Orchids
Left
おぼつかなあきくるごとにふぢばかまたがためにとかつゆのそむらん
| obotsukana aki kuru goto ni fujibakama ta ga tame ni toka tsuyu no somuran | How strange, that Whenever autumn comes Grow orchids— For whose sake, I wonder, Does the dewfall dye them? |
9
Right
おくしもにいくしほそめてふぢばかまいまはかぎりとさきはじむらん
| oku shimo ni iku shio somete fujibakama ima wa kagiri to sakihajimuran | The dewfall with Many dippings dyes The orchids— Now that all is done Might they begin to bloom. |
10
Left
あき風にほころびぬらむ藤ばかまつづりさせてふきりぎりす鳴く
| akikaze ni hokorobinuramu fujibakama tsuzurisase chō kirigirisu naku | The autumn wind Seems to have burst the buds of The asters ‘Sew them back together!’ say The crickets’ cries. |
Ariwara no Muneyana
94
Right
秋の夜のあめときこえて降りつるは風に散りつる紅葉なりけり
| aki no yo no ame to kikoete furitsuru wa kaze ni chiritsuru momiji narikeri | On an autumn night The sound of rain Falling is The wind scattered Scarlet leaves. |
95
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Empress Dowager during the reign of the Kanpyō emperor.
秋風にほころびぬらし藤袴つづりさせてふきりぎりすなく
| akikaze ni Fokorobinurasi Fudibakama tudurisasete teFu kirigirisu naku | With the autumn breeze Seem to have bloomed and twined The asters Bound together by the rasping Crickets’ cries.[1] |
Ariwara no Muneyana
[1] This poem is composed around a dual wordplay, which I have not been able to closely replicate in the translation. Hokorobu is simultaneously both ‘bloom fully’ and ‘thread (a needle)’ while tsuzuru is both ‘sew together’ and an onomatopoeic representation of the sound that a cricket makes.
Round Eleven: The scent of blossom in the fields at dusk
Left
宮木野や尋ねてきつる藤ばかましるくもにほふゆふまぐれかな
| miyagino ya tazunetekitsuru fujibakama shiruku mo niou yū magure kana | To Miyagi Plain Have come visiting The asters? So startling their scent In the twilight dusk! |
Ōe no Masasuke, Student of Law[1]
21
Right
今よりはいそぎもゆかじ入日さす野山の花ぞ匂ひましける
| ima yori wa isogi mo yukaji irihi sasu noyama no hana zo nioimashikeru | More than this moment There seems no purpose in haste, as The setting sun shines The blossom in the mountain meadows Has a scent sublime. |
Lord Tadamoto
22
[1] Ōe no Masasuke 大江盛佐. The identity of this individual remains uncertain, as he does not appear in the genealogy of the Ōe family. There was, however, a Fujiwara no Masasuke 藤原盛佐, who was appointed to the position of Senior Secretary of the Echizen province on the 23rd day of the First Month Kōji 康治 1 [10.2.1142], some forty years after this contest was held. The title used for Masasuke here, Student of Law (myōbōshō 明法生) indicates that he was enrolled in the Law department of the imperial university (daigakuryō 大学寮) at the time, and so would have been a young man. It is possible that for a minor noble it could take decades to gain an appointment to a provincial administration, so it is possible that this is Fujiwara no Masasuke, but this remains speculation. In any case this is his sole poem in a poetry competition.
[One of] two poems composed by Yamanoue no Okura listing the flowers of the autumn fields.
芽之花 乎花葛花 瞿麦之花 姫部志 又藤袴 朝皃之花
萩の花尾花葛花なでしこの花をみなへしまた藤袴朝顔の花
| pagi no pana wobana kudupana nadesiko no pana wominapesi mata pudibakama asagapo no pana | Bush clover blooms, Silver grass and kudzu, Pinks, Valerian And fujibakama, Morning glory blooms. |
Yamanoue no Okura
山上憶良
omposed on a thoroughwort.
ぬししらぬかこそにほへれ秋ののにたがぬぎかけしふぢばかまぞも
| nusi siranu ka koso niFoFere aki no no ni ta ga ki kakesi Fudibakama zo mo |
Someone unkown Has left his scent In this autumn field; Who has come and hung up Wisteria trousers among the thoroughworts? |
The Monk Sosei
素性法師
Composed on a thoroughwort and sent to someone.
やどりせし人のかたみかふぢばかまわすられがたきかににほひつつ
| yadorisesi Fito no katami ka Fudibakama wasuraregataki ka ni niFoFitutu |
Did some lodge here And leave for a keepsake Wisteria trousers? Thoroughworts, Impossible to forget, Their fragrance lingers on. |
Tsurayuki
貫之
Composed at a poetry competition at Prince Koresada’s house.
なに人かきてぬぎかけしふぢばかまくる秋ごとにのべをにほはす
| nani Fito ka kite nugi kakesi Fudibakama kuru aki gotoni nobe wo niFoFasu |
What manner of person Has come, stripped off, and hung up Purple trousers? Thoroughworts Arrive every Autumn Filling the fields with fragrance. |
Toshiyuki