Jidai fudō uta’awase 46

Round Forty-Six

みじか夜のふけ行くままに高砂の峰の松かぜ吹くかとぞきく

mijikayo no
fukeyuku mama ni
takasago no
mine no matsukaze
fuku ka to zo kiku
While a brief space of night
Breaks,
On Takasago
Peak, the wind through the pines[i]
Does blow, I hear.

Middle Counsellor Kanesuke
91[ii]

Right

さらでだに露けきさがの野べにきて昔のあとにしをれぬるかな

sarade dani
tsuyukeki saga no
nobe ni kite
mukashi no ato ni
shiorenuru kana
Even had I not to
Dew-drenched Saga’s
Meadows come,
The remnants of bygone days
Would leave me drenched!

Supernumerary Middle Counsellor Toshitada
92[iii]


[i] Kanesuke is displaying his Chinese education here, as comparing the sound of a plucked zither (koto) to wind blowing through pine trees was a well-known Chinese poetic conceit.

[ii] GSS IV: 167: On hearing Fukayabu playing a zither on a summer night.

[iii] SKKS VIII: 785: On making a pilgrimage to the Hōrin Temple, he went there and composed this, before the grave of Major Counsellor Toshi’ie in Sagano.

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