Tag Archives: treetops

Daikōtaigōgū daijin kiyosuke-ason ke uta’awase 23

Round Twenty-Three

Left (Win)

雪ふかみしづのふせ屋もうづもれて煙ばかりぞしるしなりける

yuki fukami
shizu no fuseya mo
uzumorete
keburi bakari zo
shirushi narikeru
Snow so deep that
The peasants’ huts, too,
Are buried, and
The smoke, alone, is
Their only sign!

Kinshige
45

Right

花の春もみぢの秋もしるかりし松の木ずゑもみえぬ白雪

hana no haru
momiji no aki mo
shirukarishi
matsu no kozue mo
mienu shirayuki
By blossom is spring, and
By scarlet leaves is autumn
Known—
The treetops of the pines
Invisible with snow, so white.

Kūnin
46

The Left poem’s conception of ‘sign of smoke’ sounds particularly profound. As for the Right, it is possible for enough snow to fall to conceal a pine’s lower leaves, too, so the poem does not sound satisfying.

KYS I: 46

Composed for Her Majesty, to say that this year, she had the liberty to bond with the blossoms.

しらくもにまがふさくらのこずゑにてちとせの春をそらにしるかな

sirakumo ni
magaFu sakura no
kodue nite
titose no Faru wo
sora ni siru kana
The clouds, so white
Blend with the cherry blossom
Treetops—
Are a thousand years of springtimes
Known in the skies, I wonder!

Chūnagon, in service to Empress Taikenmon’in
待賢門院中納言

Shiki koi sanshu uta’awase – Autumn

Autumn

Left

秋の夜の有明にみれど久堅の月のかつらはうつろはぬかな

aki no yo no
ariake ni miredo
hisakata no
tsuki no katsura wa
utsurouwanu kana
An autumn night’s
Dawn I see, yet
The eternal
Moon’s silver trees
Show no sign of fading!

13

秋萩の花咲く比の白露は下ばのためとわきて置くべし

aki hagi no
hana saku koro no
shiratsuyu wa
shitaba no tame to
wakite okubeshi
In autumn, the bush clover
Flowers bloom—just then
Silver dewdrops
For the under-leaves
Do fall, marking every one.

14

秋風はいなばもそよとふきつめりかりみる程と成りやしぬらん

akikaze wa
inaba mo soyo to
fukitsumeri
kari miru hodo to
nari ya shinuran
The autumn breeze
Seems to rustle the rice stalks
As it blows;
Seeing if ‘tis time to reap them—
Is that what it is, I wonder?

15

Right

銀河とわたる舟は花薄ほにいづるほどぞかげもみゆべき

ama no kawa
towataru fune wa
hanasusuki
ho ni izuru hodo zo
kage mo miyubeki
Across the River of Heaven
A boat goes ferrying:
When the silver grass
Ears burst into bloom,
Can its shape be seen.

16

女郎花さがの花をば色ながら秋をさかりといはれずもがな

ominaeshi
saga no hana oba
iro nagara
aki o sakari to
iwarezu mogana
Maidenflowers:
Blossoms from Saga
Reveal their hues, and
In autumn are most fine—that
Goes without saying!

17

小男鹿の朝たつ霧にうりふ山嶺の梢は色こかりけり

saoshika no
asa tatsu kiri ni
urifuyama
mine no kozue wa
iro kokarikeri
Stags
Within the rising morning mist on
Urifu Moutain, where
The treetops on the peak
Have taken darker hues.

18