Composed on the conception of the essential nature of things.
神といひ仏といふも世中の人の心のほかのものかは
| kami to ii hotoke to iu mo yo no naka no hito no kokoro no hoka no mono ka wa | What we call God, and What we call Buddha, too— In this mundane world ‘Tis in the human heart that They are and nowhere else, aren’t they? |
654
When the courtiers were commanded to hold an autumn leaves match, during the reign of the Murakami emperor.
思ひやるくらぶの山の紅葉ばにおとらぬ物はこころなりけり
| omoiyaru kurabu no yama no momijiba ni otoranu mono wa kokoro narikeri | Pondering, To compare Mount Kurabu’s Scarlet leaves— Only not lesser is My heart… |
Motosuke-shū 1[i]
[i] This poem is not included the extant texts of the match, but from its headnote must have been composed for it and been subsequently lost among with the others.
Original
おとにのみききわたりつるあきのよのながさをひとりねてぞしりぬる
| oto ni nomi kikiwataritsuru aki no yo no nagasa o hitori nete zo shirinuru | By word alone Had I heard of Autumn nights’ Length, but alone and Sleeping did I understand it! |
42
Left (Win)
あきのよのながきにそへてねざめつつつきせぬものをおもふころかな
| aki no yo no nagaki ni soete nezametsutsu tsukisenu mono o omou koro kana | To an autumn night’s Length, add Being awake, then Inexhaustible is the gloom Filling your thoughts! |
43
Right
ひとりねであかぬときにもあきのよのながきこころをしらぬものかは
| hitori nede akanu toki ni mo aki no yo no nagaki kokoro o shiranu mono ka wa | Sleepless alone When unsatisfied, too, An autumn night’s Length, the heart Knows well, doesn’t it! |
44
Sent with something to Dharma Master Sosen[i] when he was away.
| oki tsu nami yasoshima kakete sumu chidori kokoro hitotsu to ikaga tanomamu | The waves out in the offing Break o’er the eighty islets, where Plovers dwell— Our hearts as one: How can I trust that? |
607
[i] Sosen 素暹 (?-1263) did not take orders until 1245-46, some twenty-six years after Sanetomo’s assassination in 1219, so at the time of this poem’s composition, he would still have been known by his secular name, Tō no Taneyuki 東胤行.Taneyuki, like his father, Shigetani 重胤 (1177?-1247?) was a close attendant of Sanetomo, and he continued this service after the latter’s death, eventually serving Kujō Yoritsune 九条頼経 (1218-1256), Kujō Yoritsugu 九条頼嗣 (1239-1256) and Prince Munetaka 宗尊(1242-1274), the fourth, fifth and sixth Kamakura shoguns, respectively, although Shigetani took orders following Sanetomo’s death. Both father and son were known as waka poets, with Sosen having twenty-two poems in imperial anthologies from Shokugosenshū.
いはねふみいく重のみねをこえぬともおもひもいでむ心へだつな
| iwane fumi ikue no mine o koenu tomo omoi mo idemu kokoro hedatsu na | Treading past the crags’ feet, and Layer upon layer of peaks A’crossing, still Will my yearning for you grow, so Let us not be strangers…[i] |
602
[i] See: Composed in the conception of parting when he took part in a hundred-poem sequence. 別れても心へだつな旅ごろも幾重かさなる山路なりとも wakarete mo / kokoro hedatsu na / tabigoromo / ikue kasanaru / yamaji naritomo ‘We may part, yet / Let us not be strangers; / Travellers’ robes / Place layer on layer, / Though mountain paths lie in-between.’ Fujiwara no Sada’ie (Senzaishū VII: 497)
Original
あきやまにこころをのみもいるるかなもみぢのいろのふかきまにまに
| akiyama ni kokoro o nomi mo iruru kana momiji no iro no fukaki manimani | By the autumn mountains My heart, too, is simply Drawn within! While the hues of scarlet leaves Are so deep… |
27
Left
あきやまにいらんこころはなごりなくひとにやみえむもみぢちりなば
| akiyama ni iran kokoro wa nagori naku hito ni yamiemu momiji chirinaba | By the autumn mountains Drawn—such a heart Might leave no trace And such a one might cease to be, Should the scarlet leaves all scatter… |
28
Right
もみぢするあきにこころのいるひとやあだなることをまづはしるらむ
| momijisuru aki ni kokoro no iru hito ya adanaru koto o mazu wa shiruramu | Scarlet the leaves turn In autumn—one with a heart So drawn, that ‘Tis fleeting Should know first of all! |
29
A single poem presented in reply by Prince Toneri.
安之比奇能 山尓由伎家牟 夜麻妣等能 情母之良受 山人夜多礼
あしひきの やまにゆきけむ やまびとの こころもしらず やまびとやたれ
| asipiki no yama ni yukikemu yamabito no kokoro mo shirazu yamabito ya tare | To the leg-wearying Mountains seeming to have gone An immortal’s Heart I cannot know, but Who might that immortal be? |
Round Nine
Left – Spring Snow (Win)
はなならでをらまほしきはなにはえのあしのわかばにふれるしらゆき
| hana narade oramahoshiki wa naniwae no ashi no wakaba ni fureru shirayuki | Though they are not blossoms How I long to pick At Naniwa Inlet From the new-grown reed tips Fallen snowflakes. |
Norinaga’s Wife
17
Right – Chrysanthemums
むらさきのふかからざりし秋だにもきくはこころにしめてしものを
| murasaki no fukakarazarishi aki dani mo kiku wa kokoro ni shimeteshi mono o | Their violet Was not that deep In autumn, but even so The chrysanthemums, my heart Did pierce… |
The Minister of Public Affairs
18
When he had finally, after great effort, received a letter from a woman who would give him no reply.
跡みれば心なぐさのはまちどり今は声こそきかまほしけれ
| ato mireba kokoro nagusa no Famatidori ima Fa kowe koso kikamaFosikere | Seeing these tracks Does ease my heart Plover on the beach, but Now, it is your voice, indeed, That I long to hear more!’ |
Anonymous
