When spring had arrived, I accompanied someone to the estate at Shiga, who had gone there due to a directional taboo, and seeing the haze over Meeting Hill…
わきてけふあふさか山のかすめるはたちおくれたる春やこゆらん
| wakite kyō ausakayama no kasumeru wa tachi’okuretaru haru ya koyuran | Particularly, today, The mount of Meeting Hill Is hazed: Is late arriving Spring a’crossing it, I wonder? |
When I made a pilgrimage to Hashiriyu Mountain.[i]
わたつ海のなかにむかひていづるゆのいづのお山とむべもいひけり
| watatsumi no naka ni mukaite izuru yu no izu no oyama to mube mo iikeri | To the broad sea sweep’s Heart turning, where Hot waters gush on The mount of Izu— Indeed they do![ii] |
641
[i] Hashiriyu Mountain (hashiriyusan 走湯山), which literally means the ‘mountain where hot water runs’, was a sobriquet applied to Izusan Shrine (Izusan jinja 伊豆山神社) in Izu province (modern Shizuoka). The shrine had a close relationship with the Kamakura shogunate, as Minamoto no Yoritomo 源頼朝 (1147-1199), the first shogun, prayed there for the revival of the clan’s fortunes.
[ii] Sanetomo builds his poem around a play on words which is impossible to replicate in translation, in that izu(ru) 出づ（る） (‘gush (out)’) echoes the place name Izu 伊豆, so a closer paraphrase of the poem’s meaning is ‘Hot water gushes out [izu] at the mountain called “gushes” [izu], which is no surprise, is it!’
Composed when I had met Dharma Eye Teinin and he had told me of the appearance of Nachi waterfall.[i]
みくまののなちのお山に引くしめのうちはへてのみおつる滝かな
| mikumano no nachi no oyama ni hiku shime no uchihaete nomi otsuru taki kana | In three-shrined Kumano, Upon the little mount of Nachi Hang sacred ropes Simply everywhere continuing The falling cataract![ii] |
639
[i] Nachi waterfall (nachi no taki那智滝) was located in Kii province (modern Wakayama), and is one of Japan’s most famous falls, being 133 metres (436 ft) high. One of Kumano’s three shrines, Kumano Nachi Taisha 熊野那智大社 lies at its foot.
[ii] See: On summer showers, for a folding screen when Shakua’s ninetieth birthday was celebrated. 小山田にひくしめなはのうちはへてくちやしぬらむ五月雨の比 oyamada ni / hiku shimenawa no / uchihaete / kuchi ya shinuramu / samidare no koro ‘Around the little mountain paddies / Hang sacred ropes / Everywhere continuing— / Might they rot away / During these days of summer showers.’ The Regent and Chancellor (Shinkokinshū III: 226)
Original
もみぢばのちりかふこまのあまたあるをいづれにのりてあきをとどめむ
| momijiba no chirikau koma no amata aru o izure ni norite aki o todomemu | Scarlet leaves Scatter becoming mounts So many, but Which one should I ride To hold the autumn here? |
48
Left
このはちるこのはのこまははやくともあきのかげにはいかがまさらむ
| ko no ha chiru ko no ha no koma wa hayaku tomo aki no kage ni wa ikaga masaramu | Leaves from the trees scatter, Leaves from the trees as a mount Are swift, yet Why is the autumn shade Still spectacular? |
49
Right
ゆくあきをとどむるこまのおそければかぜこそさきにまづさそひけれ
| yuku aki o todomuru koma no osokereba kaze koso saki ni mazu sasoikere | Departing autumn To hold here was the mount Late arriving, so The wind got in ahead and Made the first invitation! |
50
The summer moon above a shrine.[i]
ながむれば吹く風すずしみわの山杉の木ずゑをいづる月影
| nagamureba fuku kaze suzushi miwa no yama sugi no kozue o izuru tsukikage | While I was staring into space, How cool the gusting breeze, as Above Mount Miwa’s Cedar treetops Emerges the moon…[ii] |
634
[i] As with poem 631, the topic here, ‘The summer moon above the shrine’ (shatō kagetsu 社頭夏月) was generally used when the poet had a specific shrine in mind—in this case, Ōmiwa Shrine (Ōmiwa jinja 大神神社).
[ii] See: As part of a hundred-poem sequence. ながむれば衣手すゞしひさかたのあまのかはらの秋のゆふぐれ nagamureba / koromode suzushi / hisakata no / ama no kawara no / aki no yūgure ‘While I was staring into space, / How chill my sleeves became; / Upon eternal / Heaven’s riverbed / Comes an autumn evening.’ Princess Shokushi (Shinkokinshū IV: 321)
