Composed on birds.
春霞 流共尓 青柳之 枝喙持而 鴬鳴毛
春霞流るるなへに青柳の枝くひ持ちて鴬鳴くも
parugasumi nagaruru nape ni awoyagi no eda kupimotite ugupisu naku mo | The spring haze Flows along The green willow Branches, consuming where The warbler sings… |
Anonymous
Spring
Ten Poems on the Second Month
Left
あをやぎのえだにかかれるはるさめはいともてぬけるたまかとぞみる
aoyagi no eda ni kakareru harusame wa ito mo te nukeru tama ka to zo miru | Upon the green willow Branches hang Spring raindrops— As if each frond were hand-threaded With gems do they appear. |
Ise
1
Right
あさみどりそめてみだれるあをやぎのいとをばはるのかぜやよるらむ
asamidori somete midareru aoyagi no ito oba haru no kaze ya yoruramu | Pale green Dyes the tangled Willow Fronds—do spring’s Breeze they seem to beckon? |
Korenori
2
I’d say both of these are good—a tie.
These are poems which His Majesty had everyone in attendance compose on the day.
わがやどをみなへしひとのすぎゆかばあきのくさばはしぐれざらまし
wa ga yado o mina heshi hito no sugiyukaba aki no kusaba wa shigurezaramashi | Should my house By all the passing folk Be passed by, then Would not the autumn grasses Scatter showers? |
Minamoto no Tsuruna
29
をしめどもえだにとまらぬもみぢばをみなへしおきてあきののちみむ
oshimedomo eda ni tomaranu momijiba o mina heshi okite aki no nochi mimu | I regret it, yet On the branches have not lingered Scarlet leaves— I will press them, every one, To gaze on after autumn’s passing. |
Muneyuki
30
Left
をみなへしうつろふあきのほどをなみねさへうつしてをしむけふかな
ominaeshi utsurou aki no hodo o nami ne sae utsushite oshimu kyō kana | The maidenflower With the autumn will fade Soon away; Being shifted here root and all She must regret, today! |
19[1]
Right
うつらずはふゆともわかじをみなへしときはのえだにさきかへらなむ
utsurazu wa fuyu to mo wakaji ominaeshi tokiwa no eda ni sakikaeranamu | Ever unfading and All unknowing of the winter, O, maidenflower, On evergreen branches I would you returned to bloom! |
20
[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 514
Left
かくをしむあきにしあはばをみなへしうつろふことはわすれやはせぬ
kaku oshimu aki ni shi awaba ominaeshi utsurou koto wa wasure ya wa senu | If feeling such regret I should encounter autumn, then O, maidenflower, To fade You should not forget, should you? |
11
Right
ながきよにたれたのめけむをみなへしひとまつむしのえだごとになく
nagaki yo ni tare tanomekemu ominaeshi hito matsumushi no edagoto ni naku | On a long, long night Who is it has made you believe, O, maidenflower? Pining for him while crickets Cry from your every branch… |
12[1]
[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 536; Fubokushō 4231
Left 白雪の降りつもれる山里は人さへやおもひ消ゆらむ[1]
shirayuki no furitsumoreru yamazato wa sumu hito sae ya omoikiyuramu | White snow Has fallen, drifted high around The mountain home; Might even he who lives there Be buried in melancholy? |
This poem is missing from some texts of the contest and thus is unnumbered.
Right
ひかりまつ枝にかかれる雪をこそ冬の花とはいふべかりけれ
hikari matsu eda ni kakareru yuki o koso fuyu no hana to wa iubekarikere | Awaiting the light Upon the branches clings Snow: Winter’s blossom—that’s what It should be called! |
144
[1] Kokinshū VI: 328, attributed to Mibu no Tadamine.
Left
草も木も枯行く冬の宿なれば雪ならずしてとふ人ぞなき
kusa mo ki mo kareyuku fuyu no yado nareba yuki narazushite tou hito zo naki | Both grass and trees Wither away with winter At my home, so Even without the snow No one comes to call. |
135
Right
ふる雪はえだにしばしもとまらなむ花も紅葉も絶えてなきまは
furu yuki wa eda ni shibashi mo tomaranamu hana mo momiji mo taete naki ma wa | The falling snow Upon the branches for a while Does rest, when Neither blossoms nor scarlet leaves Are there at all… |
136
Left
霜がれの枝となわびそ白雪を花にやとひてみれどもあかず
shimogare no eda to na wabi so shirayuki o hana ni ya toite miredomo akazu | For the frost-burned Branches, grieve not, for White snows As blossom will visit them, and The sight will never sate. |
131
Right
嵐ふく山下里にふる雪はとくむめの花咲くかとぞ見る
arashi fuku yamashitazato ni furu yuki wa toku mume no hana saku ka to zo miru | The storm wind blows Upon the village ‘neath the mountains, where Fallen snow, Long since, had plum blossom Made seem to bloom? |
132