Winter
Left
冬くれば紅葉ふりしく神無月佐保の山辺はむべもりぬらん
fuyu kureba momiji furishiku kaminazuki saho no yamabe wa mube morinuran When the winter comes, Scarlet leaves, falling and scattering In the Godless Month, Upon the slopes of Mount Saho, Indeed, are at their finest.
19
冬ごもりかれてみゆらん梅がえは今はた花の春はにほはん
fuyugomori karete miyuran ume ga e wa ima hata hana no haru wa niowan Sealed in winter, and All withered seeming, The plum tree’s branches, Now, for sure, the blossoms’ Spring will scent.
20
冬みれば水もまかせぬ小山田にいつすき返し種をまきけん
fuyu mireba mizu mo makasenu oyamada ni itsu sukikaeshi tane o makiken ‘Tis winter, I see, so There’s no water to draw for The little mountain paddies: O, when might I till them, and Sow my seeds, I wonder?
21
Right
時雨降る宿にすまへば冬の夜に錦とみゆる木木の花かな
shigure furu yado ni sumaeba fuyu no yo ni nishiki to miyuru kigi no hana kana Showers fall Upon the house where I do dwell, so Upon a winter’s night As brocade do seem The blossoming trees!
22
ゆふだすき神の社にかけつればしもし降るにもたのもしきかな
yūdasuki kami no yashiro ni kaketsureba shimo shi furu ni mo tanomashiki kana Sacred mulberry cords Around the God’s shrine Are hung, so Even amidst the frost fall, The future does seem bright!
23
白雲のふたへふりしくときは山うらはへとしはみどりなりけれ
shiragumo no futae furishiku tokiwa yama ura hae toshi wa midori narikere Clouds of white Lie scattered, twofold, upon The unchanging mountain: Stretching out behind, the year Is simply green.
24
Spring
Left
春のたつ霞の衣うらもなく年を経てこそ花の散りけれ
haru no tatsu kasumi no koromo ura mo naku toshi o hete koso hana no chirikere Spring does sew A robe of haze Without an underlay, The year passes by in A scattering of blossom
1
春の野の雪間をわけていつしかと君がためとぞ若菜摘みつる
haru no no no yuki ma o wakete itsushika to kimi ga tame to zo wakana tsumitsuru Across the springtime meadows Do I forge between the snows, Eagerly, so eagerly, For you, my Lord, Have I gathered fresh herbs!
2
春霞かすみこめたる山里はこほりとくともかげはみえじを
harugasumi kasumi kometaru yamazato wa kōri toku tomo kage wa mieji o The haze of spring Blurs all around A mountain retreat, Even were the ice to melt I could see no sign of it!
3
Right
梅枝にきゐる鶯年毎に花の匂ひをあかぬ声する
ume ga e ni ki’iru uguisu toshigoto ni hana no nioi o akanu koesuru Upon the plum tree’s branches Has come to rest the warbler; Every single year, that Of the blossoms’ scent He cannot get his fill he sings.
4
桜色に花さく雨はふりぬとも千しほぞそめてうつろふなそで
sakurairo ni hana saku ame wa furinu tomo chishio zo somete utsurou na sode Cherry-coloured Blossoms flower, as the rain Falls on, yet Dyed a thousand times Fade not, o, my sleeves!
5
青柳のいとはるばると緑なる行末までも思ひこそやれ
aoyagi no ito harubaru to midori naru yukusue made mo omoi koso yare The willow’s Branches dangle lengthily So green Right to the very end Will I fondly think of you.
6
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Empress Dowager during the reign of the Kanpyō emperor.
水の面にあやをりみだる春雨や山のみどりをなべて染むらん
mizu no omo ni ayaori midaru harusame ya yama no midori o nabete somuran Upon the water’s surface A confusing pattern paints The rain of spring— Will it now the mountains All dye with green, I wonder?
Ōchikōchi no Mitsune
冬草と見えし春野の小笹原弥生の雨に深緑なる
fuyu kusa to
mieshi haruno no
ozasawara
yayoi no ame ni
fukamidori naru
A winter plant
They did appear in the fields in springtime:
The groves of young broad-leaved bamboo
By the Third Month’s rains
Turned the darkest green.
Fujiwara no Nakazane
藤原仲実
The Kamo Festival (加茂祭)
宮人のかざしてかへるあふひ草むらさきのにてみどりなるかな
miyabito no
kazashite kaeru
aoigusa
muraskino nite
midori naru kana
The courtiers
Return, heads garlanded with
Hollyhocks;
The violet fields
All turned to green!
Kanemasa
When the same former Emperor [Koichijō] had gone to reside with the Takamatsu Consort, and his visits to her had become intermittent, she composed this on hearing the wind blowing strongly through the pines.
松風は色や緑にふきつらむ物おもふ人の身にぞ志みぬる
matukaze Fa
iro ya midori ni
Fukituramu
mono’omoFu Fito no
mi ni zo siminuru
Does the wind through the pines
Take on a hue of green
As it blows?
That one so sunk in gloomy thought
It so deeply dyes…
The Horikawa Consort 堀川女御
[Fujiwara no Nobuko/Enshi 藤原延子 (985-1019)
Heat Haze
雲雀あがる如月の日に遊ぶ糸に緑の空もまがひ見えけり
hibari agaru
kisaragi no hi ni
asobu ito ni
midori no sora mo
magaimiekeri
The skylark soars
Toward the Second Month’s sun:
Heat haze does
The azure skies
Seem to distort.
Nakazane
'Simply moving and elegant'