Tag Archives: sakurabana

Teiji-in uta’awase 19

Left

さくらばなちりぬるかぜのなごりにはみづなきそらになみぞたちける

sakurabana
chirinuru kaze no
nagori ni wa
mizu naki sora ni
nami zo tachikeru
The cherry blossom
Scattering wind as
A keepsake in
The waterless skies
Has roused the waves.

Tsurayuki
37

Right

みなそこにはるやくるらんみよしののよしののかはにかはづなくなり

minasoko ni
haru ya kururan
miyoshino no
yoshino no kawa ni
kawazu nakunari
To the water’s depths
Has the spring arrived, it seems, for
In fair Yoshino
From the Yoshino River
The frogs are singing.

Tsurayuki
38

The Right won. His Majesty remarked, ‘There is a Royal poem here, so how could it lose?’

Teiji-in uta’awase 12

Left (Tie)

うつつにはさらにもいはじさくらばなゆめにもちるとみえばうからむ

utsutsu ni wa
sara ni mo iwaji
sakurabana
yume ni mo chiru to
mieba ukaramu
In the waking world
There is nothing more I might say,
O, cherry blossom!
You scattering through my dreams—
How I would hate to see it!

Mitsune
23

Right

はなのいろをうつしとどめよかがみやまはるよりのちにかげやみゆると

hana no iro o
utsushi to tomeyo
kagamiyama
haru yori nochi ni
kage ya miyuru to
The blossoms’ hues’
Reflection: hold it,
Mirror Mountain!
That after the springtime’s gone
I might see their shades.

Korenori
24[i]


[i] This poem is included in Shūishū (I: 73), attributed to Korenori, with the headnote, ‘From Former Emperor Uda’s Poetry Contest.’

Teiji-in uta’awase 11

Ten Poems on the Third Month

Left (Tie)

みてかへるこころあかねばさくらばなさけるあたりにやどやからまし

mitekaeru
kokoro akaneba
sakurabana
sakeru atari ni
yado ya karamashi
Seeing you and returning home
Leaves my heart unsated,
O, cherry blossom!
In the place where you do bloom is
Where I would borrow lodging…

Okikaze
21

Right

しののめにおきてみつればさくらばなまだよをこめてちりにけるかな

shinonome ni
okite mitsureba
sakurabana
mada yo o komete
chirinikeru kana
At the edge of dawn,
When I arise to gaze upon
The cherry blossoms
Within the night’s span
Have they scattered!

Yorimoto
22

The Right’s poem was just as His Majesty said: ‘It expresses affection for the blossom through gazing and gazing upon them.’ When it was suggested to him that the work produced by Lord Sadakata and Lord Noboru conveyed the same overall impression, he took his time to consider the matter, then said, ‘In that case,’ and made the round a tie.

Teiji-in uta’awase 08

Left (Tie)

さくらばないかでかひとのをりてみぬのちこそまさるいろもいでこめ

sakurabana
ikadeka hito no
orite minu
nochi koso masaru
iro mo idekome
O, cherry blossom!
Why would people
Pick you—can not they see that
‘Tis later that your best
Hues will emerge?

Mitsune

15

Right

うたたねのゆめにやあるらむさくらばなはかなくみてぞやみぬべらなる

utatane no
yume ni ya aruramu
sakurabana
hakanaku mite zo
yaminuberanaru
Dozing fitfully
In my dreams might there be
Cherry blossom?
A brief glimpse, that
Can be held right here…

Mitsune

16

Teiji-in uta’awase 06

Left (Win)

はるかぜのふかぬよにだにあらませばこころのどかにはなはみてまし

harukaze no
fukanu yo ni dani
aramaseba
kokoro nodoka ni
hana wa mitemashi
The spring breezes
Not blowing of an evening—if only
That were so, then
With peace in my heart
I would view the blossom

His Majesty

11

Right

ちりぬともありとたのまむさくらばなはるはすぎぬとわれにきかすな

chirinu tomo
ari to tanomamu
sakurabana
haru wa suginu to
ware ni kikasu na
You have fallen, yet
That you are here, I will believe,
O, cherry blossom!
That spring is past—
Don’t tell me that!

12

‘The Left’s poem is my own—it really should lose, shouldn’t it?’

Teiji-in uta’awase 04

Left

いそのかみふるのやまべのさくらばなこぞみしはなのいろやのこれる

isonokami
furu no yamabe no
sakurabana
kozo mishi hana no
iro ya nokoreru
In Isonokami
At Furu, on the mountainside is
Cherry blossom—
The flowers I did see last year:
Are their hues lingering on?

Suekata[i]
7

Right

ほどもなくちりなむものをさくらばなここらひささもまたせつるかな

hodo mo naku
chirinamu mono o
sakurabana
kokora hisasa mo
matasetsuru kana
Before a moment’s gone
Seem to scatter
The cherry blossoms, after
Everyone forever
Having made to wait!

Ise
8

The Left only shows affection for the past year, and lacks a conception of the current one—a loss.


[i] Suekata 季方.The identity of this poet is unclear. Hagitani (1963, 174) suggests he could have been the son of any one of a number of nobles: Prince Koga 興我王 (dates unknown); Fujiwara no Toshiyuki 藤原敏行 (?-901/07); Fujiwara no Sugane 藤原菅根 (856-908); or the younger brother of Taira no Atsuyuki 平篤行 (?-910).