Category Archives: Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 29

Left

吹く風の我が宿にくる夏の夜は月の影こそすずしかりけれ

fuku kaze no
wa ga yado ni kuru
natsu no yo wa
tsuki no kage koso
suzushikarikere
The gusting breeze
Comes to my house
Upon a summer night
Making the moonlight
Feel cool, indeed!

57

Right

ゆふされば蛍よりけにもゆるとも光みえねば人ぞつれなき

yū sareba
hotaru yori ke ni
moyuredomo
hikari mineba ya
hito no tsurenaki
With the fall of evening,
The fireflies’ are as nothing beside
My burning, yet
I cast no light, so
Will my love stay chill?

Tomonori

58[1]


[1] Kokinshū XII: 562/Shinsen man’yōshū 69/Kokin rokujō VI: 4013

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 28

Left

なつの夜の露なとどめそ蓮葉のまことの玉と成りしはてずは

natsu no yo no
tsuyu na todome so
hasu no ha no
makoto no tama to
narishihatezu wa
On a summer night,
Tarry not, o, dewdrops, for
On the lotus leaves
True jewels,
I would not you cease to become…

55

Right

夏山にこひしき人や入りにけむ声ふりたてて鳴く郭公

natsuyama ni
koishiki hito ya
irinikemu
koe furitatete
naku hototogisu
Into the summer mountains
Has my darling
Gone, I wonder?
Spilling out your song,
O, calling cuckoo!

Ki no Akimine

56[1]


[1] Kokinshū III: 158/Shinsen man’yōshū 71/Kokin rokujō VI: 4447

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 27

Left

草しげみ下葉かれ行く夏の日もわくとしわけば袖やひちなん

kusa shigemi
shitaba kareyuku
natsu no hi mo
waku to shi wakeba
sode ya hichinan
The grass is thick, with
Underleaves withering
In the summer sun, but
When I try to forge on through,
Will my sleeves seem soaked?

53

Right

五月雨に物思ひをればほととぎす夜ぶかく鳴きていづち行くらん

samidare ni
mono’omoi oreba
hototogisu
yo fukaku nakite
izuchi yukuramu
When in the drizzling rain,
I’m sunk in gloomy thoughts,
A cuckoo
Sings in night’s depths:
And where might it be going?

Tomonori

54[1]


[1] Kokinshū III: 153/Shinsen man’yōshū 47/Kokin rokujō VI: 4441

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 26

Left

夏の風我が袂にしつつまればおもはむ人のつとにしてまし

natsu no kaze
wa ga tamoto ni shi
tsutsumareba
omowamu hito no
tsuto ni shitemashi
The summer breeze
Within my sleeves
Has become entangled, so
For the one I’m longing for
I would take it as a gift.

51

Right

なつ草のしげき思ひは蚊遣火の下にのみこそもえ渡りけれ

natsukusa no
shigeki omoi wa
kayaribi no
shita ni nomi koso
moewatarikere
As summer grasses
Lush my fires of passion: as
Mosquito smudges,
Beneath they simply
Burn everywhere.

52[1]


[1] Shinchokusenshū XII: 709/Shinsen man’yōshū 79

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 25

Left

古郷をおもひやれども郭公こぞのごとくになれぞなくなる[1]

furusato o
omoiyaredomo
hototogisu
kozo no gotoku ni
nare zo nakunaru
My ancient home
Lingers fondly in my thoughts, yet
The cuckoo
Just as last year
Sings as he was accustomed to do!

49

Right

夏の夜の霜やおけるとみるまでに荒れたる宿を照す月かげ

natsu no yo no
shimo ya okeru to
miru made ni
aretaru yado o
terasu tsukikage
Upon a summer night
That frost has fallen
It does appear at
A ruined dwelling where
The moonlight shines.

50[2]


[1] The concluding two lines of this poem are missing from the contest’s text, but have been supplied by later scholarship.

[2] Kokin rokujō I: 286/A minor variant of this poem is included in Mandaishū (III: 730), with the headnote ‘A poem from the Poetry Contest in One Hundred Rounds held by the Tōin Empress’ なつのよもしもやおけると見るまでにあれたるやどをてらすつきかな natsu no yo no / shimo ya okeru to / miru made ni / aretaru yado o / terasu tsuki kana ‘Upon a summer night / That frost has fallen / It does appear at / A ruined dwelling where / The moon does shine!’

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 24

Left

かりそめのみやたのまれぬ夏の日をなど空蝉のなきくらしつる

karisome no
mi ya tanomarenu
natsu no hi o
nado utsusemi no
nakikurashitsuru
Is my transient
Flesh untrustworthy?
On a summer day
Why does the cicada, an empty shell,
Cry the day away?

47[1]

Right

はかもなき夏のくさ葉におく露を命とたのむ虫のはかなさ

haka mo naki
natsu no kusaba ni
oku tsuyu o
inochi to tanomu
mushi no hakanasa
Fleetingly
Upon the blades of summer grass
Falls the dew—
A lifetime, I expect, for
The short-lived insects.

48


[1] A minor variant of this poem, with a headnote associating it with this contest, occurs in Shokugosenshū (XVI: 1058): かりそめの世やたのまれぬ夏の日をなどうつせみのなきくらしつる karisome no / yo ya tanomarenu / natsu no hi o / nado utsusemi no / nakikurashitsuru ‘Is this transient / World untrustworthy? / On a summer day / Why does the cicada, an empty shell, / Cry the day away?’

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 23

Left

宵の間ははかなくみゆる夏虫にまどひまされる恋もするかな

yoi no ma mo
hakanaku miyuru
natumushi ni
madoimasareru
koi mo suru kana
In the evening
How sad seem
The moths in their
Disastrous confusion;
My love does as much to me and more.

Tomonori

45[1]

Right

夏の夜はふすかとすれば郭公鳴く一こゑにあくるしののめ

natsu no yo no
fusu ka to sureba
hototogisu
naku hito koe ni
akuru shinonome
On a summer night,
I wonder if I should to bed, and then
A cuckoo
Gives a single cry and
Bright dawn breaks.

Tsurayuki

46[2]


[1] Kokinshū XII: 561/Shinsen man’yōshū 49/Kokin rokujō VI: 3981

[2] Kokinshū III: 156/Shinsen man’yōshū 51/Kokin rokujō VI: 4425

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 22

Left

空蝉の侘びしきものを夏草の露にかかれる身にこそ有りけれ

utsusemi no
wabishiki mono o
natsukusa no
tsuyu ni kakareru
mi ni koso arikere
A cicada’s empty shell
Is so sorrowful;
To a stalk of summer grass,
All draped with dewdrops,
It’s form does cling.

43

Right

なつの夜の月はほどなく明けながらあしたの間をぞかこちよせける

natsu no yo no
tsuki wa hodonaku
akenagara
ashita no ma o zo
kakochiyosekeru
On a summer night,
The moon lacks time
To brighten, so
It will do it on the morrow—
That is its excuse!

44

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 21

Summer Poems                  Twenty Rounds

Left

蝉のこゑ聞けばかなしな夏衣うすくや人のならむと思へば

semi no koe
kikeba kanashi na
natsu koromo
usuku ya hito no
naramu to omoeba
The cicadas’ cry:
There’s a sadness in the sound;
Summer clothes
Are thin, as her feelings
Will be, I feel.

41[1]

Right

にほひつつ散りにし花ぞおもほゆる夏はみどりの葉のみしげりて

nioitsutsu
chirinishi hana zo
omohoyuru
natsu wa midori no
ha nomi shigerite
Ever scented,
The scattered blossoms, indeed,
I do recall, for
In summer the green
Leaves, alone, are lush…

42


[1] Kokinshū XIV: 715, attributed to Ki no Tomonori/Shinsen man’yōshū 43/Kokin rokujō VI: 3973

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 20

Left

常盤なる松のみどりも春くれば今一しほの色まさりけり

tokiwa naru
matsu no midori mo
haru kureba
ima hitoshio no
iro masarikeri
When to the eternal
Pine’s green
Spring does come,
Now all the more vibrant
Is its hue!

39[1]

Right

くる春にあはむことこそかたからめ過行く方におくれずもがな

kuru haru ni
awamu koto koso
katakarame
sugiyuku kata ni
okurezu mogana
With arriving spring
To meet is truly
Hard, indeed, but
On the path it take passing by
I would not have it linger!

40


[1] Kokinshū I: 24, attributed to Minamoto no Muneyuki.