桜花にほふものから露けきはこのめも物を思ふなるべし
| sakurabana nioFu mono kara tuyukeki Fa konome mo mono wo omoFu narubesi | The cherry blossoms Shine, yet Dew-drenched are The buds—eyes filled with gloomy Thoughts. |
Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobu
Tag Archives: sakurabana
SIS XX: 1275
SIS XX: 1274
In the spring of the year following his daughter’s death, when the cherry blossom was in full bloom, he was gazing on the blossom at his house and, with others, composed on the topic of ‘expressing a little of one’s feelings’.
さくら花のどけかりけりなき人をこふる涙ぞまづはおちける
| sakurabana nodokekarikeri naki Fito wo koFuru namida zo madu Fa otikeru | The cherry blossom Seem so at peace, but For her who’s gone My loving tears Will be the first to scatter. |
The Onomiya Grand Minister
GYS IX: 1250
When the Ise Virgin Junior Consort had yet to leave, he attached this to some cherry blossom and sent it to her.
吹く風の音にききつつさくら花めには見えずも過ぐる春かな
| fuku kaze no oto ni kikitsutsu sakurabana me ni wa miezu mo suguru haru kana | In the gusting wind’s Whispers will I ever hear My cherry blossom, though My eyes behold her not As spring passes by… |
Composed by the Tenryaku Emperor
Tsurayuki uta’awase 04
Love
Left
わが恋は春のなかばになりにけり花のにほひに影やみゆると
| wa ga koi wa haru no nakaba ni narinikeri hana no nioi ni kage ya miyuru to | My love In the heart of spring Has come about: In the glow of blossom Can I see her face… |
7
Right
春はなほくるしかりけりさくら花いろのつきつつ恋のまされば
| haru wa nao kurushikarikeri sakurabana iro no tsukitsutsu koi no masareba | Spring is ever Full of pain: The cherry blossoms’ Hues exhausted, as My love is at its strongest… |
8
Tsurayuki uta’awase 03
The middle of spring.[i]
Left
まづ立ちて過ぎにし春はかひもなしとまるは花ものどけからなむ
| mazu tachite suginishi haru wa kai mo nashi tomaru wa hana mo nodokekaranamu | For it first to have arisen and Then departed—to such a spring There is no point; If it stayed then the blossom, too, Might linger on. |
5
Right
さくら花にほふさかりをみるときは心も春のなかにこそいれ
| sakurabana niou sakari o miru toki wa kokoro mo haru no naka ni koso ire | Cherry blossom: When in glowing profusion I see, then My soul, too, spring’s Heart does enter! |
6
[i] Naka no haru 仲の春
Kinkai wakashū 495
Kyōgoku no miyasudokoro uta’awase 13
Original
ちりまがふかすがのやまのさくらばなひかりにきえぬゆきと見えつつ
| chirimagau kasuga no yama no sakurabana hikari ni kienu yuki to mietsutsu | Tangledly scattering on The mount of Kasuga are The cherry blossoms—as Not fading with the sunlight Does this snow, it ever seems… |
37
Left
さくらばななにかはきえむしろたへのいろばかりこそゆきににるらめ
| sakurabana nanika wa kienu shirotae no iro bakari koso yuki ni niruramu | Cherry blossoms— Why should they fade away? White as mulberry cloth, In their hue alone Do they resemble snow, I’d say! |
38
Right (Win)
やまざくらゆきにまがひてちりくれどきえぬばかりぞしるしなりける
| yamazakura yuki ni magaite chirikuredo kienu bakari zo shirushi narikeru | Mountain cherry blossoms Tangle with the snowflakes, and Come a’scattering, yet ‘Tis only that they fade not that’s The sign of what they are! |
39
Kyōgoku no miyasudokoro uta’awase 10
Original
さくらばなゆきとふるめりみかさやまいざたちよらむなにかくるやと
| sakurabana yukitourumeri mikasayama iza tachiyoramu nani kakuru ya to | The cherry blossom Seems to pass as falling snow On Mikasa Mountain— Say, let’s shelter ‘neath umbrellas there, Whether they’ll conceal us or not…[1] |
Mitsune
28
Left (Tie)
やまのなにたちしもよらじさくらばなゆきとふるともいろにぬれめや
| yama no na ni tachishi mo yoraji sakurabana yukitouru to mo iro ni nureme ya | Based on the mountain’s name, I would take no shelter from The cherry blossoms, for Even should they pass as falling snow Would their hues wet my sleeves? |
29
Right
かくるれどやまずゆきこそふりかかれみかさのやまははなやもるらん
| kakururedo yamazu yuki koso furikakare mikasa no yama wa hana ya moruran | I have concealed myself, yet Incessantly those snows Do fall; From Mikasa Mountain, will The blossom drip, I wonder? |
30
[1] This poem occurs in Mitsune-shū (328) with the same headnote as that for poem 22 (above). This is a somewhat facetious poem in that Mitsune is punning on the name of the mountain, Mikasa, which could be read to mean ‘honoured umbrella’. Both of the ladies composing this round pick up on his wordplay, with the author of (29) saying that there’s no need to take shelter as blossom will not leave a stain, as snow would, and the author of (30) wondering rhetorically if the blossom would drip from an umbrella as melting snow would.
Kyōgoku no miyasudokoro uta’awase 05
Original
ふるさとにさくとわびつるさくらばなことしぞきみに見えぬべらなる
| furusato ni saku to wabitsuru sakurabana kotoshi zo kimi ni mienuberanaru | In the ancient capital In lonely sadness bloom The cherry blossoms, that This year, my Lady Has been able to behold. [1] |
13
Left
ふるさととおもひなわびそさくらばなほかのいろにもおとらざりけり
| furusato to omoi na wabi so sakurabana hoka no iro ni mo otorazarikeri | That ‘tis an ancient place Think not so sadly! For the cherry blossoms To any other hues Are not inferior at all! |
14
Right (Win)
見そめずもあらましものをふるさとのはなにこころのうつりぬるかな
| misomezu mo aramashi mono o furusato no hana ni kokoro no utsurinuru kana | They would not first catch they eye One would have thought, but The ancient capital’s Blossoms in the heart Do linger! [2] |
15
[1] SIS XVI: 1045 Headnote ‘Among the many poems presented by provincial officials, when the Kyōgoku Lady of the Bedchamber visited Kasuga.’
[2] Variants of this poem attributed to Ise, appear in both Ise-shū みそめずもあらましものをからころもたつなのみしてきるよなきかな misomezu mo / aramashi mono o / karakoromo / tatsu na nomi shite / kiru yo naki kana ‘It would not first catch the eye / One would have thought, but / A Cathay robe / Is singly remarkable in name / Though it is worn on nights not a one!’(230) and Shokugoshūishū みそめずはあらましものを山ふかみ花に心のとまりぬるかな misomezu wa / aramashi mono o / yama fukami / hana ni kokoro no / tomarinuru kana ‘They would not first catch the eye / One would have thought, but / Deep within the mountains / The blossoms in the heart / Have halted!’(II: 99)