Lingering snow.
春きては花とか見えんおのづから朽木の杣にふれる白雪
| haru kite wa hana to ka mien onozukara kuchigi no soma ni fureru shirayuki | When spring does come As blossom does it seem? Intermittently Upon Timber Mountain’s bare branches Is there fallen snow, so white. |
Haze
み冬つぎ春しきぬれば青柳のかづらき山に霞たなびく
| mifuyu tsugi haru shikinureba aoyagi no kazuragiyama ni kasumi tanabiku | After deep winter’s passing Spring has come, so Across willow-green Kazuragi Mountain The haze does trail. |
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. |
2
[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).
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
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
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
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’.
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
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… |
12