いろふかくをしみぞとむるきくの花よをへてみよとしもはおかなむ
iro fukaku
oshimi zo tomuru
kiku no hana
yo o hete miyo to
shimo wa okanamu | Their hues as deep
As my lingering regrets,
‘The chrysanthemum blooms
Behold through the passing night!’
For the frosts will fall. |
[Fujiwara no] Motokata
17
かをとめてをしむばかりぞきくのはなしももきえずはいろもみえじを
ka o tomete
oshimu bakari zo
kiku no hana
shimo mo kiezu wa
iro mo mieji o | Their lingering scent
I simply do regret, for from
The chrysanthemum blooms
The frosts will not vanish away and
Their hues will fade from sight. |
[Minamoto no] Moro’akira
18
きくのはなをりてはとしもへしものをおきながらこそ色まさりけれ
kiku no hana
orite wa toshi mo
heshi mono o
okinagara koso
iro masarikere | Chrysanthemum blooms
Picked, means the year
Has passed by, but
Even so, still
Their hues are most fine, indeed! |
Kakesuke[1]
7
いろもかもともににほへるきくのはななにしもうちにとけてみゆらん
iro mo ka mo
tomo ni nioeru
kiku no hana
nani shi mo uchi ni
tokete miyuran | Hue and scent, too,
Both bring a glow
To the chrysanthemum blooms—
Somehow, secretly,
Do they seem at ease. |
[Fujiwara no] Kanemochi
8
[1] Possibly Fujiwara no Kanesuke 藤原兼輔
Round Six
Left (Win)
梅の花をりてかざせば二月の雪は衣におつるなりけり
ume no hana
orite kazaseba
kisaragi no
yuki wa koromo ni
otsuru narikeri | When plum blossom
I pluck and wear within my hair,
Second Month
Snows upon my robe
Do fall! |
Masashige
11
Right
時ならぬ卯花ともやおもはましかきねの梅のかをらざりせば
toki naranu
u no hana tomo ya
omowamashi
kakine no ume no
ka orazariseba | Unseasonal
Deutzia blooms might
I think them?
Did the plum by my lattice fence
Fail to scent the air… |
Atsuyori
12
The Left is not lacking in conception.
Round Five
Left (Tie)
にほふ香はいづれの梅もかはらねど色なる花ぞわきて身にしむ
niou ka wa
izure no ume mo
kawaranedo \
iro naru hana zo
wakite mi ni shimu | The fragrant scent of
Any plum
Varies not, yet
Those with scarlet hues
Especially pierce my breast! |
Iemoto
9
Right
梅の花かをばたもとにしむれども色をばえこそうつさざりけれ
ume no hana
ka oba tamoto ni
shimuredomo
iro oba e koso
utsusazarikeri | The plum blossoms’
Scent into my sleeves
Has sunk, yet
Their hues, of all things,
Have shifted not! |
Kūnin
10
I wish I could say that the Left is superior, but that is not the case, so a tie.
Round Four
Left (Win)
春の夜はいこそねられねねやちかき梅のにほひにおどろかれつつ
haru no yo wa
i koso nerarene
neya chikaki
ume no nioi ni
odorokaretsutsu | On a night in springtime
I cannot sleep at all, for
Close by my bedchamber
The scent of plum
Ever wakes me from my slumber… |
Norimori
7
Right
さ夜ふかみ旅ねの床にかをらずは梅さく宿といかでしらまし
sayo fukami
tabine no toko ni
ka orazu wa
ume saku yado to
ikade shiramashi | Deep within brief night
In a traveller’s bed
No scent reaches me, yet
That plum blooms at this dwelling—
How is it I might know? |
Kenshō
8
The Left is particularly evocative. The Right is from an old poetry match.
Autumn
りんだうも名のみなりけり秋の野の千草の花のかにはおとれり
rindō mo
na nomi narikeri
aki no no no
chigusa no hana no
ka ni wa otoreri | The gentian, too,
Has its name, alone;
In the autumn meadows
Next to a thousand grasses blossoms
Its scent is lesser far. |
Minamoto no Shitagō
Created with Soan.
After I had had various people compose on the scent of plum carried on the breeze.
梅がかをゆめの枕にさそひきてさむるまちける春の山風
ume ga ka o
yume no makura ni
sasoikite
samuru machikeru
haru no yamakaze | The scent of plum
To my pillow, where I lay dreaming
Was beckoned—
Waiting ‘til I awakened did
The mountain breeze in springtime. |
Created with Soan.
Composed on plum blossom.
わが袖に香をだにのこせ梅花あかで散りぬるわすれがたみに
wa ga sode ni
ka o dani nokose
ume no hana
akade chirinuru
wasuregatami ni | Upon my sleeves
Your scent, at least, leave behind,
O, plum blossom!
That, unsated, when you have scattered
I’ll have a keepsake to forget you not… |
Created with Soan.
In reply.
春雨にいかにぞ梅やにほふ覧わが見る枝は色もかはらず
Farusame ni
ika ni zo mume ya
niFoFuran
wa ga miru eda Fa
iro mo kaFarazu | n such spring rain
However might the plum
Let out its lustrous scent?
The branches before my eyes
Have yet to change their hues. |
Ki no Haseyo
In a fifty-poem sequence…
たが袖のにほひをかりて梅の花人のとがむる香にはさくらん
ta ga sode no
nioi o karite
ume no hana
hito no togamuru
ka ni wa sakuran | From whose sleeves
Have you borrowed the scent
Of plum blossom—
Will a lady be called out
By its fragrance blooming forth? |
Prince Munetaka (1242-1274)
宗尊親王
'Simply moving and elegant'
