A poem for a folding screen on the occasion of a Junior Consort’s entrance to the palace in Kangi 1.
風そよぐならのを川の夕ぐれはみそぎぞ夏のしるしなりける
| kaze soyogu nara no ogawa no yūgure wa misogi zo natsu no shirushi narikeru | Whispers on the wind Through the oaks at Nara stream Of an evening: Lustrations, alone, of summer Are the sign.[i] |
Ietaka, Senior Third Rank
[i] An allusive variation on SKKS XV: 1376.
Composed on waiting for the moon by the water at Lord Kinzane’s residence.
夏の夜の月待つ程の手ずさみに岩もる清水いく結びしつ
| natsu no yo no tuki matu Fodo no tezusami ni iFa moru simidu iku musubisitu | On a summer night, Waiting for the moon, My hands keep busy by Through the pure water dripping from the rocks Running time and time again. |
Fujiwara no Mototoshi
Topic unknown.
我がやどのそともにたてるならのはのしげみにすずむ夏はきにけり
| wa ga yado no sotomo ni tateru nara no ha no shigemi ni suzumu natsu wa kinikeri | At my house, In the grounds behind stands An oak tree, leaves So lush that coolness To summer has come. |
Monk Egyō
Topic unknown.
庭のおもは月もらぬまで成りにけりこずゑになつのかげしげりつつ
| niwa no omo wa tsuki moranu made narinikeri kozue ni natsu no kage shigeritsutsu | The garden’s face Untouched by drops of moonlight Has become; Upon the treetops summer’s Shadows ever lie lush. |
Former Emperor Shirakawa
The end of the Sixth Month.
わぎもこがあせにそほつるねよりがみなつのひるまはうとしとやおもふ
| wagimoko ga ase ni soFoturu neyorigami natu no Firuma Fa utosi to ya omoFu | My darling girl Has sweat-soaked Sleep-tangled hair Daytime in summer is So troublesome, I feel! |
Sone no Yoshitada
Left
こひこひてただにややまむなつむしのおもひのほかにみをやすててむ
| koikoite tada ni ya yamamu natsumushi no omoi no hoka ni mi o ya sutetemu | So much in love— Will it ever all be over? As a firefly In sudden fires of passion Should I abandon all restraint? |
7
Right
たれによりひとつおもひにみをすててことしもなつのむしとなりしぞ
| tare ni yori hitotsu omoi ni mi o sutete kotoshi mo natsu no mushi to narishi zo | For whose sake is it I burn with singular passion? Abandoning all restraint This year, too, a fire Fly have I become! |
8
Five poems on Summer—not matched.
Left
いづれをかそれともわかむうのはなのさけるかきねをてらすつきかげ
| izure o ka sore tomo wakamu u no hana no sakeru kakine o terasu tsukikage | How is it that I might distinguish them: Deutzia flowers Blooming on a brushwood fence, and Shining moonlight? |
72
Right
この夏もかはらざりけりはつこゑは習志の岡になくほととぎす
| kono natsu mo kawarazarikeri hatsukoe wa narashi no oka ni naku hototogisu | This summer, too, Is no different; The first song Upon Narashi Hill is A calling cuckoo. |
73
Left
さよふけてなどかなくらむほととぎすたびねのやどをかすひとやなき
| sayo fukete nado ka nakuramu hototogisu tabine no yado o kasu hito ya naki | Brief night breaks, so Why does he cry so? The cuckoo A lodging on his journey Has no one to lend him! |
49
Right (Win)
なつのいけによるべさだめぬうきくさのみづよりほかにゆくかたもなし
| natsu no ike ni yorube sadamenu ukikusa no mizu yori hoka ni yuku kata mo nashi | Upon the pond in summer No destination has The waterweed, so Other than the water It has no place to go… |
Okikaze
50
Left (Tie)
やまざとにしるひともがなほととぎすなきぬときかばつげもくるがに
| yamazato ni shiru hito mogana hototogisu nakinu to kikaba tsuge mo kuru gani | At a mountain retreat, I would I had a friend, O, cuckoo, That on hearing your call, He would tell me so… |
Okikaze
43
Right
なつきぬとひとしもつげぬわがやどにやまほととぎすはやくなくなり
| natsu kinu to hito shimo tsugenu wa ga yado ni yamahototogisu hayaku nakunari | Summer has come—that Folk do tell; At my home A mountain cuckoo Gives an early call. |
44