As a Tanabata poem.
天河霧たちわたるひこ星のつまむかへぶねはやもこがなん
| ama no kawa kiri tachiwataru hikoboshi no tsuma mukaebune haya mo koganan | Upon the River of Heaven Mist arises everywhere; O, Herd Boy, Boating to greet your love, Row as swiftly as you can! |
Monthly Archives: May 2025
Kinkai wakashū 195
Kinkai wakashū 194
Kinkai wakashū 193
Kinkai wakashū 192
Kinkai wakashū 191
Kyōgoku no miyasudokoro uta’awase 12
Original
ふるさとのかすがののべのくさもきもはるにふたたびあふことしかな
| furusato no kasuga no nobe no kusa mo ki mo haru ni futatabi au kotoshi kana | At the ancient capital Upon Kasuga’s plain, Grasses and trees, both, Springtime have twice Met this year! [1] |
Mitsune
34
Left (Win)
はるながらまたはるにあふかすがのにおひぬくさきはねたくやあるらん
| haru nagara mata haru ni au kasugano ni oinu kusaki wa netaku ya aruran | ‘Tis spring, but That springtime once more has come To Kasuga Plain, Won’t the grasses and trees growing there Be envied, indeed? |
35
Right
ゆきかへるみちのやどりかかすがののくさきにはなのたびかさぬらむ
| yukikaeru michi no yadori ka kasugano no kusaki ni hana no tabikasanuramu | Is it that arriving and departing, The lodging on spring’s path lies On Kasuga Plain, so On the grasses and trees, blossom Appears time and time again? |
36
[1] This poem occurs in Mitsune-shū (322) with the same headnote as for poem (22), above. It was also included in Shinsenzaishū (X: 980), with the headnote, ‘Composed in place of the Governor of Yamato in Engi 21, on the day when the Kyōgoku Lady of the Bedchamber visited the shrine at Kasuga.’
Kyōgoku no miyasudokoro uta’awase 11
Original
かすがののけふのみゆきをまつばらのちとせのはるはきみがまにまに
| kasugano no kyō no miyuki o matsubara no chitose no haru wa kimi ga manimani | On Kasuga Plain Today’s progress Awaited have the pine groves, A thousand years of springtimes, Just as my Lady’s thoughts. [1] |
Mitsune
31
Left
ゆくさきのはるをとほくしまかすればいまはちとせのうたがひもなし
| yukusaki no haru o tōkushi makasureba ima wa chitose no utagai mo nashi | Future Springtimes to distant times May we entrust, for Now that she will live a thousand years more There is no doubt, at all. |
32
Right (Win)
むれたちてわれをまつてふかすがののみどりふかくやおもひそめけむ
| muretachite ware o matsu chō kasugano no midori fukaku ya omoisomekemu | Growing crowded together, and Awaiting me are the pines On Kasuga Plain— Why should their green so deeply Seem to think of me? |
33
[1] A minor variant of this poem occurs in Mitsune-shū (325) with the same headnote as for poem (22), above.
Kyōgoku no miyasudokoro uta’awase 10
Original
さくらばなゆきとふるめりみかさやまいざたちよらむなにかくるやと
| sakurabana yukitourumeri mikasayama iza tachiyoramu nani kakuru ya to | The cherry blossom Seems to pass as falling snow On Mikasa Mountain— Say, let’s shelter ‘neath umbrellas there, Whether they’ll conceal us or not…[1] |
Mitsune
28
Left (Tie)
やまのなにたちしもよらじさくらばなゆきとふるともいろにぬれめや
| yama no na ni tachishi mo yoraji sakurabana yukitouru to mo iro ni nureme ya | Based on the mountain’s name, I would take no shelter from The cherry blossoms, for Even should they pass as falling snow Would their hues wet my sleeves? |
29
Right
かくるれどやまずゆきこそふりかかれみかさのやまははなやもるらん
| kakururedo yamazu yuki koso furikakare mikasa no yama wa hana ya moruran | I have concealed myself, yet Incessantly those snows Do fall; From Mikasa Mountain, will The blossom drip, I wonder? |
30
[1] This poem occurs in Mitsune-shū (328) with the same headnote as that for poem 22 (above). This is a somewhat facetious poem in that Mitsune is punning on the name of the mountain, Mikasa, which could be read to mean ‘honoured umbrella’. Both of the ladies composing this round pick up on his wordplay, with the author of (29) saying that there’s no need to take shelter as blossom will not leave a stain, as snow would, and the author of (30) wondering rhetorically if the blossom would drip from an umbrella as melting snow would.
Kyōgoku no miyasudokoro uta’awase 09
Original
はるごとにきみしかよはばかすがののやちよのまつもかれじとぞおもふ
| haru goto ni kimi shi kayowaba kasugano no yachiyo no matsu mo kareji to zo omou | Should every single spring My Lady visit here, On Kasuga Plain The pines, eight thousand ages old Would never wither, I feel! |
25
Left (Win)
かすがのにはるはかよはむわがためにまつこころありてよはひますなり
| kasugano ni haru wa kayowamu wa ga tame ni matsu kokoro arite yowai masu nari | To Kasuga Plain Where spring is wont to come For my sake, then Should the pines be a mind to tarry with me How exceeding old would I become. |
26
Right
かすがののまつしかれずはみたらしのみづもながれてたえじとぞおもふ
| kasugano no matsu shi karezu wa mitarashi no mizu mo nagarete taeji to zo omou | On Kasuga Plain The pines will wither never, for The Mitarashi’s Water’s flow, too, Will never cease, I feel. |
27
