Composed as a spring poem, when he presented poems to the Poetry Office.
葛城やたかまの桜さきにけりたつたのおくにかかる白雲
| kazuragi ya takama no sakura sakinikeri tatsuta no oku ni kakaru shirakumo | In Kazuragi, On Takama peak the cherry Has bloomed! To the heart of Tatsuta Cling clouds of white…[1] |
Jakuren
[1] An allusive variation on KKS I: 59 and Wakan rōeishū II: 409/SKKS XI: 990.
Composed as a poem on blossom, when he held a poetry match.
をはつせの花のさかりをみわたせばかすみにまがふみねのしら雲
| woFatuse no Fana no sakari wo miwataseba kasumi ni magaFu ne no sirakumo | When at Hatsuse Across the blossoms’ profusion I cast my gaze Entangled in haze are The clouds of white upon the peak. |
Senior Assistant Governor-General of Dazai, Shige’ie
Composed and sent to Master of the Right Capital Office Akisuke when he was Governor of Ōmi, to remark on his travelling to a distant district.
おもひかねそなたの空をながむればただ山のはにかかるしら雲
| omoFikane sonata no sora wo nagamureba tada yama no Fa ni kakaru sirakumo | Unbearable is my heart’s pain— Upon the distant skies I gaze, but Simply upon the mountains’ edge Cling clouds of white.[i] |
The Former Chancellor and Palace Minister
[i] An allusive variation on Rinkashū 205.
A place famed for cherry blossom.
音にきくよしののさくら咲きにけり山のふもとにかかる白雲
| oto ni kiku yoshino no sakura sakinikeri yama no fumoto ni kakaru shirakumo | The famed Yoshino cherries Have bloomed; Around the mountains’ feet Cling clouds of white. |
Left
夏夜のまだもねなくにあけぬれば昨日今日ともおもひまどひぬ
| natsu no yo no mada mo nenaku ni akenureba kinō kyō tomo omoimadoinu | On a summer night, Still sleep has eluded me, When dawn breaks— Is it yet yesterday, or today, I wonder in confusion. |
74
Right
うのはなのさけるかきねは白雲のおりゐるとこそあやまたれけれ
| u no hana no sakeru kakine wa shirakumo no ori’iru to koso ayamatarekere | Deutzia flowers Are blooming by the brushwood fence— Clouds of white Have descended there, I think— How strange… |
75
Left
さかざらむものならなくにさくらばなおもかげにのみまだきみゆらむ
| sakazaramu mono naranaku ni sakurabana nao mo kage ni nomi madaki miyuramu | Wishing not to bloom Will not remain The cherry blossom, but Even so their shape alone Swiftly, I would wish to see! |
Mitsune
3
Right
やまざくらさきぬるときはつねよりもみねのしらくもたちまさりけり
| yamazakura sakinuru toki wa tsune yori mo mine no shirakumo tachimasarikeri | When the mountain cherry Has bloomed, Earlier than usual Clouds of white around the peak Do rise spectacularly! |
Tsurayuki
4[i]
The Left uses ‘wish’[ii] twice; the Right places the mountain cherries at a distance—that make the round a tie.
[i] This poem is included in Gosenshū (I: 118), with the headnote, ‘A poem from Former Emperor Uda’s Poetry Contest’.
[ii] Uda is objecting to Mitsune’s double usage of the auxiliary verb -ramu in his judgement here.
Sent to the place where a lady, who was going somewhere far away, was preparing for departure.
思ひやる心ばかりはさはらじを何へだつらん峰の白雲
| omoFiyaru kokoro bakari Fa saFaradi o nani Fedaturan mine no sirakumo | The longing for you In my heart alone Should be no hindrance, but Why do you seem distant as The white clouds round the peaks? |
Tachibana no Naomoto
橘直幹
Composed for Her Majesty, to say that this year, she had the liberty to bond with the blossoms.
しらくもにまがふさくらのこずゑにてちとせの春をそらにしるかな
| sirakumo ni magaFu sakura no kodue nite titose no Faru wo sora ni siru kana | The clouds, so white Blend with the cherry blossom Treetops— Are a thousand years of springtimes Known in the skies, I wonder! |
Chūnagon, in service to Empress Taikenmon’in
待賢門院中納言
