Left – Bellflower
ゆめのみもかよへどあらぬありきぢかうつつにいかでみるよしもがな
| yume nomi mo kayoedo aranu arikiji ka utsutsu ni ikade miru yoshi mogana | Simply in my dreams Do I go back and forth, yet have no Lover’s path to walk, so In the waking world, somehow, I wish I had a way to see her! |
21
This poem is an acrostic with ‘bellflower’ (kichikau) contained in arikiji ka utsutsu. Old Japanese was written without indicating voicing, so chi and ji would have been identical at the time.
Right – Missing
Left – Bur Reed
あきのこむとしのををのみくりかへしかぞへてうゑん草のいろいろ
| aki no komu toshi no o o nomi kurikaeshi kazoete uemu kusa no iroiro | Autumn will come To the ending of the year, simply, Time and time again, Counting them will I plant A variety of grasses… |
20
This poem is an acrostic, with ‘bur reed’ (mikuri) contained in nomi kurikaeshi.
Right – Missing
Left – Gentian
かはのうへにけふよりうたむあじろにはまづもみぢばやよらんとすらむ
| kawa no ue ni kyō yori utamu ajiro ni wa mazu momijiba ya yoramu to suramu | Atop the river From today will they strike Upon the fish traps— Is it the scarlet leaves that first Will make to draw near? |
19a
かはのうへにいまよりうたむあじろにはまづもみぢばやよらんとすらむ
| kawa no ue ni ima yori utamu ajiro ni wa mazu momijiba ya yoramu to suramu | Atop the river From this moment will they strike Upon the fish traps— Is it the scarlet leaves that first Will make to draw near? |
19b
Right – Missing
This poem is an acrostic, with ‘gentian’ (riutamu) contained within yori utamu.
Left – Pinks
もも草のときにつけつつさく中にいつともわかぬとこ夏の花
| momokusa no toki ni tsuketsutsu saku naka ni itsu tomo wakanu tokonatsu no hana | A hundred grasses Always with the season Bloom and among them Ever inseparable are The flowering pinks. |
17
Right
よろづよにぬるとこなつの花なればうつろふ秋もまたれざりけり
| yorozuyo ni nuru tokonatsu no hana nareba utsurou aki mo matarezarikeri | For ten thousand ages Have slept abed the pinks In bloom, so For the autumn when they fade They have no need to wait! |
18
Left – Rani
むしのねはまだおるとしもきこえぬをからにしきにもみゆる物かな
| mushi no ne wa mada oru to shimo kikoenu o karanishiki ni mo miyuru mono kana | The insects’ songs Yet weave and even though I hear them not As Cathay brocade Does all appear! |
15a
むしのねはまだおるとしもきこえぬをからにしきにもみゆるのべかな
| mushi no ne wa mada oru to shimo kikoenu o karanishiki ni mo miyuru nobe kana | The insects’ songs Yet weave and even though I hear them not As Cathay brocade Do the meadows appear! |
15b
Right
きる人をのべやしるらんふぢばかまいたづらにのみつゆのおきつつ
| kiru hito o nobe ya shiruran fujibakama itazura ni nomi tsuyu no okitsutsu | Folk wearing them Do the meadows know, perhaps? For upon these violet trousers In mischief alone Does the dew keep falling! |
16
Rani is a generic term for ‘orchid’ but in waka it was usually equated with eupatorium (a type of aster), which was also called fujibakama, the literal meaning of which was ‘wisteria [coloured] trousers’.
Left – Chrysanthemums
きくをうゑて花おもほゆるけふよりはながづきをこそまちわたりけれ
| kiku o uete hana omohoyuru kyō yori wa nagazuki o koso machiwatarikere | I planted chrysanthemums, and Wondering about the blooms From today For the Longest Month Will I always be awaiting. |
13a
きくをうゑて花おもほゆる今よりはながづきをこそまちわたりけれ
| kiku o uete hana omohoyuru ima yori wa nagazuki o koso machiwatarikere | I planted chrysanthemums, and Wondering about the blooms From this moment For the Longest Month Will I always be awaiting. |
13b
Right
よにふれどおいもしられぬものなればいまよりうゑつながづきのきく
| yo ni furedo oi mo shirarenu mono nareba ima yori uetsu nagazuki no kiku | My life goes by, yet Old age I know not So From this moment have I planted Chrysanthemums in the Longest Month. |
14a
よにふれどおいもしられぬものなればいまよりうつすながづきのきく
| yo ni furedo oi mo shirarenu mono nareba ima yori utsusu nagazuki no kiku | My life goes by, yet Old age I know not So From this moment fading are Chrysanthemums in the Longest Month |
14b
Left – Karukaya
はなさかむあきくるまではかるかやのみだれんとだに我がおもはぬに
| hana sakamu aki kuru made wa karukaya no midaren to dani ware omowanu ni | Its flowers bloom In autumn, but ‘til then That the tufted grass Is all confused, I would not even think… |
11
Right
こゑにいでてはかるかやまの山びこはこたふるかたのゆきとはるけき
| koe ni idete wa karukayama no yamabiko wa kotauru kata no yuki to harukeki | A voice sounds out on The tufted grass-covered mount, The mountain spirit In response sends Snow into the distance. |
12a
こゑにいでてはかるかやまの山びこはこたふるかたのゆけどはるけき
| koe ni idete wa karukayama no yamabiko wa kotauru kata no yukedo harukeki | A voice sounds out on The tufted grass-covered mount, The mountain spirit’s Response goes Out yet still is far away. |
12b
Left – Bush clover
おひかかりくずのたままくあきはぎをうへけはあきのここにやつれん
| oikakari kuzu no tamamaku akihagi o ueke wa aki no koko ni ya tsuren | Growing, hung with Kudzu’s gemmed leaves, The autumn bush-clover Does feel overlain with autumn Here, perhaps? |
9a
おひかかりくずのたままくなつはぎをうゑてはあきのしかやまたれむ
| oikakari kuzu no tamamaku natsuhagi o uete wa aki no shika ya mataremu | Growing, hung with Kudzu’s gemmed leaves, The summer bush-clover, Planted, might autumn Be the stag awaiting? |
9b
Right
花もまだはぎはさかねどいまよりはしたばをみつつながめてぞをる
| hana mo mada hagi wa sakanedo ima yori wa shitaba o mitsutsu nagamete zo oru | In blossom yet Has the bush-clover to bloom, yet From this moment on, Will I ever look upon the under-leaves, and Gazing, pick them! |
10
Left — Maidenflowers
うつろへるところありともをみなへしのべのふるさとわすれざらなむ
| utsuroeru tokoro ari tomo ominaeshi nobe no furusato wasurezaranamu | Faded Spots they have, yet, Maidenflowers At an old estate among the fields Never will I forget! |
7
Right
あきののにあだなのみたつをみなへし花さかぬまはしる人ぞなき
| aki no no ni adana nomi tatsu ominaeshi hana sakanu ma wa shiru hito zo naki | In the autumn plains Faithless rumours, alone, arise Of my maidenflower— But while she is not in bloom, There’s no one knows, at all! |
8
