Winter
Left
冬くれば紅葉ふりしく神無月佐保の山辺はむべもりぬらん
fuyu kureba momiji furishiku kaminazuki saho no yamabe wa mube morinuran | When the winter comes, Scarlet leaves, falling and scattering In the Godless Month, Upon the slopes of Mount Saho, Indeed, are at their finest. |
19
冬ごもりかれてみゆらん梅がえは今はた花の春はにほはん
fuyugomori karete miyuran ume ga e wa ima hata hana no haru wa niowan | Sealed in winter, and All withered seeming, The plum tree’s branches, Now, for sure, the blossoms’ Spring will scent. |
20
冬みれば水もまかせぬ小山田にいつすき返し種をまきけん
fuyu mireba mizu mo makasenu oyamada ni itsu sukikaeshi tane o makiken | ‘Tis winter, I see, so There’s no water to draw for The little mountain paddies: O, when might I till them, and Sow my seeds, I wonder? |
21
Right
時雨降る宿にすまへば冬の夜に錦とみゆる木木の花かな
shigure furu yado ni sumaeba fuyu no yo ni nishiki to miyuru kigi no hana kana | Showers fall Upon the house where I do dwell, so Upon a winter’s night As brocade do seem The blossoming trees! |
22
ゆふだすき神の社にかけつればしもし降るにもたのもしきかな
yūdasuki kami no yashiro ni kaketsureba shimo shi furu ni mo tanomashiki kana | Sacred mulberry cords Around the God’s shrine Are hung, so Even amidst the frost fall, The future does seem bright! |
23
白雲のふたへふりしくときは山うらはへとしはみどりなりけれ
shiragumo no futae furishiku tokiwa yama ura hae toshi wa midori narikere | Clouds of white Lie scattered, twofold, upon The unchanging mountain: Stretching out behind, the year Is simply green. |
24
The warm feeling of spring enveloped by smoke (春気籠煙暖)
Left (Win)
梅の花雪にみゆれど春の気はけぶりをこめて寒からなくに
ume no Fana yuki ni miyuredo Faru no ki Fa keburi wo komete samurakanaku ni | The plum blossom Seems like snow, yet The sense of spring Is surrounded with such smoke I feel no chill… |
Anonymous
1
Right
咲く花のひかりにもゆる春のきはけぶりをこめて晴れずぞ有りける
saku Fana no Fikari ni moyuru Faru no ki Fa keburi wo komete Farezu zo arikeru | The blooming blossom Burning a’glow is The sense of spring; Surrounded by smoke that Never clears… |
Anonymous
2[1]
[1]These poems are included in Fubokushō (I: 92) and (I: 93).
Next Door 隣
かきごしにほのめくだにもあるものをねたくも梅のあるじなるかな
kakigoshi ni honomeku dani mo aru mono o netaku mo ume no aruji naru kana | Through a gap in the fence But faint does It seem to be; How I envy that plum blossom’s Master! |
Toshiyori
Topic unknown.
わが園の梅の末枝に鶯の音になきぬべき恋もするかな
wa ga sono no ume no Fodue ni uguFisu no ne ni nakinubeki koFi mo suru kana | In my garden From the plum treetops A warbler Does cry so – He must be in love, as I… |
Anonymous
Composed on the scattering of the plum blossoms at his house.
暮ると明くと目かれぬ物を梅花いつの人間にうつろひぬらん
kuru to aku to me karenu mono wo ume no Fana itu no Fitoma ni uturoFinuran | Neither night nor morn Do I shift my gaze from The plum blossoms: In what moment is it That they do fade? |
Tsurayuki
Composed on plum blossoms on a spring night.
春の夜の闇はあやなし梅花色こそ見えね香やはかくるる
Faru no yo no yami Fa ayanasi ume no Fana iro koso miene ka ya Fa kakururu | On nights in springtime How strange the darkness is! The plum blossoms’ Hues do go unseen, but Can their scent still be concealed? |
Mitsune
On a moonlit night, when someone said they were going to pick plum blossoms, he composed this to say, ‘Pluck them.’
月夜にはそれとも見えず梅花香をたづねてぞしるべかりける
tukiyo ni Fa sore to mo miezu ume no Fana ka wo tadunete zo sirubekarikeru | On a moonlit night Indistinguishable is The plum blossom – By scent, then seek it, And you shall know it well. |
Mitsune
Composed at Mount Kurau.
梅花にほふ春べはくらふ山やみに越ゆれど著くぞありける
ume no Fana niFoFu Farube Fa kuraFu yama yami ni koyuredo shiruku zo arikeru | The plum blossom Scents the spring, and Though Kurau Mountain Is draped in darkness, How clearly I do know it! |
Tsurayuki
鶯の飛火野野辺の雪の内にそれかとばかり匂ふ梅が枝
uguisu no
tobubino nobe no
yuki no uchi ni
sore ka to bakari
niou ume ga e |
The warbler on
The meadows of Tobuhi Plain
Among the snows
Simply wonders if
‘tis the glow of branching plum… |
Gotoba
後鳥羽
A poem by Middle Councillor Abe no Hironiwa.
去年の春いこじて植ゑし我が宿の若木の梅は花咲きにけり
kozo no paru
ikozite uwesi
wa ga yado no
wakaki no ume pa
pana sakinikeri |
In spring last year
I did dig to plant
At my home
A young plum tree whose
Blossom has bloomed! |
Abe no Hironiwa
阿部広庭
'Simply moving and elegant'