Tag Archives: uguisu

MYS VIII: 1441

A poem on warblers by Ōtomo sukune Yakamochi.

打霧之 雪者零乍 然為我二 吾宅乃苑尓 鶯鳴裳

うちきらし ゆきはふりつつ しかすがに わぎへのそのに うぐひすなくも

utikirasi
yuki pa puritutu
sikasuga ni
wagipe no sono ni
ugupisu naku mo
All is darkened by
The ever-falling snow,
But even so
Within the garden of my home
Sings a warbler!

Yōzei’in miko futari uta’awase 04

Left

ねざめつつみをうぐひすのねをぞなくはなさかりにしきみをこふれば

nezametsutsu
mi o uguisu no
ne o zo naku
hana sakarinishi
kimi o koureba
Every time I wake,
My flesh, as a warbler,
Lets out sobbing cries,
For, fair as a blossom in bloom,
It is you I long for, my lady…

7

Right

ことにいでてなにかいふべきねざめつつこふるしたひもそらにとくらむ

koto ni idete
nani ka iubeku
nezametsutsu
kouru shitahimo
sora ni tokuramu
To put it into words,
What is there I can say?
Every time I wake,
Your underbelt, which I want so,
Seems to be loosening in the skies alone.

8

GYS I: 50

Composed and sent when he heard that Inspector Kinmichi had had a number of people compose poems on the bush warbler at his residence.

春霞たちへだつれど鶯の声はかくれぬものとしらずや

harugasumi
tachihedatsuredo
uguisu no
koe wa kakurenu
mono to shirazu ya
The haze of spring
Arising, interferes, yet
The warbler
Is unable to conceal his cry—
I wonder if he know it?

Former Consultant Tsunemori

Tsurayuki uta’awase 02

Love.

Left

人知れぬ恋の涙はうぐひすの初声にこそながれいでぬれ

hito shirenu
koi no namida wa
uguisu no
hatsukoe ni koso
nagare’idenure
Unknown to all
My tears of love
With the warbler’s
First cry have
Burst into flow!

3

Right

いかならむときか忘れむ春霞たちゐる空も君ぞこひしき

ika naramu
toki ka wasuremu
harugasumi
tachi’iru sora mo
kimi zo koishiki
What is to become of me?
Can I forget the time, when
The spring haze
Rising into the skies, too,
Was dear to me as you?

4

Tsurayuki uta’awase 01

Tsurayuki’s Poetry Match,[i] 28th day of the Second Month, Tengyō 2[ii]

The beginning of spring.

Left

白雪のみにふりながら梅の花をりつるほどに春は来にけり

shirayuki no
mi ni furinagara
mume no hana
oritsuru hodo ni
haru wa kinikeri
Snow, so white,
Falling upon my flesh,
While the plum blossom,
Branches are breaking
Spring has come!

1

Right

鶯の巣立ちし日よりはるばるとおもひは音にぞまづなかれける

uguisu no
sudachishi hi yori
harubaru to
omoi wa ne ni zo
mazu nakareru
Since the day the bush warbler
Departed his nest,
Endlessly
Have I thought his song
For the present has not been here.

2


[i] Tsurayuki uta’awase 貫之歌合

[ii] 21 March 939

Ōmi no miyasudokoro uta’awase 05

Chinaberry

うぐひすの来の花とのみいふなればあふちどりをばすゑむともせず

uguisu no
ki no hana to nomi
iu nareba
au chidori oba
suemu to mo sezu
The bush warbler
Come simply for the blossom
They do say, but
On meeting a plover, then
You’ll not make it roost there!

5

This is another acrostic with the name of the plant, ōchi [auchi], contained within au chidori.

Kyōgoku no miyasudokoro uta’awase 06

Original

うぐひすのなきつるなへにかすがののけふのみゆきをはなとこそみれ

uguisu no
nakitsuru nae ni
kasugano no
kyō no miyuki o
hana to koso mire
While the warbler
Sings on
Kasuga Plain
Today, accompanying the progress, snow
As blossom does appear.[1]

16

Left (Win)

いまはしもはなとぞいはむかすがののはるのみゆきをなにとかは見む

ima wa shimo
hana to zo iwamu
kasugano no
haru no miyuki o
nani to ka wa mimu
Now, of all,
The blossom, I would describe,
On Kasuga Plain, as
Springtime progress snow—
What else can I say?

17

Right

ふるさとにゆきまじりたるはなと見ばわれにおくるなのべのうぐひす

furusato ni
yukimajiritaru
hana to miba
ware ni okuru na
nobe no uguisu
Around the ancient capital
Have I gone amidst the snow—
If as blossom I did see it, then,
O, don’t send me off,
Warbler upon the plain!

18


[1] SIS 1044 attributed to Fujiwara no Tadafusa ‘Headnote ‘Among the many poems presented by provincial officials, when the Kyōgoku Lady of the Bedchamber visited Kasuga.’