Composed on the wind bringing fond thoughts of the past, in the autumn after his father, Hidemune, had passed away.
露をだに今は形見の藤ごろもあだにも袖を吹く嵐かな
| tsuyu o dani ima wa katami no fujigoromo ada ni mo sode o fuku arashi kana | Even the dewfall, which Now is a keepsake upon My mourning robes is Transient, so from my sleeves ‘Tis blown by the storming wind! |
Fujiwara no Hideyoshi
When the Gokyōgoku Regent ordered her to produce a hundred poem sequence.
雲となり雨となりても身にそはばむなしき空をかたみとやみん
| kumo to nari ame to narite mo mi ni sowaba munashiki sora o katami to ya min | Even should you become a cloud, and Then become raindrops Falling on my flesh, then Would the vacant skies I see as a keepsake, perhaps? |
Kojijū
In a reply to a letter sent by Shigeyuki at the end of autumn.
くれて行くあきのかたみに置く物はわがもとゆひの霜にぞ有りける
| kureteyuku aki no katami ni woku mono Fa wa ga motoyuFi no simo ni zo arikeru | Heading into twilight Autumn for a keepsake Falling upon My hair-tie is Frost! |
Taira no Kanemori
Topic uknown.
うれしくはわするるひともありなましつらきぞながきかたみなりける
| ureshiku wa wasururu hito mo arinamashi tsuraki zo nagaki katami narikeru | Happiness will Be forgotten by folk I’m sure, but Cold cruelty an enduring Keepsake will be. |
Fukayabu
Round Forty-Four
Left
むかしせしわがかねごとのかなしきはいかにちぎりしなごりなるらん
| mukashi seshi wa ga kanegoto no kanashiki wa ika ni chigirishi nagorinaruran | Long ago did I promise, but Might the sadness Of how I did once vow Be my only keepsake? |
87[i]
Right
かたみとてみればなみだのふかみ草なになかなかのにほひなるらむ
| katami tote mireba namida no fukamigusa nani nakanaka no nioinaruramu | ‘For a keepsake,’ I think and Gaze, but my tears are As peonies— Why do they so Brightly shine? |
88[ii]
[i] GSS XI: 710: Taira no Sadafun had been conversing with a lady at the residence of Major Counsellor Kunitsune in great secrecy and matters had progressed to the point that they had vowed to be with each other to the end, when the lady was abruptly welcomed into the residence of the late Grand Minister, so he had no way at all of even exchanging letters with her; thus, when the lady’s five year old child was playing in the western wing of the minister’s mansion, Sadafun called her over and saying, ‘Show this to your mother,’ wrote this on her upper arm.
[ii] The text of this contest appears to be the only occurrence of this poem in the waka canon, so it is unclear where Gotoba may have encountered it.
Left
いまはとてすぎゆく秋のかたみにはかぜのおくれにもみぢをやみん
| ima wa tote sugiyuku aki no katami ni wa kaze no okure ni momiji o ya min | Might now be when Departing autumn’s Keepsake is Presented on the breeze: A glimpse of scarlet leaves? |
41
Right
あきながらとしはくれなん紅葉ばをぬさとちらせる山のみねより
| aki nagara toshi wa kurenan momijiba o nusa to chiraseru yama no mine yori | It’s autumn, so The year has reached its dusk; Scarlet leaves for A garland are made to scatter From the mountain peaks… |
42
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… |
The following poems were not matched for Left nor Right.[i]
Left
あはずしていけらんことのかたければいまはわがみをありとやはおもふ
| awazushite ikeran koto no katakereba ima wa wa ga mi o ari to ya wa omou | Not meeting you, and Living on is Impossible, so Now, will I Be around much longer, do you think? |
62[i]
Right
あふことのかたのかたみはなみだがはこひしとおもへばまづさきにたつ
| au koto no kata no katami wa namidagawa koishi to omoeba mazu saki ni tatsu | Meeting her was Hard, so my only keepsake is A river of tears; When I recall my love for her, That is first to flow. |
63
[i] What Ise means here is that these poems had been prepared for the event, but were not formally recited and judged during the contest as it had to be truncated due to lack of time.
Left
月夜には花とぞ見ゆる竹のうへに降りしく雪を誰かはらはむ
| tsukiyo ni wa hana to zo miyuru take no ue ni furishiku yuki o tare ka harawamu | On a moonlit night As blossom it appears, so From the bamboo The fallen, scattered, snow— Who would sweep it away? |
151
Right
しら雪を分けてわかるるかたみには袖に涙のこほるなりけり
| shirayuki o wakete wakaruru katami ni wa sode ni namida no kōru narikeri | That through the snow so white I pressed on, forging, A keepsake is The tears upon my sleeves, All frozen. |
152
Left
春霞色の千ぐさにみえつるはたなびく山の花のかげかも
| harugasumi iro no chigusa ni mieturu wa tanabiku yama no hana no kage kamo | The haze of spring has Countless hues It does appear; Streaming across the mountains with The blossoms’ glow. |
Okikaze
37[1]
Right
日くるればかつちる花をあたらしみ春のかたみにつみぞいれつる
| hi kurureba katsu chiru hana o atarashimi haru no katami ni tsumi zo iretsuru | When the sun goes down, With the scattering blossoms Feel renewed— As a keepsake of spring Have I plucked them up! |
38
[1] Kokinshū II: 102/Shinsen man’yōshū 25/Kokin rokujō I: 620