Tag Archives: kiri

Daikōtaigōgū no suke taira no tsunemori-ason ke uta'awase

Daikōtaigōgū no suke taira no tsunemori-ason ke uta’awase 09

Leave a comment

Round Nine

Left (Win)

女郎花いづれの秋かみえざりし野原の霧に立ちなかくれそ

ominaeshi
izure no aki ka
miezarishi
nohara no kiri ni
tachi na kakure so		O, maidenflower,
In which autumn is it, that
You have remained unseen?
In the mists upon the meadow
Stand and don’t hide yourself!

Kataoka Shrine Priest Kamo no Masahira
17

Right

心から夜のまの露にしほたれてあさじめりする女郎花かな

kokoro kara
yo no ma no tsuyu ni
shiotarete
asajimerisuru
ominaeshi kana		Her heart
Throughout the night with dewdrops
Drenches her,
Dripping with morning tears is
The maidenflower!

Fujiwara no Koreyuki, Supernumerary Junior Assistant Minster of the Sovereign’s Household
18

The Left is extremely absorbingly composed. As for the Right, though, I wonder about the use of being ‘drenched with dewdrops’—while it does put me in mind of fisherfolk at Ise, because it fails to indicate anything in the conception of the topic, it should lose, I think.

Teiji’in tenjōbito uta’awase

Teiji’in tenjōbito uta’awase 02

Leave a comment

Left

あかずしてわかれにしかばあまのがはこひしきせのみおもほゆるかな

akazushite
wakarenishikaba
ama no gawa
koishiki se nomi
omohoyuru kana		Unsatisfied
Have they parted, so
At the River of Heaven’s
Rapids, their loving meeting alone
Does fill their thoughts!

3

Right (Win)

たなばたのまれにあふよのしののめのみえぬばかりぞきりはふらまし

tanabata no
mare ni au yo no
shinonome no
mienu bakari zo
kiri wa furamashi		The Weaver Maid
Has but a rare night’s meeting, so
At the edge of dawn
That it simply not be seen
She wishes for the fog to fall.

4

Hon'in sadaijin-ke uta'awase

Hon’in sadaijin-ke uta’awase 07

Leave a comment

Marlberry

Left

あさごとにきりはふれどもあしひきのやまたち花はいろもかはらず

asa goto ni
kiri wa furedomo
ashihiki no
yamatachibana wa
iro mo kawarazu		With every morning
The mist rolls down, yet on
The leg-wearying
Mountains, the marlberry’s
Hues remain unchanged.

13

Right

みねだにやすみうくならんあしひきのやまたち花のみやまゐをせる

mine dani ya
sumi’ukunaran
ashihiki no
yamatachibana no
miyamai o seru		Does even the peak
Seem so hard to dwell upon?
The leg-wearying
Mountain marlberry has
Turned the hidden spring a darker hue.

14

Sahyōe no suke sadafumi uta'awase

Sahyōe no suke sadafumi uta’awase 6

Leave a comment

The Beginning of Autumn

Left (Win—in a certain book Tie)

しぐれにもあめにもあらぬはつぎりのたつにもそらはさしくもりけり

shigure ni mo
ame ni mo aranu
hatsugiri no
tatsu ni mo sora wa
sashikumorikeri		Neither a shower
Nor rain,
The first mists
Simply rise into the skies
And cover all with cloud.

11

Right

としごとにあふとはすれどたなばたのぬるよのかずぞすくなかりける

toshi goto ni
au to suredo
tanabata no
nuru yo no kazu zo
sukunakarikeru		Every year
She meets him, yet
The Weaver Maid’s
Nights of passion
Are few indeed.

Mitsune
12

Man'yōshū

MYS III: 257

Leave a comment

A poem on Mount Kagu by Kamo no Taruhito.

天之芳来山　霞立　春尓至婆　松風尓　池浪立而　櫻花　木乃晩茂尓　奥邊波　鴨妻喚　邊津方尓　味村左和伎　百礒城之　大宮人乃　退出而　遊船尓波　梶棹毛　無而不樂毛　己具人奈四二

天降りつく　天の香具山　霞立つ　春に至れば　松風に　池波立ちて　桜花　木の暗茂に　沖辺には　鴨妻呼ばひ　辺つ辺に　あぢ群騒き　ももしきの　大宮人の　退り出て　遊ぶ船には　楫棹も　なくて寂しも　漕ぐ人なしに

amorituku
ame no kaguyama
kiri tatu
paru ni itareba
matukaze ni
ikenami tatite
sakurabana
ko no kuresige ni
okipe ni pa
kamo tuma yobapi
petupe ni
adi murasawagi
momosiki no
opomiyabito no
makaridete
asobu pune ni pa
kadisawo mo
nakute sabusi mo
kogu pito nasi ni		Descended from heaven is
Sacred Mount Kagu where
Mists arise
When the spring does come,
The wind through the pines
Raises waves from pond waters, and
Cherry blossom’s
Profusion shades the trees, while
Out in the offing,
Ducks call for a mate and
On the shore
Teals flock noisily;
Hundredfold,
The palace folk were wont to
Travel out
On pleasure boats, but
Oars and poles
Are there none—so sad—
For there’s not a soul to row them…
Man'yōshū

MYS V: 839

Leave a comment

波流能努尓　紀理多知和多利　布流由岐得　比得能美流麻提　烏梅能波奈知流

春の野に霧立ちわたり降る雪と人の見るまで梅の花散る

paru no no ni
kiri tatiwatari
puru yuki to
pito no miru made
ume no pana tiru		In the springtime meadows
Filled with spreading mist,
As falling snow
To folk’s eyes appears
The scattering plum blossom.

Denshi no Makami, Clerk of Chikuzen
筑前目田氏真上

Teishi-in ominaeshi awase

Teishi-in ominaeshi uta’awase 18

Leave a comment

をみなへしあきののをわけをりつればやどあれぬとてまつむしぞなく

ominaeshi
aki no no o wake
oritsureba
yado arenu tote
matsumushi zo naku		O, maidenflower,
Through the autumn meadows did I press
To pick you, so
My home has gone to ruin where
The pine crickets sing.

Yasuki
35

むしのねになきまどはせるをみなへしをればたもとにきりのこりゐる

mushi no ne ni
naki madowaseru
ominaeshi
oreba tamoto ni
kiri nokori’iru		The insects’ cries
With her sobs are confused, that
Maidenflower,
I pluck her, and within my sleeve
Traces of the mists do linger.

Amane
36

Teishi-in ominaeshi awase

Teishi-in ominaeshi uta’awase 03

Leave a comment

Left

あきごとにさきはくれどもをみなへしけふをまつとのなにこそありけれ

aki goto ni
saki wa kuredomo
ominaeshi
kyō o matsu to no
na ni koso arikere		Every single autumn
Does her time to bloom arrive, yet
This maidenflower
Has been waiting for this day
Or so the rumour goes!

5[1]

Right

さやかにもけさはみえずやをみなへしきりのまがきにたちかくれつつ

sayaka ni mo
kesa wa miezu ya
ominaeshi
kiri no magaki ni
tachikakuretsutsu		Clearly
This morning I cannot glimpse
That maidenflower
In the mists along the brushwood fence
Ever does she hide herself away.

6[2]

[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 518

[2] Shinsen man’yōshū 540

Shiki koi sanshu uta'awase

Shiki koi sanshu uta’awase – Autumn

Leave a comment

Autumn

Left

秋の夜の有明にみれど久堅の月のかつらはうつろはぬかな

aki no yo no
ariake ni miredo
hisakata no
tsuki no katsura wa
utsurouwanu kana		An autumn night’s
Dawn I see, yet
The eternal
Moon’s silver trees
Show no sign of fading!

13

秋萩の花咲く比の白露は下ばのためとわきて置くべし

aki hagi no
hana saku koro no
shiratsuyu wa
shitaba no tame to
wakite okubeshi		In autumn, the bush clover
Flowers bloom—just then
Silver dewdrops
For the under-leaves
Do fall, marking every one.

14

秋風はいなばもそよとふきつめりかりみる程と成りやしぬらん

akikaze wa
inaba mo soyo to
fukitsumeri
kari miru hodo to
nari ya shinuran		The autumn breeze
Seems to rustle the rice stalks
As it blows;
Seeing if ‘tis time to reap them—
Is that what it is, I wonder?

15

Right

銀河とわたる舟は花薄ほにいづるほどぞかげもみゆべき

ama no kawa
towataru fune wa
hanasusuki
ho ni izuru hodo zo
kage mo miyubeki		Across the River of Heaven
A boat goes ferrying:
When the silver grass
Ears burst into bloom,
Can its shape be seen.

16

女郎花さがの花をば色ながら秋をさかりといはれずもがな

ominaeshi
saga no hana oba
iro nagara
aki o sakari to
iwarezu mogana		Maidenflowers:
Blossoms from Saga
Reveal their hues, and
In autumn are most fine—that
Goes without saying!

17

小男鹿の朝たつ霧にうりふ山嶺の梢は色こかりけり

saoshika no
asa tatsu kiri ni
urifuyama
mine no kozue wa
iro kokarikeri		Stags
Within the rising morning mist on
Urifu Moutain, where
The treetops on the peak
Have taken darker hues.

18