Once, he was travelling to the Eastlands with one or two friends. On reaching a place called Yatsuhashi in the province of Mikawa, they saw there were irises (kakitsubata) blooming particularly beautifully by the river. Dismounting, and resting in the shade of a tree, he composed this poem, expressing the feelings of someone homesick, with the correct syllable of kakitsubata at the beginning of each line.
唐衣きつつなれにしつましあればはるばるきぬるたびをしぞ思ふ
karakoromo
kitutu narenisi
tuma si areba
Farubaru kinuru
tabi wo si zo omoFu
A Chinese robe
I have worn so often I know it
As I do my wife;
Having come so far
This journey rests heavy on my thoughts.
Composed at a time when the Nijō Empress was still known as the Mother of the Crown Prince, on the topic of a picture of autumn leaves flowing along the Tatsuta River, drawn on a folding screen.
ちはやぶる神世もきかず龍田河唐紅に水くくるとは
tiFayaburu
kamiyo mo kikazu
tatutagaFa
karakurenai ni
midu kukuru to Fa
In even the mighty
Gods’ own age there’s no word of it:
The River Tatsuta,
With deep scarlet
Dyed throughout the waters.