Mirrors
かはとだにかがみにみゆるものならばわするるほどもあらましものを
| kawa to dani kagami ni miyuru mono naraba wasururu hodo mo aramashi mono o | If a river does even A mirror seem To be, then When I am forgotten I would have it, at least, remain… |
Monthly Archives: January 2023
SIS I: 75
Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 7
Left
みよし野の山に咲きたるさくら花雪かとのみぞあやまたれける
| miyoshino no yama ni sakitaru sakurabana yuki ka to nomi zo ayamatarekeru | In Yoshino In the mountains, the flowering Cherry blossoms: Simply for snow I did mistake them! |
13[1]
Right
年のうちはみな春ながらはてななむ花を見てだに心やるべく
| toshi no uchi wa mina haru nagara hate na namu hana o mite dani kokoro yarubeku | Within the year All is springtime, but I would that it end, for Even seeing blossoms Seems to exhaust my soul… |
14[2]
[1] A minor variant of this poem appears in Kokinshū (I: 60), attributed to Ki no Tomonori.
[2] A variant of this poem appears in Shūishū (I: 75) with the headnote ‘Topic unknown’: 年の内はみな春ながらくれななん花見てだにもうきよすぐさん toshi no uchi wa / mina haru nagara / kure na nan / hana mite dani mo / ukiyo sugusan ‘Within the year / All is springtime, but / I would it reach its eve, for / Even seeing blossoms / Makes this fleeting world pass by.’
Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 6
Left
浅みどり野辺の霞はつつめどもこぼれて匂ふはな桜かな
| asamidori nobe no kasumi wa tsutsumedomo koborete niou hanazakura kana | The pale green Meadows with haze Are wrapped, yet Overflowing is the scent Of cherry blossoms. |
11[1]
Right
春たたば花をみむてふ心こそ野辺の霞とともにたちぬれ
| haru tataba hana o mimu chō kokoro koso nobe no kasumi to tomo ni tachinure | If spring should appear To view the blossoms is the wish Within my heart— With the haze upon the meadows Together it arises. |
12
[1] This poem appears in Shūishū (I: 40), with the headnote, ‘From the Man’yōshū of Lord Suga[wara no Michizane]’. Also Shinsen man’yōshū I: 5 and Kokin rokujō V: 3514 ‘Green’.
Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 5
Left
鶯はむべもなくらん花ざくら咲くとみしまにうつろひにけり
| uguisu wa mube mo nakuran hanazakura saku to mishi ma ni utsuroinikeri | The bush warbler, Indeed, does seem to sing among The cherry blossoms, that In the moment that I saw them bloom Did quite fade away. |
9
Right
はる霞たなびく野辺のわか菜にもなりみてしかな人もつむやと
| harugasumi tanabiku nobe no wakana ni mo narimiteshi kana hito mo tsumu ya to | Spring haze Drifting through the fields over The new herbs I would become— For then she might pick me, perhaps… |
Okikaze
10[1]
[1] Kokinshū XIX: 1031
Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 4
Left
花の木も今はほりうゑじ春立てばうつろふ色に人ならひけり
| hana no ki mo ima wa horiueji haru tateba utsurou iro ni hito naraikeri | Trees full of blossom: Too late now to transplant them And with spring’s passing So their colours fade A lesson learned by men. |
Sosei
7[1]
Right
春の野に若菜つまむとこし我を散りかふ花に道はまどひぬ
| haru no no ni wakana tumamu to koshi ware o chirikau hana ni michi wa madoinu | To the meadows in springtime Thinking to pick fresh herbs Did I come, but Amongst the scattered blossom Have I lost my way. |
8[2]
[1] Kokinshū II: 92
[2] A minor variant of this poem appears in Kokinshū (II: 116), attributed to Ki no Tsurayuki.
Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 3
Left 梅のはなしるきかならでうつろはば雪降りやまぬ春とこそ見め
| ume no hana shiru ki ka narade utsurowaba yuki furiyamanu haru to koso mime | Of the plum blossom Is this tree not aware, so If it fades An endless snowfall Will seem to mark this spring. |
5
Right
春の日に霞わけつつとぶ雁の見えみみえずみ雲がくれ行く
| haru no hi ni kasumi waketsutsu tobu kari no mie mi miezu mi kumogakureyuku | The springtime sun Keeps breaking through the haze, so The geese, winging, Appear and are lost to view Vanishing within the clouds. |
6
Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 2
Left
散ると見てあるべきものを梅の花うたて匂ひの袖にとまれる
| chiru to mite arubeki mono o ume no hana utate nioi no sode ni tomareru | To my sight, scatter Must the Plum blossoms, but Strangely strongly does their scent Linger on my sleeves. |
Sosei
3[1]
Right
声たえずなけや鶯一とせに二たびとだにくべき春かは
| koe taezu nake ya uguisu hito tose ni futa tabi to dani kubeki haru ka wa | Voice weakening— Sing on, bush warbler! In a single year, Oh, that twice over Spring would come upon us! |
Fujiwara no Okikaze
4[2]
[1] Kokinshū I: 47/Shinsen man’yōshū 3
[2] Kokinshū II: 131
Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 1
Spring Poems Twenty Rounds
Left
花のかを風のたよりにたぐへてぞ鶯さそふしるべにはやる
| hana no ka o kaze no tayori ni taguete zo uguisu sasou shirube ni wa yaru | The blossoms’ scent Messaged on the breeze Brings An invitation to the warbler To try and bring him forth! |
Ki no Tomonori
1[1]
Right
谷かぜにとくる氷のひまごとにうちいづる波や春の初花
| tani kaze ni tokuru kōri no hima goto ni uchi’izuru nami ya haru no hatsuhana | In the valley breeze The melting ice From every crack Bursts forth in waves—are they The first blooms of spring? |
Minamoto no Masazumi
2[2]
[1] Kokinshū I: 13; Kokin rokujō I: 385
[2] Kokinshū I: 12
SZS XIII: 787
Composed on the conception of love, when he presented a hundred poem sequence during the reign of former emperor Horikawa.
ひとり寝る我にて知りぬ池水につがはぬ鴛の思ふ心を
| hitori nuru ware nite shirinu ikemizu ni tsugawanu oshi no omou kokoro o | Sleeping alone, I know so well: Atop the pond waters An unmated mandarin’s Heartfelt feelings… |
Major Counsellor Kinzane