Tag Archives: tsuyu

Teiji-in uta’awase 33

Left

つゆばかりたのみおかなんことのはにしばしもとまるいのちありやと

tsuyu bakari
tanomi okanan
koto no ha ni
shibashi mo tomaru
inochi ari ya to
Dewdrop fragile
Is my trust that dripping
On the leaves, your words
A little longer might hold
My life here, perhaps…

66

Right

はるさめのよにふるそらもおもほえずくもゐながらにひとこふるみは

harusame no
yo ni furu sora mo
omohoezu
kumoi nagara ni
hito kouru mi wa
Spring showers
Fall from night time skies—living on
Is not for me, I think, for
Beyond the clouds lies
The one I love…

67

Hon’in sadaijin-ke uta’awase 09

Bamboo

Left

つゆもおけとなびくものからたけのはのいろうつろへるあきもみぬかな

tsuyu mo oke to
nabiku mono kara
take no ha no
iro utsuroeru
aki mo minu kana
‘Fall, O, dewdrops!’, I say, then
Weighed down
The bamboo leaves’
Hues fading
I’ll see not this autumn!

18

Asters

Right

あきののにいろなきつゆはおきしかどわかむらさきに花はそみけり

aki no no ni
iro naki tsuyu wa
okishikado
wakamurasaki ni
hana wa somikeri
Upon the autumn meadows
Colourless dew
Has fallen, yet
With pale violet
Have the blooms been dyed.

18

Hon’in sadaijin-ke uta’awase 05

Orchids

Left

おぼつかなあきくるごとにふぢばかまたがためにとかつゆのそむらん

obotsukana
aki kuru goto ni
fujibakama
ta ga tame ni toka
tsuyu no somuran
How strange, that
Whenever autumn comes
Grow orchids—
For whose sake, I wonder,
Does the dewfall dye them?

9

Right

おくしもにいくしほそめてふぢばかまいまはかぎりとさきはじむらん

oku shimo ni
iku shio somete
fujibakama
ima wa kagiri to
sakihajimuran
The dewfall with
Many dippings dyes
The orchids—
Now that all is done
Might they begin to bloom.

10

Uda-in uta’awase 11

Wisteria

Left (Win)

おくつゆのひかりてたまぞみえまがふちのはながらにきえずもあらなむ

oku tsuyu no
hikarite tama zo
miemagau
chi no ha nagara ni
kiezu mo aranamu
The fallen dewdrops
Shine like gems
Within my sight;
From the budding leaves
I would they vanished not!

21

Right

あまつそらてりみくもりみゆくつきのふちのはなどはさやけかるらん

ama tsu sora
terimi kumorimi
yuku tsuki no
fuchi no ha nado wa
sayakekaruran
Through the heaven-bound skies
Shining, then clouding,
Goes the moon, so
Why, by this deep pool’s edge
Should it show so clear?

Fukayabu
22

Uda-in uta’awase 7

Kerria

Left

はなをらでわれぞややまふきのはなるつゆをたまにてけたじとおもへば

hana orade
ware zo ya yamau
ki no ha naru
tsuyu o tama nite
ketaji to omoeba
Leave the blossom unplucked, and
As it is, I will, that
From the tree’s leaves
The dewdrop gems
Will not disappear, or so I wish…

Sadafun

13

Right (Win)

いづこともわかずはるさめふりやまふきのはなべてももえにけるかな

izuko to mo
wakazu harusame
furiyamau
ki no ha nabete mo
moenikeru kana
Everywhere
Without exception, springtime showers
Have ceased to fall, so
All the leaves upon the trees
Have budded!

14

GYS X: 1461

When a man who had come to see her around the Eighth Month left behind his fan, which was decorated with a picture of bamboo leaves spotted with dewdrops, after some time had passed, she returned it, with this.


しののめにおきてわかれし人よりはひさしくとまる竹の葉の露

shinonome ni
okite wakareshi
hito yori wa
hisashiku tomaru
take no ha no tsuyu
At the break of dawn
He rose and left—
That man, but
Much longer lingered
Dewdrops on the bamboo leaves.

Izumi Shikibu

Teishi-in ominaeshi uta’awase 11

Left         Final Round

をみなへしこのあきまでぞまさるべきつゆをもぬきてたまにまどはせ

ominaeshi
kono aki made zo
masarubeki
tsuyu o mo nukite
tama ni madowase
The maidenflowers
This autumn
Have been fine, indeed—
Strung with dewdrops
As pearls let you be!

His Majesty
21[1]

Right

きみによりのべをはなれしをみなへしおなじこころにあきをとどめよ

kimi ni yori
nobe o hanareshi
ominaeshi
onaji kokoro ni
aki o todomeyo
For My Lord
Have you left your meadows,
O, maidenflower,
Wishing as we,
Autumn—hold here!

Her Majesty, the Empress

22[2]

The flowers of the Right were inferior, but the poems of the Right won.


[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 528

[2] Shinsen man’yōshū 548