shirotae no namiji wakete ya haru wa kuru kaze fuku kara ni hana mo sakinikeri
White as mulberry cloth are The wave-wakes: forging through them does Spring come? The wind blows so, The blossom has bloomed!
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[1] Makimoku 巻目 was an alternate name for Makimuku 纏向, a place in Yamato province which was traditionally believed to be the location of the state’s capital during the reigns of the legendary emperors Suinin 垂仁 and Keikō 景行.
[2]Shinsen man’yōshū 17/An almost identical poem is also included in Kokin rokujo (I: 619), while a minor variant occurs in Fubokushō (IV: 1100), with a headnote identifying it as being included in this contest: まきもくのひばらの山にたちかへり見れども花におどろかれつつ makimoku no / hibara no yama ni / tachikaeri / miredomo hana no / odorokaretsutsu ‘In Makimoku among / The mountain cypress groves / Rising and departing, / I see it, yet the blossom / Ever does amaze me…’
[2] A minor variant of this poem occurs in Kokinshū (I: 14), attributed to Ōe no Chisato: 鶯の谷よりいづる声なくは春来ることを誰かしらまし uguisu no / tani yori izuru / koe naku wa / haru kuru koto o / tare ka shiramashi ‘If the bush-warbler / From the valleys / Did not sing his song, / That spring is coming / Would anyone realise at all?’; also Shinsen man’yōshū 261.
[1]Shinsen man’yōshū 1/Kokin rokujō I: 460/A minor variant of this poem also occurs in Shinkokinshū (I: 65), where it is attributed to Ise: 水のおもにあやおりみだる春雨や山のみどりをなべてそむらん mizu no omo ni / aya orimidaru / harusame ya / yama no midori o / nabete somuran ‘Upon the water’s surface / A confusing pattern paints / The rain of spring— / Will it now the mountains / All dye with green, I wonder?’