Tag Archives: breezes

Kanpyō no ōntoki chūgū uta’awase 4

Summer

Round Four

Left

匂ふよりここちあだなる花ゆゑにのどけきはるの風もうらみじ

niou yori
kokochi adanaru
hana yue ni
nodokeki haru no
kaze mo uramiji
From their fragrance
Fickle feelings
Do these blossoms have, so
Peaceful spring’s
Breezes I would likely not resent.

7

Right (Win)

夏の夜のぬるほどもなく明けぬればあしたのまをぞかこちよせつる

natsu no yo no
nuru hodo mo naku
akenureba
ashita no ma o zo
kakochiyosetsuru
On a summer night
I’ve lacked time to sleep, and
Dawn has come, so
I’ll do it on the morrow—
That is my excuse!

8

Kanpyō no ōntoki chūgū uta’awase 3

Round Three

Left

氷とくはるたちくらしみよしののよしののたきのこゑまさるなり

kōri toku
haru tachikurashi
miyoshino no
yoshino no taki no
koe masarunari
Ice melting
Spring has come on scene, it seems;
In fair Yoshino,
Yoshino Falls’
Roar is fine, indeed!

5

Right (Win)

はなの色はかすみにこめてみえずともかをだにぬすめ春の山風

hana no iro wa
kasumi ni komete
miezu tomo
ka o dani nusume
haru no yamakaze
The blossoms’ hues
Have blended with the haze, so
I see them not, yet
Their very scent is plundered by
Spring’s breezes from the mountains.

6

KKS I: 12

A poem from the Poetry Competition held in the reign of the Kanpyō Empress.

谷風にとくる氷のひまごとに打いづる波や春のはつ花

tanikaze ni
tokuru koFori no
Fimagoto ni
uti’iduru nami ya
Faru no FatuFana
In the valley’s breezes
Does melt the ice, and
From every crack
Do burst waves – are these
The first blooms of spring?

Minamoto no Masazumi
源当純

SZS II: 89

Composed as a poem on blossom.

桜咲く比良の山風吹くままに花になりゆく志賀の浦浪

sakura saku
Fira no yamakaze
Fuku mama ni
Fana ni nariyuku
siga no uranami
Cherries flower on
Hira Mountain while
Breezes blow
All turned to blossom are
The waves on Shiga’s shore.

Middle Captain of the Inner Palace Guards, Left Division, [Fujiwara no] Yoshitsune
左近中将良経

Summer II: 29

Left (Win).

夏山のこずゑも高く鳴蝉は中なか聲ぞかすかなりける

natsu yama no
kozue mo takaku
naru semi wa
nakanaka koe zo
kasukanarikeru
In the summer mountains
Treetop high
The cicadas sing, yet
If anything, their songs
More distant have become.

Lord Kanemune.

297

Right.

秋近き木木の梢に風越えて下葉にうつる蝉の聲ごゑ

aki chikaki
kigi no kozue ni
kaze koete
shitaba ni utsuru
semi no koegoe
Autumn draws near, and
The trees’ tops are
Brushed by breezes;
Shifted to the lower leaves are
The cicadas’ songs.

Ietaka.

298

The Right state the Left’s poem has nothing problematic about it. The Left wonder whether there is any evidence that cicadas move in response to wind.

Shunzei remarks, ‘The Right’s poem is, indeed, lacking in evidence. However, could it not be that cicadas would feel a sense of danger from the wind and move to a tree’s lower leaves? The Left’s poem is elegant, though, and must win.’