Silver grass
Left (Tie)
はなすすきほにいづるをのはしらくものあさゐるとのみあやまたれけり
hanasusuki
ho ni izuru ono wa
shirakumo no
asa iru to nomi
ayamatarekeri | Silver grass
Fronds appear upon the plains
For clouds of white
Spreading through the morning, simply
Have I mistaken them. |
Ariwara no Suetaka
15
Right
はなすすきほのくれがたのつゆけきはうきよのなかをそよとしればか
hanasusuki
ho no kuregata no
tsuyukeki wa
ukiyo no naka o
soyo to shireba ka | The silver grass
Fronds at twilight
Are dew-drenched—
That this cruel world
Is so, I wonder if they know? |
Fujiwara no Aritoki
16
秋風に山とびこゆるはつ雁のつばさにわくるみねの白雲
akikaze ni
yama tobikoyuru
hatsukari no
tsubasa ni wakuru
mine no shirakumo | On the autumn wind,
Flying ‘cross the mountains,
The first geese
Part with their wings
The clouds so white above the peaks. |
Original
やへたてるみかさのやまのしらくもはみゆきさぶらふさくらなりけり
yae tateru
mikasa no yama no
shirakumo wa
miyuki saburau
sakura narikeri | Standing eightfold high above
Mikasa Mountain,
The clouds of white,
In service to the excursion
Are cherries. |
7
Left (Win)
よそにてもきみしみつれば山ざくらこころやすくやいまはちるらむ
yoso nite mo
kimi shi mitsureba
yamazakura
kokoro yasuku ya
ima wa chiruramu | Seen from afar, and
Even by my Lady, do
The mountain cherries
Contentedly
Seem to scatter now? |
8
Right
やへたてるくもゐに見えしさくらばなかへるたむけにけふやちるらん
yae tateru
kumoi ni mieshi
sakurabana
kaeru tamuke ni
kyō ya chiruran | Standing eightfold high
Among the clouds, I seemed to see
Cherry blossoms,
As a memento of our return
Seeming to scatter today. |
9
Left
夏夜のまだもねなくにあけぬれば昨日今日ともおもひまどひぬ
natsu no yo no
mada mo nenaku ni
akenureba
kinō kyō tomo
omoimadoinu | On a summer night,
Still sleep has eluded me,
When dawn breaks—
Is it yet yesterday, or today,
I wonder in confusion. |
74
Right
うのはなのさけるかきねは白雲のおりゐるとこそあやまたれけれ
u no hana no
sakeru kakine wa
shirakumo no
ori’iru to koso
ayamatarekere | Deutzia flowers
Are blooming by the brushwood fence—
Clouds of white
Have descended there, I think—
How strange… |
75
Left
さかざらむものならなくにさくらばなおもかげにのみまだきみゆらむ
sakazaramu
mono naranaku ni
sakurabana
nao mo kage ni nomi
madaki miyuramu | Wishing not to bloom
Will not remain
The cherry blossom, but
Even so their shape alone
Swiftly, I would wish to see! |
Mitsune
3
Right
やまざくらさきぬるときはつねよりもみねのしらくもたちまさりけり
yamazakura
sakinuru toki wa
tsune yori mo
mine no shirakumo
tachimasarikeri | When the mountain cherry
Has bloomed,
Earlier than usual
Clouds of white around the peak
Do rise spectacularly! |
Tsurayuki
4[i]
The Left uses ‘wish’[ii] twice; the Right places the mountain cherries at a distance—that make the round a tie.
[i] This poem is included in Gosenshū (I: 118), with the headnote, ‘A poem from Former Emperor Uda’s Poetry Contest’.
[ii] Uda is objecting to Mitsune’s double usage of the auxiliary verb -ramu in his judgement here.
In reply.
たえぬると見ればあひぬる白雲のいとおほよそにおもはずもがな
taenuru to
mireba aFinuru
sirakumo no
ito oFoyoso ni
omoFazu mogana | Broken do
Appear, but soon to arrive are
Clouds of white, so
Not so very distant
Would I have you think me! |
The Fifth Princess [Yoriko (Ishi)]
Sent to the place where a lady, who was going somewhere far away, was preparing for departure.
思ひやる心ばかりはさはらじを何へだつらん峰の白雲
omoFiyaru
kokoro bakari Fa
saFaradi o
nani Fedaturan
mine no sirakumo | The longing for you
In my heart alone
Should be no hindrance, but
Why do you seem distant as
The white clouds round the peaks? |
Tachibana no Naomoto
橘直幹
Composed for Her Majesty, to say that this year, she had the liberty to bond with the blossoms.
しらくもにまがふさくらのこずゑにてちとせの春をそらにしるかな
sirakumo ni
magaFu sakura no
kodue nite
titose no Faru wo
sora ni siru kana | The clouds, so white
Blend with the cherry blossom
Treetops—
Are a thousand years of springtimes
Known in the skies, I wonder! |
Chūnagon, in service to Empress Taikenmon’in
待賢門院中納言
From the Poetry Contest in Fifteen Hundred Rounds.
ima wa tote
haru no ariake ni
chiru hana ya
tsuki ni mo oshiki
mine no shirakumo | Is now the time—that
In the spring dawn
With the blossom scattering
The moon, too, regrets leaving
The white clouds round the peaks? |
Sanuki from the Nijō Palace
二条院讃岐
Left
あさかげに我が身はなりぬ白雲のたえてきこえぬ人をこふとて
asakage ni
wa ga mi wa narinu
shirakumo no
taete kikoenu
hito o kou tote | In the morning light
I have become
A cloud of white that
Says, endlessly, that
I do love you. |
188
Right
ちかけれど人め人めをもるころは雲井はるけき身とやなりなん
chikakeredo
hitome hitome o
moru koro wa
kumoi harukeki
mi to ya narinan | Close by, they are, yet
When against prying, prying eyes
I would be on guard,
Completely cloudless
Could I appear? |
189
'Simply moving and elegant'
