At a mountain hut
山ふかみ秋かぜ吹かぬねざめだに月にはみつる床の涙を
| yama fukami akikaze fukanu nezame dani tsuki ni wa mitsuru toko no namida o | Deep within the mountains When the autumn wind fails to blow, Even waking then The moon fills The teardrops on my pillow… |
24
Tag Archives: autumn wind
Yōzei’in ichi no miko himegimi uta’awase 12
Original
あきかぜはくものうへまでふきのぼれつきのかつらのちりちらずみむ
| akikaze wa kumo no ue made fukinobore tsuki no katsura no chiri chirazu mimu | O, autumn wind Above the clouds Blow high! For the silver trees upon the moon I would see scatter, or scatter not! |
33
Left (Win)
くものうへにかぜはふかせじもみぢばをつきのうちだにちらさでをみむ
| kumo no ue ni kaze wa fukaseji momijiba o tsuki no uchi dani chirasade o mimu | Above the clouds The wind will not blow, I hope! For even the scarlet leaves Beneath the moon Unscattered I would behold… |
34
Right
そらながらあまのかはかぜさむければつきのかつらはとまりしもせじ
| sora nagara ama no kawakaze samukereba tsuki no katsura wa tomarishi mo seji | Within the skies The wind o’er Heaven’s river Is chill, so The silver trees upon the moon Will not have lingered, I think. |
35
Kinkai wakashū 606
今こむとたのめし人はみえなくに秋風さむみ雁は来にけり
| ima komu to tanomeshi hito wa mienaku ni akikaze samumi kari wa kinikeri | ‘I’m coming now,’ I trusted those words of his, but There is no sign, only, Carried on the chill autumn wind Have the geese appeared.[i] |
606
[i] See: Topic unknown. いまこむとたのめしことをわすれずはこのゆふぐれの月やまつらん ima komu to / tanomeshi koto o / wasurezu wa / kono yūgure no / tsuki ya matsuran ‘ “I’m coming now,” / If, that she trusted those words of mine / She has not forgotten, then / This evening / The moon might she be awaiting, too? ’ Fujiwara no Hideyoshi (Shinkokinshū XIII: 1203)
Kinkai wakashū 605
I sent this to the residence of someone, who had gone to a distant province, when they had said they’d return around the Eighth Month and there had been no sign of them by the Ninth.
| komu to shimo tanomenu uwa no sora ni dani akikaze fukeba kari wa kinikeri | That they would come, even I Do not expect of the heights of The heavens, but When the autumn wind has blown, The geese have arrived.[i] |
605
[i] See: Love carried on the wind. きくやいかにうはのそらなる風だにもまつにおとするならひありとは kiku ya ika ni / uwa no sora naru / kaze dani mo / matsu ni otosuru / narai ari to wa ‘Do you hear it? Well? / From the heavens’ heights / Even the wind, / To come whispering among the pines / Has grown accustomed.’ Kunaikyō (Shinkokinshū XIII: 1199); and: A poem from the poetry competition at Prince Koresada’s house. 秋風にはつかりがねぞきこゆなるたがたまづさをかけてきつらむ akikaze ni / hatsukari ga ne zo / kikoyunaru / ta ga tamazusa o / kaketekitsuran ‘On the autumn wind / Come the first goose cries. / I hear them; / Whose letters / Do they bring, I wonder?’ Ki no Tomonori (Kokinshū IV: 207)
Kinkai wakashū 575
旅ごろもうらがなしかるゆふぐれのすそのの露に秋風ぞ吹く
| tabigoromo uraganashikaru yūgure no susono no tsuyu ni akikaze zo fuku | In my traveller’s garb and Sick at heart Of an evening, as Across the meadows on the slopes dewdrops Drift upon the autumn wind! [i] |
575
[i] See: 旅ごろもうらがなしさにあかしかね草の枕は夢もむすばず tabigoromo / uraganashisa ni / akashikane / kusa no makura wa / yume mo musabazu ‘In my traveller’s garb / My heart-sickness / I cannot lift, for / My grassy pillow / Brings no dreams, at all…’ Hikaru Genji (Genji monogatari 223); and: たびごろもうらがなしかるあさぢふによはのしぐれよいかにせよとぞ tabigoromo / uraganashikaru / asajū ni / yowa no shigure yo / ika ni seyo to zo ‘In my traveller’s garb and / Sad at heart among / The clumps of cogon grass, / O, midnight shower, / Tell me, what I am I to do?’ Jakuchō (Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 54)
Kinkai wakashū 546
Love and tales.[i]
| wakarenishi mukashi wa tsuyu ka asajiwara ato naki nobe ni akikaze zo fuku | Since they were parted, Were those ancient times dewdrop brief? Across the cogon grass Upon the trackless plain The autumn wind is blowing! |
546
[i] The ‘tale’ here is the Song of Everlasting Woe about the doomed love between Yang Guifei and Emperor Xuanzong
Kinkai wakashū 526
Entō ōn’uta’awase 39
Round Thirty-Nine
Left (Tie)
さをしかのふしどをあさみ吹く風に夜半に鳴く音ぞふかくなりゆく
| saoshika no fushido o asami fuku kaze ni yowa ni naku ne zo fukaku nariyuku | The stag’s Resting place disturbed by The gusting wind At midnight his belling cry Comes from deeper in the mountains. |
Chikanari
77
Right
さらでだにね覚かなしき秋風に夜しもなどか鹿の鳴くらん
| sarade dani nezame kanashiki akikaze ni yoru shimo nado ka shika no nakuran | Even were it not so, To waken is so sad With the cruel autumn wind; Why is it that above all at night The stag should cry so? |
Ie’kiyo
78
The Left poem’s ‘at midnight his belling cry comes from deeper’ does not sound especially elegant. The Right poem composes ‘why is it that above all at night the stag should cry so’, sounding like it is only at night that stags bell, but stags do this all the time in autumn. The Ancient and Modern also has the composition, ‘Mud-daubers buzzing / In the autumn bush clover; / Leaving with morning’.[1] The poems of Left and Right have no merits or faults between them—they should tie.
[1] This is a quotation from: Topic unknown. すがるなく秋のはぎはらあさたちて旅行く人をいつとかまたむ sugaru naku / aki no hagiwara / asa tachite / tabi yuku hito o / itsu to ka matan ‘Mud-daubers buzzing / In the autumn bush clover; / Leaving with morning, / Away on a journey: for him, / How long must I wait?’ Anonymous (KKS VIII: 366)
Entō ōn’uta’awase 34
Round Thirty-Four
Left
もののふもあはれとおもへあづさ弓ひきのの夜半のさをしかの声
| mononofu mo aware to omoe azusayumi hikino no yowa no saoshika no koe | Let even a warrior Feel pity! A catalpa bow drawn On Hiki Plain at a midnight Stag’s call. |
The Former Minister of the Centre
67
Right (Win)
つれもなきつまをやたのむ秋風の身にさむき夜は鹿も鳴くなり
| tsure mo naki tsuma o ya tanomu akikaze no mi ni samuki yo wa shika mo nakunari | Is it his heartless Bride he seeks? The autumn wind Chills the bones at night As the stag, too, does cry.[1] |
Kozaishō
68
The Left’s poem seems to have no faults worth mentioning, but the Right’s poem is composed with the poem ‘The autumn wind / Chills my bones / As cold as / The woman I hope for / In the dark, night after night’ in mind and seems particularly pleasant, so it wins.
[1] An allusive variation on: Topic unknown. 秋風の身にさむければつれもなき人をぞたのむくるる夜ごとに aki kaze no / mi ni samukereba / tsuremonaki / hito o zo tanomu / kururu yo goto ni ‘The autumn wind / Chills my bones / As cold as / The woman I hope for / In the dark, night after night.’ Dharma Master Sosei (KKS XII: 555)
