Tag Archives: song

Sahyōe no suke sadafumi uta’awase 5

The End of Summer

Left

なくこゑはするものからに身はむなしあなおぼつかなうつせみのよや

naku koe wa
suru mono kara ni
mi wa munashi
ana obotsukana
utsusemi no yo ya
Their voices sing
And yet
Their flesh is empty—
O, how strange is
A cicada shell world!

Tadamine
9

Right (Win)

ほととぎすをちかへりなけうなゐこがうちたれがみのさみだれのこゑ

hototogisu
ochikaeri nake
unaiko ga
uchitaregami no
samidare no koe
A cuckoo
Calls again and again;
A child’s shoulder-brushing
Hair dangling down:
The song of a summer shower.

Mitsune
10

Uda-in uta’awase 8

Azaleas

Left

かりがねにおもひかけつつしのばなんあまつそらなるわが身なりとも

kari ga ne ni
omoikaketsutsu
shinobanan
ama tsu sora naru
wa ga mi naritomo
Upon the goose cries
Ever hang your thoughts, and
Remember, that
Within the sky-spanning heavens
I may yet be…

Sadafun
15

Right

うぐひすのこゑなつかしくなきつるはのちもこひつつしのばなむとか

uguisu no
koe natsukashiku
nakitsuru wa
nochi mo koitsutsu
shinobanamu to ka
Does the warbler’s
Song so charmingly
Ring out that
Later, ever fondly
Will he be remembered?

16

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 57

Left

秋のせみさむき声にぞきこゆなる木のはの衣を風やぬぎつる

aki no semi
samuki koe ni zo
kikoyunaru
ko no ha no kinu o
kaze ya nugitsuru
In the autumn, the cicadas’
Chill song
I hear;
Has the trees’ garb of leaves
Been stripped from them by the wind?

112[1]

Right

あきの夜の月の影こそ木の間よりおちてはきぬとみえわたりけれ

aki no yo no
tsuki no kage koso
ko no ma yori
ochite wa kinu to
miewatarikere
On an autumn night
The moon’s light, truly,
From between the trees
Does come a’falling
Everywhere, it seems.

113


[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 109/Fubokushō XIII: 5422

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 38

Left

夏の月ひかりをしまず照る時はながるる水にかげろふぞたつ

natsu no tsuki
hikari o shimazu
teru toki wa
nagaruru mizu ni
kagerō zo tatsu
When summer moon’s
Light lightly
Shines
From the running waters
Haze arises!

74

Right

琴の音にひびきかよへる松風はしらべても鳴く蝉の声かな

koto no ne ni
hibikikayoeru
matsukaze wa
shirabetemo naku
semi no koe kana
A zither’s strains
Echoing back and forth:
The wind through the pines,
In tune with the cries
In the cicadas’ song!

75[1]


[1] Shinshūishū III: 303/Shinsen man’yōshū 73/Kokin rokujō I: 398/Fubokushō IX: 3584

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 37

Left

おしなべて五月のそらを見渡せば草葉も水もみどりなりけり

oshinabete
satsuki no sora o
miwataseba
kusaba mo mizu mo
midori narikeri
When the entire
Fifth Month sky
I gaze across,
Blades of grass and water, too,
Are green.

72[1]

Right

くるるかとみれば明けぬる夏の夜をあかずとや鳴く山郭公

kururu ka to
mireba akenuru
natsu no yo o
akazu to ya naku
yamahototogisu
Did you think ’twas sunset?
When a glance would show the breaking dawn
Of this summer night-
Unsated by your song, do you sing on,
Cuckoo in the mountains?

73[2]


[1] Shinchokusenshū III: 152/Kokin rokujō I: 89

[1] Kokinshū III: 157, attributed to Mibu no Tadamine/Shinsen man’yōshū 57/Kokin rokujō VI: 4437

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 34

Left

いつの間に花かれにけむながくだにありせば夏のかげとみましを

itsu no ma ni
hana karenikemu
nagaku dani
ariseba natsu no
kage to mimashi o
In an instant
The blossoms seems to wither!
If but longer
They were here, summer’s
Shape I would see in them…

66

Right

幾千たび鳴きかへるらむ足引の山ほととぎす声はわすれて

ikuchi tabi
nakikaeruramu
ashihiki no
yamahototogisu
koe wa wasurete
How many thousand times,
Does he return to sing?
The leg-wearying
Mountain cuckoo,
Forgetting his song…

67

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 12

Left

春ながら年はくれなん散る花ををしと鳴くなる鶯のこゑ

haru nagara
toshi wa kurenan
chiru hana o
oshi to nakunaru
uguisu no koe
‘Tis spring, but
The year draws to an end;
‘The scattering blossom
I regret!’ sings
The warbler’s song.

23[1]

Right

大空をおほふばかりの袖もがな春咲く花を風にまかせじ

ōzora o
ōu bakari no
sode mogana
haru saku hana o
kaze ni makaseji
If only the heavens
I could simply cover
With my sleeves, then
The blossoms blooming in springtime
I’d not abandon to the wind!

24[2]


[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 35; Shinchokusenshū II: 88.

[2] Shinsen man’yōshū 263.

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 11

Left

駒なべてめも春の野にまじりなむ若菜摘みつる人は有りやと

koma nabete
me mo haru no no ni
majirinamu
wakana tsumitsuru
hito wa ari ya to
Mounts all over
The springtime meadows before my eyes
Are mixed;
A’plucking of fresh herbs,
Are there folk there, I wonder?

21[1]

Right

鶯の谷よりいづる声なくは春くることを誰かつげまし

uguisu no
tani yori izuru
koe naku wa
haru kuru koto o
tare ka tsugemashi
If the bush-warbler
From the valleys
Did not sing his song,
That spring is coming
Would anyone announce it at all?

22[2]


[1] Shisen manyōshū 13; Kokin rokujō II: 1137, ‘Springtime meadows’

[2] A minor variant of this poem occurs in Kokinshū (I: 14), attributed to Ōe no Chisato: 鶯の谷よりいづる声なくは春来ることを誰かしらまし uguisu no / tani yori izuru / koe naku wa / haru kuru koto o / tare ka shiramashi ‘If the bush-warbler / From the valleys / Did not sing his song, / That spring is coming / Would anyone realise at all?’; also Shinsen man’yōshū 261.

Fubokushō XIII: 5422

A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Dowager Empress during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.

秋のせみさむき声にぞきこゆなる木のはの衣を風やぬぎつる

aki no semi
samuki koe ni zo
kikoyunaru
ko no ha no kinu o
kaze ya nugitsuru
In the autumn, the cicadas’
Chill song
I hear;
Has the trees’ garb of leaves
Been stripped from them by the wind?

Anonymous