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
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
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
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
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 cuckooJust 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!’
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?’
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
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
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
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 narumatsu 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.
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