Tag Archives: grass

SZS IV: 242

Composed on karukaya, when he presented a hundred poem sequence during the reign of former Emperor Horikawa.

秋くればおもひみだるるかるかやのした葉や人の心なるらん

aki kureba
omoimidaruru
karukaya no
shitaba ya hito no
kokoro naruran
When the autumn comes
So confused are my thoughts—
As the tangled tufts of grass
Below are folk’s
Feelings, I wonder?

Major Counsellor Moroyori
大納言師頼

SKKS XIII: 1209

Major Captain of the Left Asamitsu had not visited her for a long time, when he came to see her on her travels; having no pillow, they wove one out of grass.

あふことはこれやかぎりの旅ならん草のまくらも霜がれにけり

au koto wa
kore ya kagiri no
tabi naran
kusa no makura mo
shimogarenikeri
Will our meeting
Here be the limit of
Our journey?
Even our grassy pillow
Seared by distant frosts…

The Uma Handmaid

SZS XIII: 793

Composed as a love poem, when he held a poetry match at his residence, when he was a Middle Captain.

わが恋はあまのかるもにみだれつつかわく間もなきなみのした草

wa ga koFi Fa
ama no karu mo ni
midaretutu
kawaku ma mo naki
nami no sitagusa
My love is as
The seaweed reaped by fisherfolk:
Ever confused, and
Dry for not a moment—
A grass growing ‘neath the waves.

Supernumerary Middle Counsellor Toshitada

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

Yōzei-in uta’awase (Engi jūsan-nen kugatsu kokonoka) 12

Left

草村の心しとともにぞわたるくれはしぬべき秋のをしさに

kusamura no
kokoro shi to tomo
ni zo wataru
kure wa shinubeki
aki no oshisa ni
A tangled patch of grass is
My heart—together
Will it cross, and with
The evening pass away
Amid autumn regrets…[i]

23

Right (Win)

こりずまにあひもみるかな女郎花とまらずかへる秋としるらし

korizu ma ni
ai mo miru kana
ominaeshi
tomarazu kaeru
aki to shirurashi
While I do not dislike her,
I will come to meet and see,
My maidenflower!
Not lingering, and returning
Having had enough—as autumn seems to do, I know…

24


[i] The central part of this poem appears to have been corrupted as the division kokoro shi to tomo / ni zo wataru is anomalous as it places the bound morphemes ni zo at the beginning of a line. Given this, my translation is speculative.

KKS XVIII: 959

Topic unknown.

木にもあらず草にもあらぬ竹のよのはしにわが身はなりぬべらなり

ki ni mo arazu
kusa ni mo aranu
take no yo no
hasi ni wa ga mi Fa
narinuberanari
’Tis not a tree,
Nor yet a grass, but
On bamboo stalks
Brief as the space between the joints
Does seem to be my fate…

Anonymous

A certain person states that this is a poem by Prince Takatsu.

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 69

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

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 27

Left

草しげみ下葉かれ行く夏の日もわくとしわけば袖やひちなん

kusa shigemi
shitaba kareyuku
natsu no hi mo
waku to shi wakeba
sode ya hichinan
The grass is thick, with
Underleaves withering
In the summer sun, but
When I try to forge on through,
Will my sleeves seem soaked?

53

Right

五月雨に物思ひをればほととぎす夜ぶかく鳴きていづち行くらん

samidare ni
mono’omoi oreba
hototogisu
yo fukaku nakite
izuchi yukuramu
When in the drizzling rain,
I’m sunk in gloomy thoughts,
A cuckoo
Sings in night’s depths:
And where might it be going?

Tomonori

54[1]


[1] Kokinshū III: 153/Shinsen man’yōshū 47/Kokin rokujō VI: 4441