Tag Archives: katami

SKKS VIII: 789

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

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

SCSS XIII: 830

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

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

Jidai fudō uta’awase 44

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.

Yōzei-in uta’awase (Engi jūsan-nen kugatsu kokonoka) 21

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

Kinkai wakashū 18

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