Category Archives: 0901-0950

Kanpyō no ōntoki chūgū uta’awase 7

Autumn

Round Seven

Left

秋山はからくれなゐに成りにけりいくしほしぐれふりてそめけん

akiyama wa
karakurenai ni
narinikeri
iku shio shigure
furite someken
The autumn mountains
To Cathay scarlet
Have turned;
How many dippings with drizzle
Have fallen to dye them so?

13[1]

Right (Win)

秋きぬとめにはさやかにみえねども風の音にぞおどろかれぬる

aki kinu to
me ni wa sayaka ni
mienedomo
kaze no oto ni zo
odorokarenuru
That autumn has come
With my eyes, clearly,
I cannot see, yet
The sound of the wind
Has startled me.

Fujiwara no Toshiyuki 14[2]


[1] Shokugosenshū VII: 429

[2] This poem was particularly highly evaluated and so is included in numerous other anthologies (Kokin rokujō I: 125), exemplary collections (Shinsen waka 2) and senka awase – contests assembled from prior poems (Shunzei sanjū roku nin uta’awase 61; Jidai fudō uta’awase 49).

Kanpyō no ōntoki chūgū uta’awase 6

Round Six

Left

夏山のみねのこずゑのたかければなく郭公こゑかはるかな

natsuyama no
mine no kozue no
takakereba
naku hototogisu
koe kawaru kana
The summer mountain
Peaks have treetops
So high, that
The crying cuckoo’s
Calls stand for them.

11

Right (Win)

おほあらきのもりの下草茂りあひてふかくも夏のなりにけるかな

ōaraki no
mori no shitagusa
moriaite
fukaku mo natsu no
narinikeru kana
In Ōaraki
Forest the undergrowth
Has grown so thick, that
Deep summer is
Surely here!

Mitsune
12

Kanpyō no ōntoki chūgū uta’awase 5

Round Five

Left (Win)

なつの夜のふすかとすればほととぎす鳴く一声に明くるしののめ

natsu no yo no
fusu ka to sureba
hototogisu
naku hitogoe ni
akuru shinonome
On summer nights,
I’m wondering whether to go to bed, when
A cuckoo’s
Single call
Brightens the dawn.

Ki no Tsurayuki
9

Right

郭公をちかへりなけうなゐこがうちたれがみの五月雨の空

hototogisu
ochikaerinake
unaiko ga
uchitaregami no
samidare no sora
A cuckoo
Calls again and again;
A child’s shoulder-brushing
Hair dangling down:
A summer shower fills the skies.

Ōshikōchi no Mitsune 10[1]


[1] Shūishū II: 116: For a poetry contest at Sadafun’s house.

Kanpyō no ōntoki chūgū uta’awase 4

Summer

Round Four

Left

匂ふよりここちあだなる花ゆゑにのどけきはるの風もうらみじ

niou yori
kokochi adanaru
hana yue ni
nodokeki haru no
kaze mo uramiji
From their fragrance
Fickle feelings
Do these blossoms have, so
Peaceful spring’s
Breezes I would likely not resent.

7

Right (Win)

夏の夜のぬるほどもなく明けぬればあしたのまをぞかこちよせつる

natsu no yo no
nuru hodo mo naku
akenureba
ashita no ma o zo
kakochiyosetsuru
On a summer night
I’ve lacked time to sleep, and
Dawn has come, so
I’ll do it on the morrow—
That is my excuse!

8

Kanpyō no ōntoki chūgū uta’awase 3

Round Three

Left

氷とくはるたちくらしみよしののよしののたきのこゑまさるなり

kōri toku
haru tachikurashi
miyoshino no
yoshino no taki no
koe masarunari
Ice melting
Spring has come on scene, it seems;
In fair Yoshino,
Yoshino Falls’
Roar is fine, indeed!

5

Right (Win)

はなの色はかすみにこめてみえずともかをだにぬすめ春の山風

hana no iro wa
kasumi ni komete
miezu tomo
ka o dani nusume
haru no yamakaze
The blossoms’ hues
Have blended with the haze, so
I see them not, yet
Their very scent is plundered by
Spring’s breezes from the mountains.

6

Kanpyō no ōntoki chūgū uta’awase 2

Round Two

Left

年のうちに春はきにけりひととせをこぞとやいはん今年とやいはん

toshi no uchi ni
haru wa kinikeri
hito tose o
kozo to ya iwan
kotoshi to ya iwan
Within the year
Spring has come once more, so
A single year:
Should I say ‘tis last year, or
Should I say ‘tis this one?

Ariwara no Motokata
3[1]

Right (Win)

みよしのの山べにさけるさくら花雪かとのみぞあやまたれける

miyoshino no
yamabe ni sakeru
sakurabana
yuki ka to nomi zo
ayamatarekeru
In fair Yoshino
In the mountains, the flowering
Cherry blossoms:
Simply for snow
I did mistake them!

Ki no Tomonori

4[2]


[1] Kokin rokujō I: 1

[2] Kokinshū I: 60

Kanpyō no ōntoki chūgū uta’awase 1

Spring

Round 1

Left

やま風にとくる氷のひまごとにうち出づる浪や春の初花

yamakaze ni
tokuru kōri no
hima goto ni
uchi’izuru nami ya
haru no hatsuhana
With the mountain breeze
The melting ice from
Every crack
Bursts out in waves, perhaps
These are the first blooms of spring?

Minamoto no Maszumi
1[1]

Right (Win)

春霞たつひの風のいとなれや滝のをとけて玉とみだるる

harugasumi
tatsu hi no kaze no
ito nare ya
taki no o tokete
tama to midaruru
The haze of spring
Arises with the breeze this day, so
Will its streamers with
The melting waterfall’s threaded
Jewels become confused?

2


[1] Kokin rokujo I: 5

Shiki koi sanshu uta’awase – Love

Love

Left

恋せじと御手洗川に御祓して神うけつらんとおもほゆるかな

koi seji to
mitarashigawa ni
oharaishite
kami uketsuran to
omohoyuru kana
I’ll not fall in love, and
At the River Mitarashi
Purify myself—
Would the gods then accept me,
I wonder!

25

恋なれどそこにもすまぬひれはみづにごれりとおもほゆるかな

koi naredo
soko ni mo sumanu
hire wa mizu
nigoreri to
omohoyuru kana
This is love, yet
The deeps are all disturbed, with
Fins the waters
Clouding,
I feel!

26

こひわたる程のふかさにそめ川の色あさからじとおもほゆるかな

koiwataru
hodo no fukasa ni
somekawa no
iro asakaraji to
omohoyuru kana
So long have I loved you that
The depths of
Dyers’ River have
Lost their pale hues
I feel!

27

Right

おもふとて夕ぐれがたのながめをや人待つほどの恋といふらん

omou tote
yūguregata no
nagame o ya
hito matsu hodo no
koi to iuran
Thinking of him
As evening draws on, and
I gaze on long rains falling; is
Time pining for a man
Being in love, I wonder?

28

年の内にあまる月日の有りければかぞへのうちにははわぶるかな

toshi no uchi ni
amaru tsuki hi no
arikereba
kazoe no uchi ni
haha waburu kana
Throughout the year
The days and months mount up
So
Counting them
My mother grieves!

29

Shiki koi sanshu uta’awase – Winter

Winter

Left

冬くれば紅葉ふりしく神無月佐保の山辺はむべもりぬらん

fuyu kureba
momiji furishiku
kaminazuki
saho no yamabe wa
mube morinuran
When the winter comes,
Scarlet leaves, falling and scattering
In the Godless Month,
Upon the slopes of Mount Saho,
Indeed, are at their finest.

19

冬ごもりかれてみゆらん梅がえは今はた花の春はにほはん

fuyugomori
karete miyuran
ume ga e wa
ima hata hana no
haru wa niowan
Sealed in winter, and
All withered seeming,
The plum tree’s branches,
Now, for sure, the blossoms’
Spring will scent.

20

冬みれば水もまかせぬ小山田にいつすき返し種をまきけん

fuyu mireba
mizu mo makasenu
oyamada ni
itsu sukikaeshi
tane o makiken
‘Tis winter, I see, so
There’s no water to draw for
The little mountain paddies:
O, when might I till them, and
Sow my seeds, I wonder?

21

Right

時雨降る宿にすまへば冬の夜に錦とみゆる木木の花かな

shigure furu
yado ni sumaeba
fuyu no yo ni
nishiki to miyuru
kigi no hana kana
Showers fall
Upon the house where I do dwell, so
Upon a winter’s night
As brocade do seem
The blossoming trees!

22

ゆふだすき神の社にかけつればしもし降るにもたのもしきかな

yūdasuki
kami no yashiro ni
kaketsureba
shimo shi furu ni mo
tanomashiki kana
Sacred mulberry cords
Around the God’s shrine
Are hung, so
Even amidst the frost fall,
The future does seem bright!

23

白雲のふたへふりしくときは山うらはへとしはみどりなりけれ

shiragumo no
futae furishiku
tokiwa yama
ura hae toshi wa
midori narikere
Clouds of white
Lie scattered, twofold, upon
The unchanging mountain:
Stretching out behind, the year
Is simply green.

24

Shiki koi sanshu uta’awase – Autumn

Autumn

Left

秋の夜の有明にみれど久堅の月のかつらはうつろはぬかな

aki no yo no
ariake ni miredo
hisakata no
tsuki no katsura wa
utsurouwanu kana
An autumn night’s
Dawn I see, yet
The eternal
Moon’s silver trees
Show no sign of fading!

13

秋萩の花咲く比の白露は下ばのためとわきて置くべし

aki hagi no
hana saku koro no
shiratsuyu wa
shitaba no tame to
wakite okubeshi
In autumn, the bush clover
Flowers bloom—just then
Silver dewdrops
For the under-leaves
Do fall, marking every one.

14

秋風はいなばもそよとふきつめりかりみる程と成りやしぬらん

akikaze wa
inaba mo soyo to
fukitsumeri
kari miru hodo to
nari ya shinuran
The autumn breeze
Seems to rustle the rice stalks
As it blows;
Seeing if ‘tis time to reap them—
Is that what it is, I wonder?

15

Right

銀河とわたる舟は花薄ほにいづるほどぞかげもみゆべき

ama no kawa
towataru fune wa
hanasusuki
ho ni izuru hodo zo
kage mo miyubeki
Across the River of Heaven
A boat goes ferrying:
When the silver grass
Ears burst into bloom,
Can its shape be seen.

16

女郎花さがの花をば色ながら秋をさかりといはれずもがな

ominaeshi
saga no hana oba
iro nagara
aki o sakari to
iwarezu mogana
Maidenflowers:
Blossoms from Saga
Reveal their hues, and
In autumn are most fine—that
Goes without saying!

17

小男鹿の朝たつ霧にうりふ山嶺の梢は色こかりけり

saoshika no
asa tatsu kiri ni
urifuyama
mine no kozue wa
iro kokarikeri
Stags
Within the rising morning mist on
Urifu Moutain, where
The treetops on the peak
Have taken darker hues.

18