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
A further poem:
時雨のみふる山里の木の下はをる人からやもり過ぬらん
| shigure nomi furu yamazato no ko no shita wa oru hito kara ya morisuginuran | Showers simply Fall upon a mountain retreat Beneath the trees; Has someone gone astray there To make them seem so endlessly thick? |
When he received these, His Majesty was not of a mind to respond. I have heard that he read the poems then showed them to someone, saying, `What is this about？I don’t understand!’, so it is said they had no effect.
The Beginning of Summer
Left
ふるさとはこだかけれどもきみならぬほととぎすにもうとまれにけり
| furusato wa kodakakeredomo kimi naranu hototogisu ni mo utomarenikeri | Around this ancient estate The trees grow high, yet Not by you alone, By the cuckoo, too Am I despised. |
Tadamine
7
Right (Win)
やまがつのかきほにさけるうのはなはたがしろたへのころもかけしぞ
| yamagatsu no kakiho ni sakeru u no hana wa ta ga shirotae no koromo kakeshi zo | Along the mountain man’s Lattice fence bloom Deutzia: Whose white mulberry Robes are hung there? |
Mitsune
8
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… |
From the poetry contest in 1500 rounds.
見ぬ人をまつの木かげの苔むしろ猶敷島ややまとなでしこ
| minu hito o matsu no kokage no kokemushiro nao shikishima ya yamato nadeshiko | For a man unseen She pines in the shadow of the trees On a mossy bed for Her coverlet, the isles that make Yamato – a pink! |
Kūnaikyō, in service to Former Emperor Gotoba
On a folding screen for the coming-of-age ceremony of the Empress.
春ふかくなりぬと思ふをさくら花ちるこのもとはまだ雪ぞふる
| Faru Fukaku narinu to omoFu wo sakurabana tiru ko no moto Fa mada yuki zo Furu | Deep, indeed, has spring Become, I feel, when Cherry blossom Scatters around the feet of the trees, so Snow is still a’falling! |
Tsurayuki
Left
草も木も枯行く冬の宿なれば雪ならずしてとふ人ぞなき
| kusa mo ki mo kareyuku fuyu no yado nareba yuki narazushite tou hito zo naki | Both grass and trees Wither away with winter At my home, so Even without the snow No one comes to call. |
135
Right
ふる雪はえだにしばしもとまらなむ花も紅葉も絶えてなきまは
| furu yuki wa eda ni shibashi mo tomaranamu hana mo momiji mo taete naki ma wa | The falling snow Upon the branches for a while Does rest, when Neither blossoms nor scarlet leaves Are there at all… |
136
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
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
Composed on the conception of being buried in frosty fallen leaves.
落ちつもる庭の木の葉を夜のほどにはらひてけりと見する朝霜
| otitumoru niwa no ko no Fa wo yo no hodo ni FaraFitekeri to misuru asasimo | Fallen, piled high at My estate, the leaves from the trees Within the space of a single night Have been swept away, It seems, by the morning frost. |
Anonymous
