Tag Archives: nobe

Tōin senzai awase 09

Left – Rani

むしのねはまだおるとしもきこえぬをからにしきにもみゆる物かな 

mushi no ne wa
mada oru to shimo
kikoenu o
karanishiki ni mo
miyuru mono kana
The insects’ songs
Yet weave and even though
I hear them not
As Cathay brocade
Does all appear!

15a

むしのねはまだおるとしもきこえぬをからにしきにもみゆるのべかな

mushi no ne wa
mada oru to shimo
kikoenu o
karanishiki ni mo
miyuru nobe kana
The insects’ songs
Yet weave and even though
I hear them not
As Cathay brocade
Do the meadows appear!

15b

Right

きる人をのべやしるらんふぢばかまいたづらにのみつゆのおきつつ

kiru hito o
nobe ya shiruran
fujibakama
itazura ni nomi
tsuyu no okitsutsu
Folk wearing them
Do the meadows know, perhaps?
For upon these violet trousers
In mischief alone
Does the dew keep falling!

16

Rani is a generic term for ‘orchid’ but in waka it was usually equated with eupatorium (a type of aster), which was also called fujibakama, the literal meaning of which was ‘wisteria [coloured] trousers’.

Tōin senzai awase 06

Left — Maidenflowers

うつろへるところありともをみなへしのべのふるさとわすれざらなむ

utsuroeru
tokoro ari tomo
ominaeshi
nobe no furusato
wasurezaranamu
Faded
Spots they have, yet,
Maidenflowers
At an old estate among the fields
Never will I forget!

7

Right

あきののにあだなのみたつをみなへし花さかぬまはしる人ぞなき

aki no no ni
adana nomi tatsu
ominaeshi
hana sakanu ma wa
shiru hito zo naki
In the autumn plains
Faithless rumours, alone, arise
Of my maidenflower—
But while she is not in bloom,
There’s no one knows, at all!

8

Yasuakira shinnō tachihaki no jin uta’awase 03

Maidenflowers

Left

あきかぜはふかずもあらなむをみなへししるもしらぬもおもふこころは

akikaze wa
fukazu mo aranamu
ominaeshi
shiru mo shiranu mo
omou kokoro wa
Even should the autumn breeze
Fail to blow,
O, maidenflower, still
Those who know you and know you not,
Would hold you in their hearts…

Taira no Yasū
5

Right (Win)

をみなへしおひたるのべにふきかかるあきののかぜにみをやそへまし

ominaeshi
oitaru nobe ni
fukikakaru
aki no nokaze ni
mi o ya soemashi
Maidenflowers
Growing in the meadows
Brushed by the blowing
Autumn wind o’er the fields—
O, how I wish it trailed over me, too…

Tomo no Tadanori
(or in some texts Toshizane)
6

Yasuakira shinnō tachihaki no jin uta’awase 01

The bodyguards of the Former Former Crown Prince composed on autumn matters and matched them.

Bush Clover

Left (Win)

つゆむすぶあきはきにけりむべこそはうちとけぬねにむしのなきけれ

tsuyu musubu
akihaginikeri
mube koso wa
uchitokenu ni
mushi no nakikere
All tangled with dewdrops
The autumn bush-clover has ta’en on scarlet hues
Truly, indeed,
There’s no relaxing, while
The insects cry.

Sakanoue no Kuzusuke
1

Right

のべごとにこころをやらむあきはぎのさくをりかねてちらさせじとて

nobe goto ni
kokoro o yaramu
akihakgi no
saku orikanete
chirasaseji tote
To every single meadow
Is my heart a’drawn—
The autumn bush-clover
Blooms and I cannot pluck it,
Thinking not to make it scatter…

Tomo no Toshizane
2