Tag Archives: fireflies

SKKS XI: 1032

Composed on the conception of summer love, when the Regent and Palace Minister held a poetry contest at his residence.

おもひあれば袖にほたるをつつみてもいはばや物をとふ人はなし

omoi areba
sode ni hotaru o
tsutsumite mo
iwaba ya mono o
tou hito wa nashi
I am filled with passion’s fire, but
Even should my sleeves fireflies
Wrap up,
‘What do you ponder on?’—
There’s no one to enquire of me…[1]

Monk Jakuren

A kuzushiji version of the poem's text.
Created with Soan.

[1] An allusive variation on Gosenshū IV: 209; and a poem which Kenshō cites in his judgement of the poems in Round 1310 of Sengohyakuban uta’awase 千五百番歌合 (‘Poetry Contest in 1500 Rounds’): あめふればのきのたま水つぶつぶといはばやものを心ゆくまで ame fureba / noki no tamamizu / tsubutsubu to / iwaba ya mono o / kokoro yuku made ‘The rain falls and / Jewelled droplets from my eaves / Drip one by one: / Should I ponder on that / Until my heart is eased?’

Yōzei-in uta’awase (Engi jūni-nen natsu) 09

Left

おもひにはみをもかへつるなつむしのきえてもあふとたれかいひけむ

omoi ni wa
mi o mo kaetsuru
natsumushi no
kiete mo au to
tare ka iikemu
Passion’s flame
Has changed the flesh of
The fireflies
Even fading will we meet—
Who is it might say that?

17

A kuzushiji version of the poem's text.
Created with Soan.

Right

あひもみぬこひによりつつなつむしのもえこがるれどかひなかりけり

ai mo minu
koi ni yoritsutsu
natsumushi no
moekogaruredo
kai nakarikeri
Meeting but not seeing:
Ever trusting in such a love
The fireflies
Burn themselves to char, yet
‘Tis pointless, indeed.

18

A kuzushiji version of the poem's text.
Created with Soan.

Yōzei-in uta’awase (Engi jūni-nen natsu) 08

Left

かぎりなきおもひのほかになつむしのまどふをひとのうへとこそ見れ

kagiri naki
omoi no hoka ni
natsumushi no
madou o hito  no
ue to koso mire
Endlessly
In sudden flames of passion are
Fireflies
Lost—upon
Her do I see them!

15

A kuzushiji version of the poem's text.
Created with Soan.

Right

ただひとつおもひをだにもなつむしのいのちをすててたのむなるかな

tada hitotsu
omoi o dani mo
natsumushi no
inochi o sutete
tanomu naru kana
With but a single
Passion’s flame, even
A firefly
Abandon’s his life—
On that you can rely!

16

A kuzushiji version of the poem's text.
Created with Soan.

Yōzei-in uta’awase (Engi jūni-nen natsu) 05

Left

みをすてておもひにいれるなつむしのいまいくばくもあらじとぞおもふ

mi o sutete
omoi ni ireru
natsumushi no
ima ikubaku mo
araji to zo omou
Abandoning all restraint
I plunge into burning passion—
Fireflies
Now numberless
As my thoughts.

9

A kuzushiji version of the poem's text.
Created with Soan.

Right

としをへてこひにみなぐるなつむしのあふにはかへていかがなりにし

toshi o hete
koi ni minaguru
natsumushi no
au ni wa kaete
ikaga narinishi
As the years go by,
I am laid out by love—
A firefly
On meeting changes and
What has it become?

10

A kuzushiji version of the poem's text.
Created with Soan.

Yōzei-in uta’awase (Engi jūni-nen natsu) 02

Left

おもひをばいかにしればかなつむしのもゆるなかにもいりまどふらん

omoi oba
ika ni shireba ka
natsumushi no
moyuru naka ni mo
irimadouran
How, my fiery passion
Will you recognise?
With the fireflies’
Flames
Does it seem to blend!

3

A kuzushiji version of the poem's text.
Created with Soan.

Right

こひすとてみはいたづらにならばなれわれなつむしになりやしなまし

koisu tote
mi wa itazura ni
naraba nare
ware natsumushi ni
nari ya shinamashi
‘I’ll fall in love!’ I say, and
If that’s pointless, then
So be it!
I’d rather a firefly
Become and meet my death!

4

A kuzushiji version of the poem's text.
Created with Soan.

Yōzei-in uta’awase (Engi jūni-nen natsu) 01

His Majesty, Former Emperor Yōzei, held a match on the topic of ‘Love and Summer Insects’.

Left (Tie)

いたづらにみはなるてへどなつむしのおもひはえこそはなれざりけれ

itazura ni
mi hanarute hedo
natsumushi no
omoi wa e koso
hanarezarikere
Pointlessly
Did I spend my days apart from you, yet
As the fireflies,
The burning of my passionate thoughts
I could not leave behind!

1

A kuzushiji version of the poem's text.
Created with Soan.

Right

みをすててひとつおもひにこがれたるこころぞなつのむしにまされる

mi o sutete
hitotsu omoi ni
kogaretaru
kokoro zo natsu no
mushi ni masareru
Abandoning all restraint,
But one fiery passion
Chars
My heart—the fire
Flies does it exceed!

2

A kuzushiji version of the poem's text.
Created with Soan.

Uda-in uta’awase 12

Regretting the Day of the Rat

Left

むねのひををしもぬかねばみだれおつるなみだのたまにかつぞけちつる

mune no hi o
o shimo nukaneba
midare’otsuru
namida no tama ni
katsu zo kechitsuru
The fire within my breast
Will not thread upon a string, but
My disorderly dripping
Gemstone tears will
Yet extinguish it.

Tsurayuki
23

Right (Win)

くらきよにともすほたるのむねのひををしもとけたるたまかとぞ見る

kuraki yo ni
tomosu hotaru no
mune no hi o
o shimo toketaru
tama ka zo zo miru
On a night so dark,
The kindled fireflies of
The fire within my breast;
Loosened from their string
As scattered gemstones they appear.

Tadamine
24

Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase 22

あきのよにかりかもなきてわたるなる我が思ふ人のことづてやせる[1]

aki no yo ni
kari kamo nakite
watarunaru
wa ga omou hito no
kotozute ya seru
On an autumn night
Is that the geese a’crying
As they pass by?
There is one I love—
Would you take a message to her?

43

おく露にくちゆくのべのくさのはやあきのほたるとなりわたるらむ[2]

oku tsuyu ni
kuchiyuku nobe no
kusa no ha ya
aki no hotaru to
nariwataruramu
Dew falls on
The rotting meadows, where
The blades of grass with
The tired autumn fireflies
Do seem to sound…

44


[1] A minor variant of this poem is included in Gosenshū (VII: 356), where it is attributed to [Ki no] Tsurayuki.

[2] This poem is included in Fubokushō (5548), where it is attributed to [Mibu no] Tadamine.