Tag Archives: mountain

Kinkai wakashū 2

Poems on the beginning of spring

九重の雲ゐに春ぞ立ちぬらしおほうちやまに霞たなびく

kokonoe no
kumoi ni haru zo
tachinurashi
ōuchiyama ni
kasumi tanabiku
In ninefold layers of
Cloud does springtime
Seem to rise;
Across Ōuchi Mountain[i]
Trails haze.

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

[i] Ōuchi Mountain (ōuchiyama 大内山) lies to the north of the Ninnaji 仁和寺 temple in the north-west of Kyoto, and was the site of a detached palace belonging to Emperor Uda 宇多 (866-931; r. 887-897).

Teiji-in uta’awase 39

Left

たまくしげ二上山のほととぎす今ぞあけくれなきわたるなる

tamakushige
futakamiyama no
hototogisu
ima zo akekure
nakiwataru naru
On the jewelled comb of
Futakami Mountain
The cuckoos
Now, indeed, both night and day
Do fill with their constant song.

78

Right

時鳥のちのさ月もありとてやながくうづきをすぐしはてつる

hototogisu
nochi no satsuki mo
ari tote ya
nagaku uzuki o
sugushihatetsuru
O, cuckoo!
A further Fifth Month
There is, so
Leisurely, the Fourth Month
Have you completely spent?

79

Teiji-in uta’awase 23

Left (Tie)

むらさきにあふみづなれやかきつばたそこのいろさへかはらざるらむ

murasaki ni
au mizu nare ya
kakitsubata
soko no iro sae
kawararuramu
Violet
Suits the water here!
Irises
The hues beneath
Seem to have changed.

Mitsune
45

Right

ほととぎすこゑのみするはふくかぜのおとはのやまになけばなりけり

hototogisu
koe nomi suru wa
fuku kaze no
otowa no yama ni
nakeba narikeri
A cuckoo’s
Call alone upon
The gusting wind;
Wingbeats sound on
Otowa Mountain
Where he does sing.

46

Teiji-in uta’awase 18

Left (Tie)

ふくかぜにとまりもあへずちるときはやへやまぶきのはなもかひなし

fuku kaze ni
tomari mo aezu
chiru toki wa
yaeyamabuki no
hana mo kainashi
The gusting wind
Does never cease, so
Scattering time has come upon
The eightfold kerria
Blooms—so little good they are!

Okikaze
35

Right

をしめどもたちもとまらずゆくはるをなこしのやまのせきもとめなむ

oshimedomo
tachi mo tomarazu
yuku haru o
nakoshi no yama no
seki mo tomenamu
How I regret it, yet
Cannot halt the departure of
Parting spring—
O, that Nakoshi Mountain’s
Barrier would hold it!

Tsurayuki
36

Teiji-in uta’awase 13

Left (Win)

めにみえでかぜはふけどもあをやぎのなびくかたにぞはなはちりける

me ni miede
kaze wa fukedomo
aoyagi no
nabiku kata ni zo
hana chirikeru
Unseen by my eyes
The wind does blow, yet
The green willow
Bends toward
The scattering blossom.

Mitsune
25

Right

あしひきのやまぶきのはなさきにけりゐでのかはづはいまやなくらむ

ashihiki no
yamabuki no hana
sakinikeri
ide no kawazu wa
ima ya nakuramu
Leg-wearying
Mountain kerria flowers
Have bloomed;
In Ide will the frogs
Now be a’singing?

Okikaze
26[i]

‘The Right is old-fashioned,’ and so it lost.


[i] Despite Uda’s negative opinion of it, this poem is included in Shinkokinshū (II: 162), attributed to Okikaze, with the headnote, ‘A poem from the Poetry Contest held by Former Emperor Uda in Engi 13’.

Hon’in sadaijin-ke uta’awase 07

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

Hon’in sadaijin-ke uta’awase 06

Bush clover

Left

しかのこゑたかさごやまのはぎなればをりてこしよりねをやなくらん

shika no koe
takasagoyama no
hagi nareba
oritekoshi yori
ne o ya nakuran
A stag’s cry
On Takasago Mountain, where
Lies bush clover:
Might someone have come and picked her
That he lets out such cries?

11

Right

あきはぎの花のながるるかはのせにしがらみかくるしかのねもせぬ

akihagi no
hana no nagaruru
kawa no se ni
shigarami kakuru
shika no ne mo senu
Autumn bush clover
Blooms flow down
The river rapids and
Hang upon the lattice weir, and
The stag cries not at all…

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