Tag Archives: blossom

Teiji-in uta’awase 20

Left (Tie)

はなみつつをしむかひなくけふくれてほかのはるとやあすはなりなむ

hana mitsutsu
oshimu kainaku
kyō kurete
hoka no haru to ya
asu wa narinamu
Ever do I gaze upon the blossom, in
Vain regret, for
Today will end and
A different spring will
Greet me on the morrow!

Mitsune
39

Right

けふのみとはるをおもはぬときだにもたつことやすきはなのかげかは

kyō nomi to
haru o omowanu
toki dani mo
tatsu koto ya suki
hana no kage ka wa
“Only today is left
Of spring”—I’ll not think that for
Even at such a time,
Is it easy to part from
The blossoms’ shade?

Mitsune
40[i]

‘Both of these are charming,’—they tied.


[i] This poem is included as the final spring poem in Kokinshū (II: 134), attributed to Mitsune, and with the headnote, ‘A poem on the end of spring from the Poetry Contest held by Former Emperor Uda’.

Teiji-in uta’awase 15

Left (Win)

むさしのにいろやかよへるふぢのはなわかむらさきにそめてみゆらむ

musashino ni
iro ya kayoeru
fuji no hana
wakamurasaki ni
somete miyuramu
On Musashi Plain
Are their colours blending?
The wisteria blossom has
The gromwell with violet
Dyed, it seems…

29

Right

あかずしてすぎゆくはるをよぶこどりよびかへしつときてもつげなむ

akazushite
sugiyuku haru o
yobukodori
yobikaeshitsu to
kite mo tsugenamu
Unsated by
The passage of spring,
The songbird
Has called it back—that
Is what I would have him announce!

Okikaze 30

Teiji-in uta’awase 13

Left (Win)

めにみえでかぜはふけどもあをやぎのなびくかたにぞはなはちりける

me ni miede
kaze wa fukedomo
aoyagi no
nabiku kata ni zo
hana chirikeru
Unseen by my eyes
The wind does blow, yet
The green willow
Bends toward
The scattering blossom.

Mitsune
25

Right

あしひきのやまぶきのはなさきにけりゐでのかはづはいまやなくらむ

ashihiki no
yamabuki no hana
sakinikeri
ide no kawazu wa
ima ya nakuramu
Leg-wearying
Mountain kerria flowers
Have bloomed;
In Ide will the frogs
Now be a’singing?

Okikaze
26[i]

‘The Right is old-fashioned,’ and so it lost.


[i] Despite Uda’s negative opinion of it, this poem is included in Shinkokinshū (II: 162), attributed to Okikaze, with the headnote, ‘A poem from the Poetry Contest held by Former Emperor Uda in Engi 13’.

Teiji-in uta’awase 10

Left (Tie)

ふるさとにかすみとびわけゆくかりはたびのそらにやはるをすぐらむ

furusato ni
kasumi tobiwake
yuku kari wa
tabi no sora ni ya
haru o suguramu
Above an ancient estate
Flying through the parting haze
Go the geese:
In the skies they journey through,
I wonder, will they pass the springtime?

Mitsune

19

Right

ちるはなをぬきしとめねばあをやぎのいとはよるともかひやなからむ

chiru hana o
nukishi tomeneba
aoyagi no
ito wa yoru tomo
kai ya nakaramu
The scattered blossom
Has been pierced, but not stayed, so,
The green willow’s
Threaded fronds are spun together, yet
It useless seems…

20

‘“Sewn but not halted”—it really does seem so.’

Teiji-in uta’awase 09

Left (Tie)

ふりはへてはなみにくればくらぶやまいとどかすみのたちかくすらむ

furihaete
hana mi ni kureba
kurabuyama
itodo kasumi no
tachikakusuramu
When with many trials
The blossom have I come to see
Upon Kurabu Mountain
Already does the haze
Seem to rise to conceal them.

Okikaze

17

Right

いもやすくねられざりけりはるのよははなのちるのみゆめにみえつつ

imo yasuku
nerarezarikeri
haru no yo wa
hana no chiru nomi
yume ni mietsutsu
My darling, uneasily,
Does sleep;
On a night in springtime
Scattering blossom, alone,
In her dreams does she ever see…

18

‘These are just about amusing,’ they tied.

Teiji-in uta’awase 06

Left (Win)

はるかぜのふかぬよにだにあらませばこころのどかにはなはみてまし

harukaze no
fukanu yo ni dani
aramaseba
kokoro nodoka ni
hana wa mitemashi
The spring breezes
Not blowing of an evening—if only
That were so, then
With peace in my heart
I would view the blossom

His Majesty

11

Right

ちりぬともありとたのまむさくらばなはるはすぎぬとわれにきかすな

chirinu tomo
ari to tanomamu
sakurabana
haru wa suginu to
ware ni kikasu na
You have fallen, yet
That you are here, I will believe,
O, cherry blossom!
That spring is past—
Don’t tell me that!

12

‘The Left’s poem is my own—it really should lose, shouldn’t it?’

Teiji-in uta’awase 03

Left (Win)

きつつのみなくうぐひすのふるさとはちりにしむめのはなにざりける

kitsutsu nomi
naku uguisu no
furusato wa
chirinishi mume no
hana ni zarikeru
Ever coming, simply
To sing—the warbler’s
Ancient home
The scattered plum
Blossoms is not.

Mitsune

5[i]

Right

みちよへてなるてふももはことしよりはなさくはるにあひぞしにける

michiyo hete
naru chō momo wa
kotoshi yori
hana saku haru ni
ai zo shinikeru
Three thousand generations enduring,
They say, are the peaches:
From this year
Blossom blooming spring
Have they encountered.

Korenori

6[ii]

This poem says ‘generation’ when it should be composed about a year—it loses.


[i] This poem is included in Shinchokusenshū (I: 36), attributed to Sakanoue no Korenori, with the headnote, ‘From Former Emperor Uda’s Poetry Contest’.

[ii] A minor variant of this poem, which changes the first phrase to ‘For three thousand years’ (michi tose ni), is included in Shūishū (V: 288), attributed to Mitsune, with the headnote ‘From Former Emperor Uda’s Poetry Contest’.

Sahyōe no suke sadafumi uta’awase 2

The Middle of Spring

Left (Win)

春はなほわれにてしりぬはなざかりこころのどけき人はあらじな

haru wa nao
ware nite shirinu
hanazakari
kokoro nodokeki
hito wa araji na
That spring endures
I know well;
The profusion of blossom means
A peaceful heart has
No one at all…

Tadamine
3

Right

はかなくてはるひとつきはくれにけりはなのさかりはすぎがてにせよ

hakanakute
haru hitotsuki wa
kurenikeri
hana no sakari wa
sugigate ni seyo
The brief
First month of spring
Has reached its eve;
O, to make the blossoms’ profusion
Impossible to pass away!

Mitsune
4

Uda-in uta’awase 10

Orchids

Left

はるきてはきのふばかりをあさみどりなべてけさこくのはなりにけり

haru kite wa
kinō bakari o
asamidori
nabete kesa koku
no wa narikeri
Spring’s coming means, though
Yesterday was simply
Pale green,
Everywhere, this morning deeper-hued
Have the meadows become.

Tsurayuki
19

Right

はるさめにしべゆるぶらし春のくさこくのはなべてさきみちにけり

harusame ni
shibe yuruburashi
haru no kusa
koku no wa nabete
sakimichinikeri
In the springtime rain,
The flowers’ hearts seem loosened, so
With spring plants’ hues
Deepening, the meadows everywhere
Have filled with blossom.

20

Ise-shū 465

Attached to some lilac daphne.

花のいろのこきをみすとてこきたるをおろかに人はおもふらんやぞ

Fana no iro no
koki o misu tote
kokitaru o
oroka ni Fito Fa
omoFuran ya zo
‘The blossom’s hues’
Depth show me!’ you say, and
Deeply—but
O, how foolish, would it be
For me to care for you?