Tag Archives: jewelled comb

Kinkai wakashū 156

玉くしげはこねのやまの郭公むかふのさとに朝な朝ななく

tamakushige
hakone no yama no
hototogisu
mukau no sato ni
asana asana naku
A jewelled comb
On Hakone Mountain
A cuckoo
In that paradise
Cries with every morn.[i]
A kuzushiji version of the poem's text.

[ii] This poem is inspired by: 心乎之 無何有乃郷尓 置而有者 藐孤射能山乎 見末久知香谿務 kokoro oshi / mukau no sato ni / okite araba / bakoya no yama o / mimaku chikakemu ‘My heart / In paradise / Should I leave behind, then / Mount Miaogushe / Would I soon come to see.’ Anonymous (MYS XVI: 3851). The Man’yō poem refers to Mount Bakoya (C. Miaogushe), a legendary Chinese mountain where immortals were said to dwell, and Sanetomo’s reference to Hakone echoes this due to the partial homophony between the place names.

Teiji-in uta’awase 39

Left

たまくしげ二上山のほととぎす今ぞあけくれなきわたるなる

tamakushige
futakamiyama no
hototogisu
ima zo akekure
nakiwataru naru
On the jewelled comb of
Futakami Mountain
The cuckoos
Now, indeed, both night and day
Do fill with their constant song.

78

Right

時鳥のちのさ月もありとてやながくうづきをすぐしはてつる

hototogisu
nochi no satsuki mo
ari tote ya
nagaku uzuki o
sugushihatetsuru
O, cuckoo!
A further Fifth Month
There is, so
Leisurely, the Fourth Month
Have you completely spent?

79