Katsura 桂
あまの原いつ時雨れして秋の夜の月のかつらもあかくなるらん
ama no hara itsu shigureshite aki no yo no tsuki no katsura mo akakunaruran Upon the plain of Heaven When will drizzle fall? For On an autumn night The silver trees upon the moon Do seem to shine more bright!
Akinaka
照る月の桂の川し清ければうえした秋の紅葉をぞ見る
teru tuki no
katura no kaFa si
kiyokereba
uFe sita aki no
momidi wo zo miru
The moon shines
Upon the river at Katsura,
So pure that
Upstream and down in autumn,
Scarlet leaves I see.
Left (Tie).
おなじ瀬をのぼる鮎子に大井河くだりぞあらぬ篝火の影
onaji se o
noboru ayuko ni
ōigawa
kudari zo aranu
kagaribi no kage
At the same swift waters:
Sweetfish sprats head up
The Ōi River,
Waiting, unmoving are
The lighted fishing-fires.
Lord Suetsune .
217
Right (Tie).
桂川くだりもあらぬ鵜舟かなこの瀬にのみや鮎子さばしる
katsuragawa
kudari mo aranu
ubune kana
kono se ni nomi ya
ayuko sabashiru
Upon Katsura River,
Waiting, unmoving are
The cormorant boats;
Is it only at these swift waters, that
The sweetfish sprats do race?
Lord Tsune’ie .
218
Neither team sees any difficulties with the other’s poems this round.
Shunzei comments tersely, ‘Both poems use “sweetfish sprats”, and this old-fashioned term cannot help but give them a less than pleasant air. Neither is worthy of victory.’
Left (Tie).
我君の常盤のかげは秋もあらじ月の桂の千世にあふとも
wa ga kimi no
tokiwa no kage wa
aki mo araji
tsuki no katsura no
chiyo ni au tomo
Upon my Lord’s
Evergreen face
Never, shall autumn show,
Though he match the moon’s silver trees’
Thousand Ages.
199
Right (Tie).
散もせじ衣にすれるさゝ竹の大宮人のかざす櫻は
chiri mo seji
koromo ni sureru
sasatake no
ōmiyabito no
kazasu sakura wa
Not a petal will fall!
In robes printed with
Bamboo,
The palace folk, have
Arranged cherry blossom.
200
Left.
花の香のかすめる月にあくがれて夢もさだかに見えぬ比かな
hana no ka no
kasumeru tsuki ni
akugarete
yume mo sadaka ni
mienu koro kana
The blossoms’ scent
Befogs the moon;
Thus lost,
Certain it is that dreams
Will not come now, perhaps…
7
Right (Win)
春の夜は月の桂もにほふ覧光に梅の色はまがひぬ
haru no yo wa
tsuki no katsura mo
niouran
hikari ni ume no
iro wa magainu
On a night in springtime
The moon’s silver trees, too,
Must give out their fragrance;
In such light the plums’
Hues can be mistaken.
8
In the year in which Lord Tamemasa was Imperial messenger to the festival at Iwashimizu Hachiman Shrine , on the day after I been a dancer there and was returning home, on wearing blossom in our hair:
桂川かざしの花の影みえしきのふのふちぞ今日は戀しき
katuragaFa
kazasi no Fana no
kage miesi
kinoFu no Futi zo
keFu Fa koFisiki
By the River Katsura
The blossom in your hair
Shining I saw:
The tranquil, violet deeps of yesterday
Are dear, indeed, to me today.
When she was a Katsura, in reply to a letter sent asking after her from Her Majesty, the Shichijō Empress [Onshi].
久方のなかに生ひたる里なれば光をのみぞ賴むべらなる
Fisakata no
naka ni oFitaru
sato nareba
Fikari wo nomi zo
tanomuberanaru
The everlasting (moon):
Growing in its midst
Is my home , so
In its light alone
Can I place my trust.
Ise
伊勢
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