Composed when a large number of the Junior Consort’s ladies conducted blossom-viewing during the reign of former Emperor Horikawa.
春毎にあかぬ匂をさくら花いかなる風のをしまざるらむ
| Faru goto ni akanu nioFi wo sakurabana ikanaru kaze no woshimazaruramu |
Every single spring Never am I sated by The cherry blossom; What breeze is it that Is not a cause of regret? |
Chikuzen Wet Nurse
筑前乳母
A poem composed on the 17th day of the Eighth Month Tempyō 4 by Takahashi no Mushimaro, when Fujiwara no Umakai was sent into the west to inspect the military forces there.
白雲の 龍田の山の 露霜に 色づく時に うち越えて 旅行く君は 五百重山 い行きさくみ 敵守る 筑紫に至り 山のそき 野のそき見よと 伴の部を 班ち遣はし 山彦の 答へむ極み たにぐくの さ渡る極み 国形を 見したまひて 冬こもり 春さりゆかば 飛ぶ鳥の 早く来まさね 龍田道の 岡辺の道に 丹つつじの にほはむ時の 桜花 咲きなむ時に 山たづの 迎へ参ゐ出む 君が来まさば
| sira kumo no tatuta no yama no tuyusimo ni iroduku toki ni utikoete tabi yuku kimi pa ipopeyama iyukisakumi adamamoru tukusi ni itari yamanosoki no nosoki miyo to tomo no be wo akati tukapasi yamabiko no kotapemu kipami taniguku no sawataru kipami kunikata wo misitamapite puyugomori paru sariyukaba tobu tori no payaku kimasane tatsutadi no wokabe no miti ni nitutuzi no nipopamu toki no sakurabana sakinamu toki ni yamatadu no mukaemawidemu kimi ga kimasaba |
Clouds of white On Tatsuta Mountain When the frosty dewfall Shades it, Across it You will go, my Lord, Many mountains Passing, and At foe-warding Tsukushi arrive; On the mountains end, On the plains end, gazing; Sentry squads Dividing for despatch; Echoes from the mountains’ Bounds, Toad Testing limits Of the land A’viewing; Sealed in winter, then When spring comes once more As a soaring bird Swiftly return! When upon the trails of Tatsuta Upon the hillside paths Ochre azaleas Bloom brightly; When cherry blossom Blooms, Bearing elder flowers Will we come to greet you! Should you come home again… |
Shun’e
俊恵
After a man who was of a mind to become a monk had travelled to Yamato province and been there for some time, when a lady whom he had known before sent to him, enquiring how the cherry blossoms had been blooming lately.
みよし野の吉野の山の桜花白雲とのみ見えまがひつゝ
| miyosino no yosino no yama no sakurabana sirakumo to nomi miemagaFitutu |
In fair Yoshino On Yoshino mountain, The cherry blossom Simply for clouds of white I do always mistake! |
Anonymous
Left (Tie).
尋入る楢の葉陰の重なりてさてしもかろき夏衣かな
| tazuneiru nara no hakage no kasanarite sateshimo karoki natsugoromo kana |
Entering within The oak leaves’ shade, Layer upon layer; Still, how light Is my summer garb! |
249
Right (Tie).
花の色の袖は重ねし物なれどひとへに惜しき蝉の羽衣
| hana no iro no sode wa kasaneshi mono naredo hitoe ni oshiki semi no hagoromo |
Cherry blossom hued Sleeves lay one upon the other And yet now, A single, deep regret: For the cicada’s gossamer garb… |
The Provisional Master of the Empress’ Household Office.
250
Neither team has any criticisms to make this round.
Shunzei merely remarks, ‘The Left’s poem has “still, how light” (sateshimo karoki) and the Right’s “sleeves lay one upon the other and yet now” (sode wa kasaneshi mono naredo): both of these are only close to the topic, I feel. The round ties.’
Left (Tie).
脱ぎ代へし蝉の羽衣あつきまでいかになりゆく夏の日數ぞ
| nugikaeshi semi no hagoromo atsuki made ikani nariyuku natsu no hikazu zo |
Stripped off to change, A cicada-silk robe, yet Why, this heavy hotness Do I feel? As the summer days go on… |
243
Right (Tie).
橘のにほひも深し夏衣花ゆへたれかいとひそめけん
| tachibana no nioi mo fukashi natsugoromo hana yue tare ka itoisomeken |
Orange blossom Scent lies thick Upon my summer garb; For the cherry blossom’s sake Should I begin to hate it? |
244
The Right state they find themselves ‘unable to agree’ with the Left’s ‘Why, this heavy heat do I feel?’ (atsuki made ikani nariyuku), while the Left remark that ‘it is perhaps too similar to introduce a poem with “orange blossom” (tachibana) and conclude it with “cherry blossom” (hana).’
Shunzei simply asks, ‘Can the Left’s “do I feel” really be disagreeble? The Right’s “For the cherry blossom’s sake should I begin to hate it?” (hana yue tare ka itoisomeken) recollects the poem on “regret on changing clothes” by Minamoto no Shigeyuki, does it not? Furthermore, it is not implying that summer garb is necessarily fragranced by orange blossom. I question, though,the Left’s use of “heat”. The round should, therefore, tie.’
Left (Win).
秋ならば月待つことの憂からまし櫻にくらす春の山里
| aki naraba tsuki matsu koto no ukaramashi sakura ni kurasu haru no yamazato |
Were it autumn, Waiting for the moon is Bitter, indeed, but Amongst the cherry blossom do I live, In my mountain hut in springtime. |
129
Right.
白雲の八重立つ山の花を見て歸る家路も日ははるか也
| shirakumo no yae tatsu yama no hana o mite kaeru ieji mo hi wa harukanari |
Clouds of white, Lie eight-fold upon the mountains; Gazing on the blossoms, being Homeward bound at Sundown seems a long, long way away… |
130
The Right team have no particular criticisms of the Left’s poem this round. The Left, though, say ‘What are we to make of ‘Sundown seems a long, long way away’ (hi wa harukanari)?’ (Probably suggesting it’s an insufficiently poetic expression to use in a waka.)
Shunzei doesn’t address the Left’s criticism in his judgement, simply saying, ‘The Left’s final section starting “amongst the cherry blossom do I live” (sakura ni kurasu) sounds charming. It must win.’
Left (Tie).
櫻花うつろふ春をあまたへて身さへふりぬる淺茅生の宿
| sakurabana utsurou haru o amata hete mi sae furinuru asajiu no yado |
Cherry blossoming and Fading springs So many have I spent, that Even I have fallen into dotage, At my dwelling, all overgrown with spiky cogon grass. |
19
Right
櫻花うつりにけりなと計をなげきもあへずつもる春かな
| sakurabana utsurinikeri na to bakari o nageki mo aezu tsumoru haru kana |
‘The cherry blossoms Have already faded away,’ Simply that Cannot contain my grief, As one spring piles upon another. |
20