Tag Archives: capital

MYS III: 328

A poem by Lord Ono no Oyu, Junior Assistant Governor-General of Dazai.

青丹吉 寧樂乃京師者 咲花乃 薫如 今盛有

あをによし奈良の都は咲く花のにほふがごとく今盛りなり

awoni yosi
nara no miyako pa
saku pana no
nipopu ga gotoku
ima masakari nari
Good blue-black clay—
Nara, the capital,
As the flowering blossom
Glows,
Is in full-bloom today.

GSIS VI: 401

Composed on early snow for a palace poetry contest held in Eishō 4 [1049].

みやこにもはつゆきふればをの山のまきのすみがまたきまさるらん

miyako ni mo
Fatuyuki Fureba
wonoyama no
maki no sumigama
takimasaruran
In the capital, too
When the first snow falls
Among Onoyama’s
Evergreens the charcoal kilns
Seem to smoulder more and more.

Sagami

GYS XVI: 2230

Sent when the Hōjōji Lay Priest and Former Regent was in seclusion at the Kiyomizu Temple.

滝のおともいかがきくらん都だにものあはれなる比にも有るかな

taki no oto mo
ikaga kikuran
miyako dani
mono’aware naru
koro ni mo aru kana
The waterfall’s sound:
Do you hear it, I wonder?
Even in the capital
My heart is moved
At this time, too!

Former Emperor Kazan
花山院御製

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 75

Left

をとめ子がひかげのうへに降る雪は花のまがふにいづれたがへり

otomego ga
hikage no ue ni
furu yuki wa
hana no magau ni
izure tagaeri
Maidens
In the sunlight, with
The falling snow;
Such a blending of blossoms—
How do they differ?

145

Left

かきくらし散る花とのみふる雪は冬のみやこの雲のちるかと

kakikurashi
chiru hana to nomi
furu yuki wa
fuyu no miyako no
kumo no chiru ka to
Quickly darkening with
Scattered blossom that is simply
Falling snow,
Is the capital in winter
Strewn with cloud?

146

GSIS IX: 534

Composed on the road, when it was springtime, and he was on his way from the countryside to the capital.

みわたせばみやこはちかくなりぬらんすぎぬる山はかすみへだてつ

miwataseba
miyako Fa tikaku
narinuran
suginuru yama Fa
kasumi Fedatetu
When I gaze across,
The capital closer
Has become, it seems;
The mountains I have passed
Lie beyond the haze.

Minamoto no Michinari

Akishino gesseishū III: 1304

Winter moonlight at a mountain retreat.

やまおろしのけしきばかりやふゆならむみやこなりせば秋のよの月

yama’oroshi no
keshiki bakari ya
fuyu naramu
miyako nariseba
aki no yo no tsuki
The wind howling down the mountain
Simply sets a scene of
Seeming winter, but
Were I in the capital,
An autumn night’s moon, would this be…