Topic unknown.
散る花のなくにし止まる物ならば我におとらましやは
| tiru Fana no nakunisi tomaru mono naraba ware uguFisu ni otoramasi ya Fa | If the scattering blossoms Halted by cries Could be, Would mine to the warbler’s Lose out? Surely not! |
Assistant Handmaid [Harusumi no] Amaneiko[1]
[1] Amaneiko 洽子 (dates unknown) was the daughter of Harusumi no Yoshitada 春澄善縄 (797-870), a regional noble from Inaba in Ise, who was granted the name of Harusumi in 828. Her original name was Takaiko 高子, but this was changed in 877, as it was the same as that of Fujiwara no Takaiko 藤原高子 (842-910) , the consort of Emperor Seiwa 清和 (850-880; r. 858-876) and mother of Emperor Yōzei 陽成 (869-949; r. 876-884). Yoshitada had four children, of whom Amaneiko was the only one to enjoy any success at court, meaning that the family line ended after her death. Amaneiko had a respectable court career, serving five emperors, and eventually reaching Junior Third Rank in 902, a remarkable achievement for a court lady from a provincial background. Emperor Uda 宇多 (867-931; r. 887-897) regarded her extremely highly, singling her out for mention in his Kanpyō no go-yukai 寛平御遺誡 (897), a set of instructions and advice he wrote for Emperor Daigo 醍醐 (885-930; 897-930), when he abdicated and Daigo took the throne at the age of thirteen.
Composed when it was said that a poetry competition was to be held at the residence of the Ninna Middle Captain Lady of the Bedchamber.
花のちることやわびしき春霞たつたの山のうぐひすのこゑ
| Fana no tiru koto ya wabisiki Farugasumi tatuta no yama no uguFisu no kowe | The falling of the flowers Is sad, indeed; In the spring haze On Tatsuta Mountain A warbler cries… |
Fujiwara no Chikage
藤原後蔭
1[1]
Composed when it was said that a poetry competition was to be held at the residence of the Ninna Middle Captain Lady of the Bedchamber.
惜しと思ふ心は糸に縒られなむ散る花ごとに貫きてとどめむ
| osi to omoFu kokoro Fa ito ni yorarenamu tiru Fana goto ni nukite todomemu | A regretful Heart with threads Does seem to be entangled; Every single scattered bloom Will I thread on them to keep. |
Sosei
素性
2[2]
[1]This poem is included in Kokinshū (II: 108).
[2]This poem is included in Kokinshū (II: 114) and also in Sosei-shū 素性集 (16), where in some versions the headnote reads ‘[Composed] on the profusion of blossom when it was decided there would be poetry match at the residence of the Ninnaji Middle Captain Lady of the Bedchamber’.
A poem composed for a poetry contest held by Her Majesty, the Empress, during the Kanpyō period.
こゑたえずなけやうぐひすひととせにふたたびとだにくべき春かは
| kowe taezu nake ya uguFisu Fitotose ni Futatabi to dani kubeki Faru ka Fa |
Voice weakening- Sing on, bush warbler! In a single year, Oh, that twice over Spring would come upon us! |
Fujiwara no Okikaze
藤原興風
Composed in the third month after not hearing the song of a bush warbler for a long time.
なきとむる花しなければうぐひすもはては物うくなりぬべらなり
| nakitomuru Fana si nakereba uguFisu mo Fate Fa mono’uku narinuberanari |
With a song he tried to keep The blossoms, yet now they’re gone, So the warbler too, At the last, in melancholy Has sunk, it seems. |
Ki no Tsurayuki
紀貫之