Spring
Composed on the First day of the First Month
今朝みれば山もかすみて久かたのあまのはらより春は来にけり
kesa mireba yama mo kasumite hisakata no ama no hara yori haru wa kinikeri Gazing out this morning [i]
1
Created with Soan . [i] The reference to the ‘plains of Heaven’ (ama no hara 天の原) being ‘eternal’ (hisakata 久方) implies that the poet has been long awaiting the arrival of spring—a nuance which I have attempted to capture with the final ‘at last’.
Left
霞立つ春の山辺にさくら花あかず散るとやうぐひすの鳴く
kasumi tatsu Hazes rise from
25[1]
Right
あまの原春はことにも見ゆるかな雲のたてるも色こかりけり
ama no hara haru wa koto ni mo miyuru kana kumo no tateru mo iro kokarikeri Upon the Plain of Heaven
26
[1] Shinkokinshū II: 109/Shinsen man’yōshū 31
あまのはらやどかす人のなければやあきくるかりのねをばなくらん[1]
ama no hara yado kasu hito no nakereba ya aki kuru kari no ne o ba nakuran Upon the plain of Heaven
15
としごとにあきくることのうれしきはかりにつけてもきみやとふとぞ
toshi goto ni aki kuru koto no ureshiki wa kari ni tsukete mo kimi ya tou to zo Every year
16
[1] This poem was included in Shokugosenshū (310/301), where it is attributed to Mibu no Tadamine.
Katsura 桂
あまの原いつ時雨れして秋の夜の月のかつらもあかくなるらん
ama no hara Upon the plain of Heaven
Akinaka
'Simply moving and elegant'
