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Kyōgoku no miyasudokoro uta’awase

Kyōgoku no miyasudokoro uta’awase 16

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Original

ゆきがてにふくはるかぜははやけれどあをやまなればさむからなくに

yukigate ni
fuku harukaze wa
hayakeredo
aoyama nareba
samukaranaku ni		Blended with snow
Blows the spring breeze
So swift, yet
In the padded jacket of the mountain’s green,
It’s not so cold at all…

46

Left

あをやまのなをきてたれかふくかぜをさむからずとはおもひしるらむ

aoyama no
na o kite tare ka
fuku kaze o
samukarazu to wa
omoishiruramu		A padded jacket of the mountain’s green?
Who would come hearing that, and
By the gusting wind
Remain unchilled,
Do you really think…

47

Right

ゆきがてのかぜもなにかはさむからんはるのひかりのみてるやまべは

yukigate no
kaze mo nanika wa
samukaran
haru no hikari no
miteru yamabe wa		Blended with snow,
What is it might make the wind
So cold?
Where the light of spring
Shines upon the mountainside…

48

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Original

こまなべてきみがみにくるかすがのはまつかさしげしあめにさはるな

koma nabete
kimi ga mi ni kuru
kasugano wa
matsukasa shigeshi
ame ni sawaru na		Mounts aligned,
My Lord has come to see
Kasuga Plain, where
The plentiful pinecones mean
He’ll be untroubled by rain!

43

Left (Win)

ぬれつつもあめにはゆかむまつかさのちとせのはるをもらさざらなむ

nuretsutsu mo
ame ni wa yukamu
matsukasa no
chitose no haru o
morasazaranamu		Even dampened
By the rain, let us go!
For the pinecones
Over a thousand years of springtimes
Will surely not allow a single drip!

44[1]

Right

かすがののまつかさだにもなかりせばあめふるさとにわれこましやは

kasugano no
matsukasa dani mo
nakariseba
ame furu sato ni
ware komashi ya wa		If on Kasuga Plain
Even pinecones
Were there not, then,
To the rainswept ancient capital
Why would I come at all?

45

[1] This poem is included in Ise-shū (107) with the headnote ‘From the time of the Kasuga Poetry Match’, implying that this is Ise’s work, even if she is not identified as the poet in the text here.

Kyōgoku no miyasudokoro uta’awase

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Poems which had been placed in the carriage of the Tenth Prince [Prince Masa’akira 雅明親王 (920-929)]

Original

ことしよりにほひそむめりかすがののわかむらさきにてでなふれそも

kotoshi yori
nioisomumeri
kasugano no
wakamurasaki ni
tede na fure so mo		From this year
Has begun to bloom, it seems,
On Kasuga Plain
Young gromwell, so
Don’t put your hands upon it!

40

Left (Win)

むらさきにてもこそふるれかすがのののもりよひとにわかなつますな

murasaki ni
te mo koso furure
kasugano no
moriyoito ni
wakana tsumasu na		On the gromwell
Folk will surely put their hands, so
Kasuga Plain’s
Wardens, all,
Don’t allow picking of young herbs here!

41

Right

ちはやぶるかみもしるらむかすがののわかむらさきにたれかてふれむ

chihayaburu
kami mo shiruramu
kasugano no
wakamurasaki ni
tare ka te furemu		The mighty
God does surely know, so
On Kasuga Plain,
On young gromwell
Would any dare to lay their hands?

42

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Original

ちりまがふかすがのやまのさくらばなひかりにきえぬゆきと見えつつ

chirimagau
kasuga no yama no
sakurabana
hikari ni kienu
yuki to mietsutsu		Tangledly scattering on
The mount of Kasuga are
The cherry blossoms—as
Not fading with the sunlight
Does this snow, it ever seems…

37

Left

さくらばななにかはきえむしろたへのいろばかりこそゆきににるらめ

sakurabana
nanika wa kienu
shirotae no
iro bakari koso
yuki ni niruramu		Cherry blossoms—
Why should they fade away?
White as mulberry cloth,
In their hue alone
Do they resemble snow, I’d say!

38

Right (Win)

やまざくらゆきにまがひてちりくれどきえぬばかりぞしるしなりける

yamazakura
yuki ni magaite
chirikuredo
kienu bakari zo
shirushi narikeru		Mountain cherry blossoms
Tangle with the snowflakes, and
Come a’scattering, yet
‘Tis only that they fade not that’s
The sign of what they are!

39

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Original

ふるさとのかすがののべのくさもきもはるにふたたびあふことしかな

furusato no
kasuga no nobe no
kusa mo ki mo
haru ni futatabi
au kotoshi kana		At the ancient capital
Upon Kasuga’s plain,
Grasses and trees, both,
Springtime have twice
Met this year! [1]

Mitsune
34

Left (Win)

はるながらまたはるにあふかすがのにおひぬくさきはねたくやあるらん

haru nagara
mata haru ni au
kasugano ni
oinu kusaki wa
netaku ya aruran		‘Tis spring, but
That springtime once more has come
To Kasuga Plain,
Won’t the grasses and trees growing there
Be envied, indeed?

35

Right

ゆきかへるみちのやどりかかすがののくさきにはなのたびかさぬらむ

yukikaeru
michi no yadori ka
kasugano no
kusaki ni hana no
tabikasanuramu		Is it that arriving and departing,
The lodging on spring’s path lies
On Kasuga Plain, so
On the grasses and trees, blossom
Appears time and time again?

36

[1] This poem occurs in Mitsune-shū (322) with the same headnote as for poem (22), above. It was also included in Shinsenzaishū (X: 980), with the headnote, ‘Composed in place of the Governor of Yamato in Engi 21, on the day when the Kyōgoku Lady of the Bedchamber visited the shrine at Kasuga.’

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Original

かすがののけふのみゆきをまつばらのちとせのはるはきみがまにまに

kasugano no
kyō no miyuki o
matsubara no
chitose no haru wa
kimi ga manimani		On Kasuga Plain
Today’s progress
Awaited have the pine groves,
A thousand years of springtimes,
Just as my Lady’s thoughts. [1]

Mitsune
31

Left

ゆくさきのはるをとほくしまかすればいまはちとせのうたがひもなし

yukusaki no
haru o tōkushi
makasureba
ima wa chitose no
utagai mo nashi		Future
Springtimes to distant times
May we entrust, for
Now that she will live a thousand years more
There is no doubt, at all.

32

Right (Win)

むれたちてわれをまつてふかすがののみどりふかくやおもひそめけむ

muretachite
ware o matsu chō
kasugano no
midori fukaku ya
omoisomekemu		Growing crowded together, and
Awaiting me are the pines
On Kasuga Plain—
Why should their green so deeply
Seem to think of me?

33

[1] A minor variant of this poem occurs in Mitsune-shū (325) with the same headnote as for poem (22), above.

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Original

さくらばなゆきとふるめりみかさやまいざたちよらむなにかくるやと

sakurabana
yukitourumeri
mikasayama
iza tachiyoramu
nani kakuru ya to		The cherry blossom
Seems to pass as falling snow
On Mikasa Mountain—
Say, let’s shelter ‘neath umbrellas there,
Whether they’ll conceal us or not…[1]

Mitsune
28

Left (Tie)

やまのなにたちしもよらじさくらばなゆきとふるともいろにぬれめや

yama no na ni
tachishi mo yoraji
sakurabana
yukitouru to mo
iro ni nureme ya		Based on the mountain’s name,
I would take no shelter from
The cherry blossoms, for
Even should they pass as falling snow
Would their hues wet my sleeves?

29

Right

かくるれどやまずゆきこそふりかかれみかさのやまははなやもるらん

kakururedo
yamazu yuki koso
furikakare
mikasa no yama wa
hana ya moruran		I have concealed myself, yet
Incessantly those snows
Do fall;
From Mikasa Mountain, will
The blossom drip, I wonder?

30

[1] This poem occurs in Mitsune-shū (328) with the same headnote as that for poem 22 (above). This is a somewhat facetious poem in that Mitsune is punning on the name of the mountain, Mikasa, which could be read to mean ‘honoured umbrella’. Both of the ladies composing this round pick up on his wordplay, with the author of (29) saying that there’s no need to take shelter as blossom will not leave a stain, as snow would, and the author of (30) wondering rhetorically if the blossom would drip from an umbrella as melting snow would.

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Original

はるごとにきみしかよはばかすがののやちよのまつもかれじとぞおもふ

haru goto ni
kimi shi kayowaba
kasugano no
yachiyo no matsu mo
kareji to zo omou		Should every single spring
My Lady visit here,
On Kasuga Plain
The pines, eight thousand ages old
Would never wither, I feel!

25

Left (Win)

かすがのにはるはかよはむわがためにまつこころありてよはひますなり

kasugano ni
haru wa kayowamu
wa ga tame ni
matsu kokoro arite
yowai masu nari		To Kasuga Plain
Where spring is wont to come
For my sake, then
Should the pines be a mind to tarry with me
How exceeding old would I become.

26

Right

かすがののまつしかれずはみたらしのみづもながれてたえじとぞおもふ

kasugano no
matsu shi karezu wa
mitarashi no
mizu mo nagarete
taeji to zo omou		On Kasuga Plain
The pines will wither never, for
The Mitarashi’s
Water’s flow, too,
Will never cease, I feel.

27

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Original

きみしなほかくしかよはばいそのかみふるきみやこもふりじとぞおもふ

kimi shi nao
kaku shi kayowaba
isonokami
furuki miyako mo
furiji to zo omou		O, my Lady,
Should you thus ever visit
Isonokami, where at
Furu, the ancient capital, too,
Never stales, I feel![1]

Mitsune
22

Left (Win)

かよふともしられじものをふるさとはかすがのやまのふもとならねば

kayou tomo
shirareji mono o
furusato wa
kasuga no yama no
fumoto naraneba		To ever visit there is something
Folk might not know, for
The ancient capital
Among Kasuga Mountain’s
Foothills does not lie…

23

Right

はるごとにきてはみるともいそのかみふりにしさとのなにはかはらじ

haru goto ni
kite wa miru tomo
isonokami
furinishi sato no
nani wa kawaraji		Every single spring
I come to gaze, yet
At Isonokami,
Furu’s ancient capital
Does nothing ever change?

24

[1] A variant of this poem occurs in Mitsune’s personal collection: When the Priestly Emperor’s Rokujō Lady of the Bedchamber visited Kasuga, I met and conversed with Lord Tadafusa, the Governor of Yamato, and he mentioned that he had been asked to compose eight quality poems in the name of his province, so I sent him two of my own. The date was the 7th day of the Third Month, Engi 21 [17.4.921]. きくになほかくしかよはばいそのかみふるきみやこもふりしとぞおもふ kiku ni nao / kaku shi kayowaba / isonokami / furuki Miyako mo / furishi to zo omou ‘O, I hear that / Should you ever thus visit / Isonokami, where at / Furu, the ancient capital, too, / Has grown old, I feel.’(Mitsune-shū 323)

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Original

わかなつむとしはへぬれどかすがのののもりはけふやはるをしるらむ

wakana tsumu
toshi wa henuredo
kasugano no
nomori wa kyō ya
haru o shiruramu		Plucking fresh herbs do
The years pass by, yet
On Kasuga Plain,
The wardens today
Must truly know ‘tis spring. [1]

Mitsune
19

Left (Tie)

けふ見てぞわれはしりぬるはなはなほかすがののべのものにぞありける

kyō mite zo
ware wa shirinuru
hana wa nao
kasuga no nobe no
mono ni zo arikeru		Today did I see, and
Understood it well, that
Blossom, truly,
Upon the meadows of Kasuga
Is best of all.

20

Right

ありへてもかすがののもりはるにあふはとしもわかなもつめるしるしか

arihete mo
kasuga no nomori
haru ni au wa
toshi mo wakana mo
tsumeru shirushi ka		Over passing ages,
For the wardens of Kasuga,
Encountering the springtime,
The years and the fresh herbs, both,
Have garnered as a sign, perhaps.

21

[1] A variant of this poem occurs in Shokugosenshū: In the twenty-first year of the same era, on a day when the Kyōgoku Lady of the Bedchamber visited the shrine at Kasuga, he composed this in place of the official from the province of Yamato. としごとにわかなつみつつかすが野ののもりもけふやはるをしるらん toshi goto ni / wakana tsumitsutsu / kasugano no / nomori mo kyō ya / haru o shiruran ‘Every single year / Ever plucking fresh herbs / On Kasuga Plain / The wardens, too, today / Must truly know ‘tis spring.’Mitsune (XVI: 1032/1029)