[One of] Ten poems on winter.
やどもなし今朝わびしらにこえきつるあらちの山の雪のゆふ暮
yado mo nashi kesa wabishira ni koekitsuru arachi no yama no yuki no yūgure | Lacking any home This morning forlorn and lonely Have I come to cross through Arachi Mountain’s Twilight snows. |
Jien
Left
雪のうちのみやまからこそおいはくれかしらのしろく成るをまづみよ
yuki no uchi no miyama kara koso oi wa kure kashira no shiroku naru o mazu miyo | Within the snows From the mountains deep, O, come, old age! My head to white Is turned—see that first! |
149
Right
松の上にかかれる雪はよそにして時まどはせる花とこそみれ
matsu no ue ni kakareru yuki wa yoso ni shite toki madowaseru hana to koso mire | Upon the pine trees Clings snow: From afar, The season has led astry The blossom, it does appear! |
150
Spring
Left
春のたつ霞の衣うらもなく年を経てこそ花の散りけれ
haru no tatsu kasumi no koromo ura mo naku toshi o hete koso hana no chirikere | Spring does sew A robe of haze Without an underlay, The year passes by in A scattering of blossom |
1
春の野の雪間をわけていつしかと君がためとぞ若菜摘みつる
haru no no no yuki ma o wakete itsushika to kimi ga tame to zo wakana tsumitsuru | Across the springtime meadows Do I forge between the snows, Eagerly, so eagerly, For you, my Lord, Have I gathered fresh herbs! |
2
春霞かすみこめたる山里はこほりとくともかげはみえじを
harugasumi kasumi kometaru yamazato wa kōri toku tomo kage wa mieji o | The haze of spring Blurs all around A mountain retreat, Even were the ice to melt I could see no sign of it! |
3
Right
梅枝にきゐる鶯年毎に花の匂ひをあかぬ声する
ume ga e ni ki’iru uguisu toshigoto ni hana no nioi o akanu koesuru | Upon the plum tree’s branches Has come to rest the warbler; Every single year, that Of the blossoms’ scent He cannot get his fill he sings. |
4
桜色に花さく雨はふりぬとも千しほぞそめてうつろふなそで
sakurairo ni hana saku ame wa furinu tomo chishio zo somete utsurou na sode | Cherry-coloured Blossoms flower, as the rain Falls on, yet Dyed a thousand times Fade not, o, my sleeves! |
5
青柳のいとはるばると緑なる行末までも思ひこそやれ
aoyagi no ito harubaru to midori naru yukusue made mo omoi koso yare | The willow’s Branches dangle lengthily So green Right to the very end Will I fondly think of you. |
6
When Spring Arrives in the Old Year 旧年立春
あづまやの軒ばのたるひ薄くは雪かき分けて春や立つらん
azumaya no nokiba no taruhi usuraku wa yuki kakiwakete haru ya tatsuran | On an eastern hut’s Eaves, the icicles Seem more slender now; Forging through the snows Has spring come to call? |
Higo
Lingering Cold
春なれど雪ふるとしのなほちかみをののすみがま今朝や焼くらむ
haru naredo yuki furu toshi no nao chikami ono no sumigama kesa ya yakuramu | It is spring, yet The year of falling snows Is still close by; Do the charcoal kilns at Ono Burn this morn, I wonder? |
Higo
Left. Spring
あら玉の年もかはらぬふるさとの雪のうちにも春はきにけり
aratama no
toshi mo kawaranu
furusato no
yuki no uchi ni mo
haru wa kinikeri |
To the fresh jeweled
Year the change has yet to come, yet
Around my familiar home
Even within the snows
The spring is here! |
1
Ninnaji gojūshu, Kenkyū 1 [1190]
Right
冬ながら花ちる空のかすめるは雲のこなたに春やきつらむ
fuyu nagara
hana chiru sora no
kasumeru wa
kumo no konata ni
haru ya kitsuramu |
It’s winter now, yet
Are the blossom-scattering skies
Hazed
Beneath the clouds by
The arrival of spring, perhaps? |
2
鶯の飛火野野辺の雪の内にそれかとばかり匂ふ梅が枝
uguisu no
tobubino nobe no
yuki no uchi ni
sore ka to bakari
niou ume ga e |
The warbler on
The meadows of Tobuhi Plain
Among the snows
Simply wonders if
‘tis the glow of branching plum… |
Gotoba
後鳥羽
'Simply moving and elegant'