When there was someone in Koshi of whom he was fond.[1]
秋のよに雁かもなきてわたるなりわが思ふ人の事づてやせし
aki no yo ni
kari kamo nakite
watarunaru
wa ga omoFu Fito no
kotodute ya sesi | On an autumn night
Is that the geese a’crying
As they pass by?
There is one I love—
Would you take a message to her? |
Tsurayuki
[1]A minor variant of this poem appears in the ‘Poetry Contest held at Prince Koresada’s House’ (Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase (43)
A poem from a poetry competition held by Her Majesty, the Empress, during the Kanpyō period.
吹風と谷の水としなかりせば深山がくれの花を見ましや
Fuku kaze to
tani no midu to si
nakariseba
miyama gakure no
Fana wo mimasi ya | The gusting wind and
The valley’s waters
Were there none, then
Hidden in the mountains’ depths
These blossoms – would any wish to see them? |
Tsurayuki
Composed when he had gone to a temple in the mountains.
宿りして春の山辺にねたる夜は夢の内にも花ぞちりける
yadori site
Faru no yamabe ni
netaru yo Fa
yume no uti ni mo
Fana zo tirikeru | Lodging here
Upon a mountainside in springtime,
Sleeping at night
Even my dreams are full
Of scattered blossom. |
Tsurayuki
A poem from a poetry competition held by Her Majesty, the Empress, during the Kanpyō period.
春の野に若菜つまむと来し物をちりかふ花に道はまどひぬ
Faru no no ni
wakana tumamu to
koshi mono wo
tirikaFu Fana ni
miti Fa madoFinu | To the meadows in springtime
Thinking to pick fresh herbs
Did I come, but
Amongst the scattered blossom
Have I lost my way. |
Tsurayuki
Composed as a Spring poem.
三輪山をしかも隠すか春霞人に知られぬはなやさくらむ
miwayama wo
sikamo kakusu ka
Farugasumi
Fito ni sirarenu
Fana ya sakuramu | Miwa Mountain
Will you thus conceal,
O, haze of spring?
Might, unknown to all,
Blossoms be blooming there? |
Tsurayuki
A poem from the Poetry Contest held at the Palace of Former Emperor Uda.
さくら花ちりぬるかぜのなごりには水なき空に浪ぞたちける
sakurabana
tirinuru kaze no
nagori ni Fa
midu naki sora ni
nami zo tatikeru | Cherry blossoms
Scattered, the wind
Leaves a keepsake
In the waterless sky of
A wave of broken petals. |
Tsurayuki
Composed on returning from an ascent of Mount Hiei.
山たかみ見つつわが来しさくら花風は心にまかすべらなり
yama takami
mitutu wa ga kosi
sakurabana
kaze Fa kokoro ni
makasuberanari | On the mountain’s heights,
Did I ever see, when homeward bound,
Cherry blossoms, where
Now the wind will
Do as it wants! |
Tsurayuki
Composed when someone said there was nothing that scattered as swiftly as cherry blossom.
桜花とくちりぬとも思ほえず人の心ぞ風もふきあへぬ
sakurabana
toku tirinu tomo
omoFoezu
Fito no kokoro zo
kaze mo FukiaFenu | Cherry blossoms
Are swiftly scattered –
I think not, for
Folks’ hearts, too
Are fluttered by the breeze. |
Tsurayuki
Composed on the scattering of cherry blossoms.
ことならばさかずやはあらぬさくら花見る我さへにしづ心なし
koto naraba
sakazu ya Fa aranu
sakurabana
miru ware saFe ni
sidukokoro nasi | If it could be that
You never bloomed at all,
O, cherry blossoms,
Then at your sight I
Would not be so disturbed… |
Tsurayuki
Composed on seeing cherries blooming on a mountain.
春霞なに隠す覧さくら花ちる間をだにもみるべき物を
Farugasumi
nani kakusuramu
sakurabana
chiru ma wo dani mo
mirubeki mono wo | Why should the spring haze
So conceal
The cherry blossoms, for
Their brief instant of scattering at least
Is something I would see… |
Tsurayuki
'Simply moving and elegant'