Tag Archives: Spring

Teiji-in uta'awase

Teiji-in uta’awase 03

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Left (Win)

きつつのみなくうぐひすのふるさとはちりにしむめのはなにざりける

kitsutsu nomi
naku uguisu no
furusato wa
chirinishi mume no
hana ni zarikeru		Ever coming, simply
To sing—the warbler’s
Ancient home
The scattered plum
Blossoms is not.

Mitsune

5[i]

Right

みちよへてなるてふももはことしよりはなさくはるにあひぞしにける

michiyo hete
naru chō momo wa
kotoshi yori
hana saku haru ni
ai zo shinikeru		Three thousand generations enduring,
They say, are the peaches:
From this year
Blossom blooming spring
Have they encountered.

Korenori

6[ii]

This poem says ‘generation’ when it should be composed about a year—it loses.

[i] This poem is included in Shinchokusenshū (I: 36), attributed to Sakanoue no Korenori, with the headnote, ‘From Former Emperor Uda’s Poetry Contest’.

[ii] A minor variant of this poem, which changes the first phrase to ‘For three thousand years’ (michi tose ni), is included in Shūishū (V: 288), attributed to Mitsune, with the headnote ‘From Former Emperor Uda’s Poetry Contest’.

Teiji-in uta'awase

Teiji-in uta’awase 01

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Spring

Ten Poems on the Second Month

Left

あをやぎのえだにかかれるはるさめはいともてぬけるたまかとぞみる

aoyagi no
eda ni kakareru
harusame wa
ito mo te nukeru
tama ka to zo miru		Upon the green willow
Branches hang
Spring raindrops—
As if each frond were hand-threaded
With gems do they appear.

Ise
1

Right

あさみどりそめてみだれるあをやぎのいとをばはるのかぜやよるらむ

asamidori
somete midareru
aoyagi no
ito oba haru no
kaze ya yoruramu		Pale green
Dyes the tangled
Willow
Fronds—do spring’s
Breeze they seem to beckon?

Korenori
2

I’d say both of these are good—a tie.

Hon'in sadaijin-ke uta'awase

Hon’in sadaijin-ke uta’awase 07

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Marlberry

Left

あさごとにきりはふれどもあしひきのやまたち花はいろもかはらず

asa goto ni
kiri wa furedomo
ashihiki no
yamatachibana wa
iro mo kawarazu		With every morning
The mist rolls down, yet on
The leg-wearying
Mountains, the marlberry’s
Hues remain unchanged.

13

Right

みねだにやすみうくならんあしひきのやまたち花のみやまゐをせる

mine dani ya
sumi’ukunaran
ashihiki no
yamatachibana no
miyamai o seru		Does even the peak
Seem so hard to dwell upon?
The leg-wearying
Mountain marlberry has
Turned the hidden spring a darker hue.

14

Sahyōe no suke sadafumi uta'awase

Sahyōe no suke sadafumi uta’awase 10

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The End of Winter

Left

したぎえのゆきまをみればふゆながらはるのけちかきここちこそすれ

shitagie no
yukima o mireba
fuyu nagara
haru no kechikaki
kokochi koso sure		Melting below,
Gaps in the snow, I see, so
Though ‘tis yet winter
Spring’s sensation closer
Comes, I feel!

19

Right (Win)

みよしののやまのしらゆきつもるらしふるさとさむくなりまさるなり

miyoshino no
yama no shirayuki
tsumorurashi
furusato samuku
narimasaru nari		On fair Yoshino
Mountain white snow fall
Drifts high, it seems,
For in this ancient place the chill
Grows ever stronger.

Korenori
20

Sahyōe no suke sadafumi uta'awase

Sahyōe no suke sadafumi uta’awase 2

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The Middle of Spring

Left (Win)

春はなほわれにてしりぬはなざかりこころのどけき人はあらじな

haru wa nao
ware nite shirinu
hanazakari
kokoro nodokeki
hito wa araji na		That spring endures
I know well;
The profusion of blossom means
A peaceful heart has
No one at all…

Tadamine
3

Right

はかなくてはるひとつきはくれにけりはなのさかりはすぎがてにせよ

hakanakute
haru hitotsuki wa
kurenikeri
hana no sakari wa
sugigate ni seyo		The brief
First month of spring
Has reached its eve;
O, to make the blossoms’ profusion
Impossible to pass away!

Mitsune
4

Sahyōe no suke sadafumi uta'awase

Sahyōe no suke sadafumi uta’awase 1

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Left

Mibu no TadamineAriwara no MotokataTaira no Sadafun

Right

Sakanoue no KorenoriKi no TsurayukiŌshikōchi no Mitsune

The Beginning of Spring

Left (Tie)

はるたつといふばかりにやみよしののやまもかすみてけさはみゆらむ

haru tatsu to
iu bakari ni ya
miyoshino no
yama mo kasumite
kesa wa miyuramu		Spring is here
They simply say, but
Is fair Yoshino
Mountain, too, all hazed
In view this morning, I wonder?

Tadamine
1

Right

はるたちてなほふるゆきはむめのはなさくほどもなくちるかとぞみる

haru tachite
nao furu yuki wa
mume no hana
saku hodo mo naku
chiru ka to zo miru		Spring is here, yet
Still the snow falls—does, as
Plum blossoms’
Brief flowering then
Scattering, it truly seem?

Mitsune
2

Uda-in uta'awase

Uda-in uta’awase 10

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Orchids

Left

はるきてはきのふばかりをあさみどりなべてけさこくのはなりにけり

haru kite wa
kinō bakari o
asamidori
nabete kesa koku
no wa narikeri		Spring’s coming means, though
Yesterday was simply
Pale green,
Everywhere, this morning deeper-hued
Have the meadows become.

Tsurayuki
19

Right

はるさめにしべゆるぶらし春のくさこくのはなべてさきみちにけり

harusame ni
shibe yuruburashi
haru no kusa
koku no wa nabete
sakimichinikeri		In the springtime rain,
The flowers’ hearts seem loosened, so
With spring plants’ hues
Deepening, the meadows everywhere
Have filled with blossom.

20

Man'yōshū

MYS III: 257

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A poem on Mount Kagu by Kamo no Taruhito.

天之芳来山　霞立　春尓至婆　松風尓　池浪立而　櫻花　木乃晩茂尓　奥邊波　鴨妻喚　邊津方尓　味村左和伎　百礒城之　大宮人乃　退出而　遊船尓波　梶棹毛　無而不樂毛　己具人奈四二

天降りつく　天の香具山　霞立つ　春に至れば　松風に　池波立ちて　桜花　木の暗茂に　沖辺には　鴨妻呼ばひ　辺つ辺に　あぢ群騒き　ももしきの　大宮人の　退り出て　遊ぶ船には　楫棹も　なくて寂しも　漕ぐ人なしに

amorituku
ame no kaguyama
kiri tatu
paru ni itareba
matukaze ni
ikenami tatite
sakurabana
ko no kuresige ni
okipe ni pa
kamo tuma yobapi
petupe ni
adi murasawagi
momosiki no
opomiyabito no
makaridete
asobu pune ni pa
kadisawo mo
nakute sabusi mo
kogu pito nasi ni		Descended from heaven is
Sacred Mount Kagu where
Mists arise
When the spring does come,
The wind through the pines
Raises waves from pond waters, and
Cherry blossom’s
Profusion shades the trees, while
Out in the offing,
Ducks call for a mate and
On the shore
Teals flock noisily;
Hundredfold,
The palace folk were wont to
Travel out
On pleasure boats, but
Oars and poles
Are there none—so sad—
For there’s not a soul to row them…