Tag Archives: warbler

Teiji-in uta’awase 05

Left (Win)

はるがすみたちしかくせばやまざくらひとしれずこそちりぬべらなれ

harugasumi
tachishi kakuseba
yamazakura
hito shirezu koso
chirinuberanare
If the spring haze
Has risen to conceal
The mountain cherries,
Then, indeed, will no one know
When they have seemed to scatter!

Tsurayuki
9

Right

たのまれぬはなのこころとおもへばやちらぬさきよりうぐひすのなく

tanomarenu
hana no kokoro to
omoeba ya
chiranu saki yori
uguisu no naku
Untrustworthy are
The blossoms’ hearts
I do think, so
While they are unscattered
Will the warbler sing.

Okikaze
10[i]

Both of these are the same—they tie.[ii]


[i] This poem is included in Shinshūishū (XI: 1549), attributed to Okikaze, with the headnote, ‘From Former Emperor Uda’s Poetry Contest’. It is also included twice in Kokin rokujō (I: 31) and (VI: 4395): in both cases the poem is attributed to Okikaze, but the first instance lacks a headnote, while the second is classified as a ‘Warbler’ poem. Finally, it is also included in Mandaishū (II: 254), again attributed to Okikaze, but this time with the headnote, ‘Topic unknown’.

[ii] Given that the Left’s poem here is marked as winning, presumably Uda means that both poems are equally worthy of a win—that is, that this is a yoki ji, a ‘tie of quality’.

Teiji-in uta’awase 03

Left (Win)

きつつのみなくうぐひすのふるさとはちりにしむめのはなにざりける

kitsutsu nomi
naku uguisu no
furusato wa
chirinishi mume no
hana ni zarikeru
Ever coming, simply
To sing—the warbler’s
Ancient home
The scattered plum
Blossoms is not.

Mitsune

5[i]

Right

みちよへてなるてふももはことしよりはなさくはるにあひぞしにける

michiyo hete
naru chō momo wa
kotoshi yori
hana saku haru ni
ai zo shinikeru
Three thousand generations enduring,
They say, are the peaches:
From this year
Blossom blooming spring
Have they encountered.

Korenori

6[ii]

This poem says ‘generation’ when it should be composed about a year—it loses.


[i] This poem is included in Shinchokusenshū (I: 36), attributed to Sakanoue no Korenori, with the headnote, ‘From Former Emperor Uda’s Poetry Contest’.

[ii] A minor variant of this poem, which changes the first phrase to ‘For three thousand years’ (michi tose ni), is included in Shūishū (V: 288), attributed to Mitsune, with the headnote ‘From Former Emperor Uda’s Poetry Contest’.

Uda-in uta’awase 8

Azaleas

Left

かりがねにおもひかけつつしのばなんあまつそらなるわが身なりとも

kari ga ne ni
omoikaketsutsu
shinobanan
ama tsu sora naru
wa ga mi naritomo
Upon the goose cries
Ever hang your thoughts, and
Remember, that
Within the sky-spanning heavens
I may yet be…

Sadafun
15

Right

うぐひすのこゑなつかしくなきつるはのちもこひつつしのばなむとか

uguisu no
koe natsukashiku
nakitsuru wa
nochi mo koitsutsu
shinobanamu to ka
Does the warbler’s
Song so charmingly
Ring out that
Later, ever fondly
Will he be remembered?

16

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 13

Left

霞立つ春の山辺にさくら花あかず散るとやうぐひすの鳴く

kasumi tatsu
haru no yamabe ni
sakurabana
akazu chiru to ya
uguisu no naku
Hazes rise from
The springtime moutainside, where
With cherry blossoms’
Scattering unsated, perhaps,
The warbler sings.

25[1]

Right

あまの原春はことにも見ゆるかな雲のたてるも色こかりけり

ama no hara
haru wa koto ni mo
miyuru kana
kumo no tateru mo
iro kokarikeri
Upon the Plain of Heaven
The spring is especially
Revealed!
The clouds stand tall in
Vibrant hues.

26


[1] Shinkokinshū II: 109/Shinsen man’yōshū 31

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 12

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
The year draws to an end;
‘The scattering blossom
I regret!’ sings
The warbler’s song.

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
I could simply cover
With my sleeves, then
The blossoms blooming in springtime
I’d not abandon to the wind!

24[2]


[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 35; Shinchokusenshū II: 88.

[2] Shinsen man’yōshū 263.

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 8

Left

春がすみあみにはりこめ花ちらばうつろひぬべし鶯とめよ

harugasumi
ami ni harikome
hana chiraba
utsuroinubeshi
uguisu tomeyo
The spring haze
Spreads its net to catch
The blossom—should they scatter,
And then, for sure, decline,
O, warbler, tarry a while!

15[1]

Right

春雨の色はこくしもみえなくに野辺のみどりをいかでそむらん

harusame no
iro wa koku shimo
mienaku ni
nobe no midori o
ikade somuran
The spring rain’s
Hue great depths
Does not seem to have, but
How are the meadows with green
So deeply dyed?

16[2]


[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 9; Fubokushō II: 464: ‘Haze’

[2] A minor variant of the poem, with a headnote associating it with this contest, and attributed to Ki no Tomonori, appears in Shokusenzaishū (I: 62): 春雨の色はこしともみえなくに野べのみどりをいかでそむらん harusame no / iro wa koshi tomo / mienaku ni / nobe no midori o / ikade somuran ‘The spring rain’s / Hue no great depths / Does seem to have, but / How are the meadows with green / So deeply dyed?’

SKKS II: 109

From the Poetry Contest held by the Dowager Empress during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.

霞立つ春の山辺にさくら花あかず散るとやうぐひすの鳴く

kasumi tatsu
haru no yamabe ni
sakurabana
akazu chiru to ya
uguisu no naku
Hazes rise from
The springtime moutainside, where
With cherry blossoms’
Scattering unsated, perhaps,
The warbler sings.

Anonymous

Shiki koi sanshu uta’awase – Spring

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