Chinaberry
うぐひすの来の花とのみいふなればあふちどりをばすゑむともせず
| uguisu no ki no hana to nomi iu nareba au chidori oba suemu to mo sezu | The bush warbler Come simply for the blossom They do say, but On meeting a plover, then You’ll not make it roost there! |
5
This is another acrostic with the name of the plant, ōchi [auchi], contained within au chidori.
Composed when she had gone to attend the Enlightenment Lecture at the Unrin’in [Cloud Wood Temple] around the Fifth Month.
むらさきの雲の林をみわたせばのりにあふちの花さきにけり
| murasaki no kumo no hayashi o miwataseba nori ni ōchi no hana sakinikeri | When on violet Clouds throughout the woods Do I turn my gaze, then The dharma do I encounter in the chinaberry’s Flowering blossoms. |
Higo
保登等芸須 安不知能枝尓 由吉底居者 花波知良牟奈 珠登見流麻泥
ほととぎす あふちのえだに ゆきてゐば はなはちらむな たまとみるまで
| pototogisu aputi no eda ni yukite wiba pana pa tiramu na tama to miru made | If a cuckoo To the chinaberry’s branches Should come to rest, then Still would the blossoms scatter, for Gems do they but seem… |
Sent in reply on the 3rd day of the Fourth Month by Palace Attendant Ōtomo sukune Yakamochi from the capital at Kuni to his younger brother, Fumimochi.
珠尓奴久 安布知乎宅尓 宇恵多良婆 夜麻霍公鳥 可礼受許武可聞
たまにぬく あふちをいへに うゑたらば やまほととぎす かれずこむかも
| tama ni nuku aputi wo ipe ni uwetaraba yamapototogisu karezu komu kamo | Strung with gems A chinaberry at my house Should I plant, would A mountain cuckoo Constantly come visiting? |
This poem was sent on the 2nd day of the Fourth Month by Ōtomo sukune Fumimochi from his residence in Nara to his elder brother, Yakamochi.