Tag Archives: rapids

Teiji’in tenjōbito uta’awase 02

Left

あかずしてわかれにしかばあまのがはこひしきせのみおもほゆるかな

akazushite
wakarenishikaba
ama no gawa
koishiki se nomi
omohoyuru kana
Unsatisfied
Have they parted, so
At the River of Heaven’s
Rapids, their loving meeting alone
Does fill their thoughts!

3

Right (Win)

たなばたのまれにあふよのしののめのみえぬばかりぞきりはふらまし

tanabata no
mare ni au yo no
shinonome no
mienu bakari zo
kiri wa furamashi
The Weaver Maid
Has but a rare night’s meeting, so
At the edge of dawn
That it simply not be seen
She wishes for the fog to fall.

4

Daikōtaigōgū daijin kiyosuke-ason ke uta’awase 21

Round Twenty-One

Left (Win)

小倉山木木のもみぢのくれなゐはみねの嵐のおろすなりけり

ogurayama
kigi no momiji no
kurenai wa
mine no arashi no
orosu narikeri
On gloomy Mount Ogura
The leaves upon the trees,
So scarlet,
By the storm wind from the peak
Are tossed down.

Lord Kiyosuke
41

Right

ふかくあさきもみぢばながるあすか河ふちせは色にあらはれにけり

fukaku asaki
momijiba nagaru
asukagawa
fuchise wa iro ni
arawarenikeri
Across both depths and shallows
Flow the scarlet leaves
On the Asuka river,
Among the rapids and the pools
Have they appeared.

Shun’e
42

Neither of these is bad. The Right violates the five syllable pattern; the Left has no faults.

SKKS VI: 688

Composed on the conception of hawking.

かりくらしかたののましば折敷きてよどのかはせの月をみるかな

karikurashi
katano no mashiba
orishikite
yodo no kawase no
tsuki o miru kana
While hunting night has fallen, so
In Katano brushwood
I’ll break and spread around, then
In the Yodo’s rapids
I’ll gaze upon the moon!

Kinhira, Middle Captain of the Inner Palace Guards, Left Division

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

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…

12

Horikawa-in enjo awase 20

あふせをば流れてとこそたのめしかいかにとだにも音なしのたき

ause oba
nagarete to koso
tanomeshi ka
ika ni to dani mo
otonashi no taki
Our meeting, like the rapids,
Will flow on—can I
Trust in that?
However much they seem
The silenced cataract of Otonashi…

Lady Ki
39

In reply.

すみわぶる名をながさじとつつむまにしばしよどむぞ音なしの滝

sumiwaburu
na no nagasaji to
tsutsumu ma ni
shibashi yodomu zo
otonashi no taki
Living on in sorrow and
Letting no word of it flow out—
Thus wrapped up
Briefly stilled has been
The cataract of Otonashi.

Supernumerary Minor Captain Morotoki
40

Horikawa-in enjo awase 8

数ならで世に住江のみをつくしいつを待つともなき身なりけり

kazu narade
yo ni sumie no
mi o tsukushi
itsu o matsu tomo
nakimi narikeri
Countless are
The generations spent at Sumie, with
The channel buoys: exhausted
What should I await but
To be dead.

Master of the Left Capital Office Toshiyori
15

In reply

ながれてもあふせは絶えじ住江の身をつくしてもくちはててなん

nagaretemo
ause wa taeji
sumie no
mi o tsukushitemo
kuchihatetenan
Flowing on, yet
The rapids’ meetings will not cease;
At Sumie with
The channel buoys, you may be exhausted, but
Would you rot away…

Kazusa, in service to the Empress
16

A picture of channel markers in the sea.
Channel buoys. Image by Claudia Thorn from Pixabay

Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase 34

あきのむしなどわびしげにこゑのするたのめしかげに露やもりくる

aki no mushi
nado wabishige ni
koe no suru
tanomeshi kage ni
tsuyu ya morikuru
Why do the autumn insects
And more let out plaintive
Cries;
Is your trustworthy face
Drenched in dew?

67

もみぢばのながれてゆけば山がはのあさきせだにもあきはふかみぬ

momijiba no
nagareteyukeba
yamagawa no
asaki se dani mo
aki wa fukaminu
The scarlet leaves
Have come flowing, so
The mountain stream’s
Shallow rapids—even they
Are deep in autumn!

68