On a folding screen for the celebrations of the birthday of Her Majesty, the Empress in Shōhei 4.[1]
色かへぬ松と竹とのすゑの世をいづれひさしと君のみぞ見む
iro kaFenu matu to take no suwe no yo wo idure hisasi to kimi nomi zo mimu
Ever unchanging hues Have the pine and bamboo— In the ages to come Which is more eternal? My Lady, alone, will see!
The Handmaid to the Ise Virgin
Created with Soan.
[1] The empress in question was Fujiwara no Onshi (Yasuko) 藤原穏子 (885-954), the consort of Emperor Daigo. The birthday being marked was her fiftieth, with the celebrations taking place on the 26th day of the Third Month, Shōhei 承平 4 [12.5.934].
When he had gone to Michinoku as Governor, on seeing that one of the pines at Takekuma had withered, had a sapling planted to replace it; on returning to the same province later, after finishing his posting, he saw the tree he had planted once more.
栽ゑし時契りやしけんたけくまの松をふたたびあひみつるかな
uwesi toki tigiri ya siken takekuma no matu wo Futatabi aFimituru kana
When I planted you, Did I make a vow, perhaps? That Takekuma’s Pine once more I would encounter!’
Composed at the Kameyama mansion, in the Eighth Month, Kenji 2 [September 1276], when the first topic announced was ‘the colour of pines floating on a pond’.
池水に松のちとせをうつしても君にふたたびあふがうれしさ
ikemizu ni matsu no chitose o utsushitemo kimi ni futatabi au ga ureshiki
In the pond waters The pine’s thousand years Are reflected, yet Once more, my Lord, To meet you brings me joy!
