Tag Archives: bloom

Dairi kiku awase 01

Poems from a Chrysanthemum Match held by the Senior Courtier Gentlemen in the presence of His Majesty, 13th day of the Tenth Month, Engi 13.

Left

ちりはててはななきときのはななればうつろふいろのをしくもあるかな

chirihatete
hakanaki toki no
hana nareba
utsurou iro no
oshiku mo aru kana
All scattered now,
For such a brief time are
These flowers here;
The fading of their hues
Is something I regret!


Okikaze
1

しらくものうへにしうつるきくなればいたくをにほへはなとみるべく

shirakumo no
uenishi utsuru
kiku nareba
itaku o nioe
hana to mirubeku
A white cloud,
Planted is this gleaming
Chrysanthemum, so
Bright, indeed, shining
Does the bloom look to be…

Suetada
2

Uda-in uta’awase 5

Cherry Blossom

Left (Tie)

わがそのへいざかへりなむあさがほのひとはなさくらのはなりにけり

wa ga sono e
iza kaerinamu
asagao no
hito hana sakura
no wa narinikeri
To my garden,
Well, I must return, for
A morning glory’s
Single bloom in flower seems
To have turned it to a meadow.

Okikaze
9

Right

はるはきぬたねにまくべきいねはなさくらのはなへにおろしはててよ

haru wa kinu
tane ni makubeki
ine wa nasa
kura no hanae ni
oroshihateteyo
Spring has come, and
The seeds must be sown;
No seedlings sprout
Beside the storehouse
Sow them all!

10

Teishi-in ominaeshi uta’awase 04

Left

しらつゆのおけるあしたのをみなへしはなにもはにもたまぞかかれる

shiratsuyu no
okeru ashita no
ominaeshi
hana ni mo ha ni mo
tama zo kakareru
Silver dewdrops
Fallen in the morning on
A maidenflower:
Both bloom and leaves
Are all hung with pearls.

7[1]

Right

をみなへしたてるのざとをうちすぎてうらみむつゆにぬれやん

ominaeshi
tateru nozato o
uchisugite
uramimu tsuyu ni
nure ya wataran
A maidenflower
Stands at a house upon the plains
As I pass by;
Is it her resentful dew
That has drenched me on my way?

8


[1] Gyokuyōshū 526; Shinsen man’yōshū 606; Kokin rokujō 3687

Kanpyō no ōntoki kiku awase 5

The isle of Tamino in Tsu province. Below the chrysanthemum on the suhama was the shape of a woman gathering shellfish, sheltering beneath her sleeves.
田蓑ともいまは求めじたちかへり花の雫にぬれむと思へば

tamino tomo
ima Fa motomezi
taikaFeri
Fana no shiduku ni
nuremu to omoFeba
At Tamino
Shall I seek no more, but
Rise and return;
For droplets from this bloom
Shall soak me I fear.

5

Chūjō miyasudokoro uta’awase

Composed when it was said that a poetry competition was to be held at the residence of the Ninna Middle Captain Lady of the Bedchamber.
花のちることやわびしき春霞たつたの山のうぐひすのこゑ

Fana no tiru
koto ya wabisiki
Farugasumi
tatuta no yama no
uguFisu no kowe
The falling of the flowers
Is sad, indeed;
In the spring haze
On Tatsuta Mountain
A warbler cries…

Fujiwara no Chikage
藤原後蔭

1[1]

Composed when it was said that a poetry competition was to be held at the residence of the Ninna Middle Captain Lady of the Bedchamber.
惜しと思ふ心は糸に縒られなむ散る花ごとに貫きてとどめむ

osi to omoFu
kokoro Fa ito ni
yorarenamu
tiru Fana goto ni
nukite todomemu
A regretful
Heart with threads
Does seem to be entangled;
Every single scattered bloom
Will I thread on them to keep.

Sosei
素性

2[2]


[1]This poem is included in Kokinshū (II: 108).

[2]This poem is included in Kokinshū (II: 114) and also in Sosei-shū 素性集 (16), where in some versions the headnote reads ‘[Composed] on the profusion of blossom when it was decided there would be poetry match at the residence of the Ninnaji Middle Captain Lady of the Bedchamber’.