A poem written on a folding screen with paintings of the four seasons, created as a backdrop for the fortieth birthday celebrations of Lord Fujiwara, Major Captain of the Right, by the Principal Handmaid – Autumn.
秋くれど色もかはらぬときは山よそのもみぢを風ぞかしける
aki kuredo iro mo kaFaranu tokiFayama yoso no momidi wo kaze zo kasikeru Autumn has come, yet To the never changing hues on Evergreen Mountain Distant scarlet leaves The wind has lent!
Sakanoe no Korenori
Created with Soan.
Left
をしめどもとまらぬ秋は常盤山もみぢはてぬとみてもゆるさじ
oshimedomo tomaranu aki wa tokiwayama momiji hatenu to mite mo yurusaji I regret it, yet Autumn lingers not Upon the evergreen mountains The scarlet leaves have yet to end, I see and would not let them go.
43
Right
としごとにとまらぬ秋とおもひなばてもろき人もをしまざらまし
toshigoto ni tomaranu aki to omoinaba temoroki hito mo oshimazaramashi If, that every single year Autumn lingers not, I did not think, then Tear-filled folk I would not have regret it.
44
Left (Tie)
しぐれつつ草ばもなべてもみづともときはの山にあきはとまれり
shiguretsutsu kusaba mo nabete momizu to mo tokiwa no yama ni aki wa tomareri Ever falls the drizzling rain, and Both leaves and grasses, all, Take on autumn hues, yet Within the evergreen mountains Autumn has halted.
9
Right
をしめども秋はとまらぬ竜田山もみぢを幣とそらにたむけん
oshimedomo aki wa tomaranu tatsutayama momiji o nusa to sora ni tamuken How I regret it, yet Autumn does not linger upon Tatsuta Mountain: Its autumn leaves as a garland To the skies it seems to offer.
10
As a poem on willows.
春くれば猶色まさる山しろのときはの杜の青柳のいと
haru kureba nao iro masaru yamashiro no tokiwa no mori no aoyagi no ito Spring has come, and Still their hues are beyond fine: In Yamashiro’s Evergreen forests— Pale green threads of willow.
Created with Soan .
Evergreens
ちりかはる心なけれどみやまぎのときはは秋もしられざりけり
chirikawaru kokoro nakeredo miyamagi no tokiwa wa aki mo shirarezarikeri A flighty Heart, has it not, yet Deep within the mountains, that the trees Are evergreen, even the autumn Seems not to know…
19
Gentian
した草の花をみつればむらさきに秋さへふかくなりにけるかな
shitagusa no hana o mitsureba murasaki ni aki sae fukaku narinikeru kana When in the undergrowth Flowers I do see, their Violet in Autum much deeper Has become!
20
Left (Tie)
ひさにこぬ人をまつにやあひぬらむときはのこひとわがなりぬるは
hisa ni konu hito o matsu ni ya ainuramu tokiwa no koi to wa ga narinuru wa He never comes, that Man I’m waiting for—will I ever meet him? Though into everlasting love Have I completely fallen…
Mitsune 23
Right
おもひつつまだいひそめぬわがこひをおなじこころに人はしらなむ
omoitsutsu mada iisomenu wa ga koi o onaji kokoro ni hito wa shiranamu Ever are you in my passionate thoughts, Though we have yet to speak I would my love You would feel within your heart as I— That’s what I would have you know!
Mitsune 24
Left
をみなへしうつろふあきのほどをなみねさへうつしてをしむけふかな
ominaeshi utsurou aki no hodo o nami ne sae utsushite oshimu kyō kana The maidenflower With the autumn will fade Soon away; Being shifted here root and all She must regret, today!
19[1]
Right
うつらずはふゆともわかじをみなへしときはのえだにさきかへらなむ
utsurazu wa fuyu to mo wakaji ominaeshi tokiwa no eda ni sakikaeranamu Ever unfading and All unknowing of the winter, O, maidenflower, On evergreen branches I would you returned to bloom!
20
[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 514
Winter
Left
冬くれば紅葉ふりしく神無月佐保の山辺はむべもりぬらん
fuyu kureba momiji furishiku kaminazuki saho no yamabe wa mube morinuran When the winter comes, Scarlet leaves, falling and scattering In the Godless Month, Upon the slopes of Mount Saho, Indeed, are at their finest.
19
冬ごもりかれてみゆらん梅がえは今はた花の春はにほはん
fuyugomori karete miyuran ume ga e wa ima hata hana no haru wa niowan Sealed in winter, and All withered seeming, The plum tree’s branches, Now, for sure, the blossoms’ Spring will scent.
20
冬みれば水もまかせぬ小山田にいつすき返し種をまきけん
fuyu mireba mizu mo makasenu oyamada ni itsu sukikaeshi tane o makiken ‘Tis winter, I see, so There’s no water to draw for The little mountain paddies: O, when might I till them, and Sow my seeds, I wonder?
21
Right
時雨降る宿にすまへば冬の夜に錦とみゆる木木の花かな
shigure furu yado ni sumaeba fuyu no yo ni nishiki to miyuru kigi no hana kana Showers fall Upon the house where I do dwell, so Upon a winter’s night As brocade do seem The blossoming trees!
22
ゆふだすき神の社にかけつればしもし降るにもたのもしきかな
yūdasuki kami no yashiro ni kaketsureba shimo shi furu ni mo tanomashiki kana Sacred mulberry cords Around the God’s shrine Are hung, so Even amidst the frost fall, The future does seem bright!
23
白雲のふたへふりしくときは山うらはへとしはみどりなりけれ
shiragumo no futae furishiku tokiwa yama ura hae toshi wa midori narikere Clouds of white Lie scattered, twofold, upon The unchanging mountain: Stretching out behind, the year Is simply green.
24
On the cold wind.
木がらしのおとはすぎにし時なれどときはにつねに松にふく風
kogarashi no oto wa suginishi toki naredo tokiwa ni tsune ni matsu ni fuku kaze The biting wind’s Howl has passed And yet, The evergreens always Pine for the gusting breeze.
Anonymous
Brushwood
冬寒み霜はおけども椎しばのときはの色はあせずもあるかな
fuyu samumi shimo wa okedomo shiishiba no tokiwa no iro wa asezu mo aru kana In winter’s chill The frost falls, yet The brushwood’s Evergreen hues Fade not at all…
Higo, from the Residence of the Kyōgoku Regent 京極関白家肥後
Posts navigation
'Simply moving and elegant'