Maple
はるがすみたちそめしよりいろかへてのはならしてきわかなつむべく
| harugasumi tachi someshi yori iro kaete no wa narashiteki wakana tsumubeku | Since the haze of spring Began to rise, Hues changing, Upon the plains have grown Fresh herbs that we may pick them! |
14
This poem is an acrostic, with ‘maple blossom’ (kaede no hana) contained within kaete no wa narashiteki.
Pear Blossom
春立てばいづこともなしのはなりぬわかなつむべくなりぞしにける
| haru tateba izuko tomo nashi no hanarinu wakana tsumubeku nari zo shininkeru | When the springtime comes, There’s nowhere that’s Not far away, for I should pick fresh herbs— That’s what I’ve decided! |
8
This poem is an acrostic, with ‘pear blossom’ (nashi no hana) contained within nashi no hanarinu.
Original
わかなつむとしはへぬれどかすがのののもりはけふやはるをしるらむ
| wakana tsumu toshi wa henuredo kasugano no nomori wa kyō ya haru o shiruramu | Plucking fresh herbs do The years pass by, yet On Kasuga Plain, The wardens today Must truly know ‘tis spring. [1] |
Mitsune
19
Left (Tie)
けふ見てぞわれはしりぬるはなはなほかすがののべのものにぞありける
| kyō mite zo ware wa shirinuru hana wa nao kasuga no nobe no mono ni zo arikeru | Today did I see, and Understood it well, that Blossom, truly, Upon the meadows of Kasuga Is best of all. |
20
Right
ありへてもかすがののもりはるにあふはとしもわかなもつめるしるしか
| arihete mo kasuga no nomori haru ni au wa toshi mo wakana mo tsumeru shirushi ka | Over passing ages, For the wardens of Kasuga, Encountering the springtime, The years and the fresh herbs, both, Have garnered as a sign, perhaps. |
21
[1] A variant of this poem occurs in Shokugosenshū: In the twenty-first year of the same era, on a day when the Kyōgoku Lady of the Bedchamber visited the shrine at Kasuga, he composed this in place of the official from the province of Yamato. としごとにわかなつみつつかすが野ののもりもけふやはるをしるらん toshi goto ni / wakana tsumitsutsu / kasugano no / nomori mo kyō ya / haru o shiruran ‘Every single year / Ever plucking fresh herbs / On Kasuga Plain / The wardens, too, today / Must truly know ‘tis spring.’Mitsune (XVI: 1032/1029)
Topic unknown.
あすからはわかなつまんとしめし野にきのふもけふもゆきはふりつつ
| asu kara wa wakana tsuman to shimeshi no ni kinō mo kyō mo yuki wa furitsutsu | From the morrow I thought to pick fresh herbs, but Upon my roped off meadow Yesterday and today, too, The snow is ever falling… |
Yamabe no Akahito
For a painting of fresh herbs on a folding screen.
かすがののとぶひののもりけふとてや昔かたみに若なつむらん
| kasuga no no tobuhi nomori kyō tote ya mukashi katami ni wakana tsumuran | Upon the plain of Kasuga At Tobuhi, a field warden Wonders if ‘twas today Long ago? His basket of memories With fresh herbs filled, perhaps… |
Fresh herbs in the snow.
わかなつむ衣手ぬれてかた岡のあしたのはらにあは雪ぞふる
| wakana tsumu koromode nurete kataoka no ashita no hara ni awayuki zo furu | Picking fresh herbs, My sleeves are soaked, for In Kataoka Upon the plain of Ashita Falls a froth of snow. |
On seeing snow at the beginning of spring.
春たたばわかなつまむとしめおきしのべともみえず雪のふれれば
| haru tataba wakana tsumamu to shime’okishi nobe to mo miezu yuki no furereba | If spring comes then Going to pick fresh herbs Is what I did expect, but The meadows are beyond my sight In the falling snow… |
For a folding screen for the residence of Minister of the Right Tsunesuke.
野辺見ればわかなつみけりむべしこそかきねの草もはるめきにけれ
| nobe mireba wakana tumikeri mube si koso kakine no kusa mo Farumekinikeri | When I gaze upon the meadows, and Have picked fresh herbs Indeed, indeed The grasses along my brushwood fence Have grown most springlike! |
Tsurayuki
Left
駒なべてめも春の野にまじりなむ若菜摘みつる人は有りやと
| koma nabete me mo haru no no ni majirinamu wakana tsumitsuru hito wa ari ya to | Mounts all over The springtime meadows before my eyes Are mixed; A’plucking of fresh herbs, Are there folk there, I wonder? |
21[1]
Right
鶯の谷よりいづる声なくは春くることを誰かつげまし
| uguisu no tani yori izuru koe naku wa haru kuru koto o tare ka tsugemashi | If the bush-warbler From the valleys Did not sing his song, That spring is coming Would anyone announce it at all? |
22[2]
[1] Shisen manyōshū 13; Kokin rokujō II: 1137, ‘Springtime meadows’
[2] A minor variant of this poem occurs in Kokinshū (I: 14), attributed to Ōe no Chisato: 鶯の谷よりいづる声なくは春来ることを誰かしらまし uguisu no / tani yori izuru / koe naku wa / haru kuru koto o / tare ka shiramashi ‘If the bush-warbler / From the valleys / Did not sing his song, / That spring is coming / Would anyone realise at all?’; also Shinsen man’yōshū 261.