Tag Archives: michi

Entō ōn’uta’awase 12

Round Twelve

Left

うつり行く花の下道跡もなしながめも白き春の山風

utsuriyuku
hana no shita michi
ato mo nashi
nagame mo shiroki
haru no yamakaze
The shifting
Blossom on the paths beneath
Leaves no footprints there;
My gaze with whiteness filled
By spring’s breezes in the mountains.

Dōchin
23

Right (Win)

身にかへておもふもくるし桜花さかぬみ山に宿もとめてん

mi ni kaete
omou mo kurushi
sakurabana
sakanu miyama ni
yado mo tometen
It should be me instead,
I think, but even that brings pain;
Where cherry blossoms
Fail to bloom, deep within the mountains
Should I make my home.

Dharma Master Nyokan
24

The Left’s poem does not sound poor, but has ‘gaze with whiteness’—a long time ago, Lay Priest Toshinari repeatedly said that it is not appropriate to compose about looking at something specific using ‘gaze’. The initial and concluding section of the Right’s poem sound fine—it should win.

SKKS XI: 1014

Sent to the house of a lady whom another man was visiting regularly.

われならぬ人に心をつくば山したにかよはむ道だにやなき

ware naranu
hito ni kokoro o
tsukubayama
shita ni kayowamu
michi dani ya naki
‘Tis not I, but
Another man your heart
Holds close—Tsukuba Mountain
Has secret paths to go back and forth,
But is there none for me?

Lord Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobu

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

KYS IX: 550

During the period when Izumi Shiku had accompanied Yasumasa to Tango, when there was a poetry match in the capital and Handmaid Koshikibu was selected as one of the poets, Lord Sadayori came to her chamber at the palace and went on at her, asking, ‘How are your poems coming along? Will you be sending them to your mother in Tango? Has your messenger not returned yet?’ and really seemed very unsettled about everything, so she composed this as a playful way of preventing him from going himself.

おほえ山いくのの道のとほければまだふみもみずあまのはしだて

oFoeyama
ikuno no miti no
toFokereba
mada Fumi mo miezu
ama no Fasidate
In Ōeyama
The path to Ikuno
Lies far away, so
I’ve not set foot upon it, or had a letter from
Ama-no-Hashidate!

Handmaid Koshikibu

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

MYS XIII: 3305

A question and response poem.

物不念 道行去毛 青山乎 振放見者 茵花 香未通女 桜花 盛未通女 汝乎曽母 吾丹依云 吾 毛曽 汝丹依云 荒山毛 人師依者 余所 留跡序云 汝心勤

物思はず 道行く行くも 青山を 振り放け見れば つつじ花 にほえ娘子 桜花 栄え娘子 汝れをぞも 我れに寄すといふ 我れをもぞ 汝れに寄すといふ 荒山も 人し寄すれば 寄そるとぞいふ 汝が心ゆめ

mono’omowazu
michi yukuyuku mo
aoyama o
furisakemireba
tsutsujibana
nioe otome
sakurabana
hae otome
nare o somo
ware ni yosu to iu
ware o mo
nare ni yosu to iu
arayama mo
hito shi yosureba
yosuru to zo iu
na ga kokoroyume
Unburdened by gloomy thoughts
Along the path I went on and on,
To the green-growing mountain,
When in the distance I saw
An azalea
Fair bright maiden,
A cherry blossom
Glorious maiden:
O, you, truly
Give your heart to me;
And I, too,
Will give my heart to you;
Upon the wild mountain
Folk give their hearts
To one another, so
Never will I abandon you!