふも猶雪はふりつつ春霞たてるやいづこ若菜つみてむ
| kyō mo nao yuki wa furitsutsu harugasumi tateru ya izuko wakana tsumitemu |
Still yet, today Is the snow falling; O, spring haze Where do you arise? For I would go and pluck fresh herbs! |
3
In no hyakushu, shodo, Eighth Month Shōji 2 [September 1200]
Right
朝氷たがため分て此川のむかへの野べに若菜つむらん
| asagōri ta ga tame wakete kono kawa no mukae no nobe ni wakana tsumuran |
This film of morning ice: For who’s sake do I break it? On this river’s Yonder side within the fields Would I pluck fresh herbs… |
4
Naidaijinke hyakushu, Ninth Month Kenpō 3 [October 1215]