Tag Archives: valley

Horikawa-in enjo awase 1

This match took place when, hearing that his courtiers were composing poetry, His Majesty ordered them to compose love poems to the ladies in attendance.

おもひあまりいかでもらさんおく山の岩かきこむる谷の下みづ

omoi’amari
ikade morasan
okuyama no
iwa kakikomuru
tani no shitamizu
My passion’s full, so
How should it o’erflow?
Deep within the mountains
Hemmed in by crags are
The waters of the valley floor…

Major Counsellor Kinzane
1

In reply

いかなれば音にのみきく山川の浅きにしもはこころよすらん

ika nareba
oto ni nomi kiku
yamakawa no
asaki ni shimo wa
kokoro yosuran
For some reason,
I simply hear the sound
Of a mountain stream;
Into the shallows, indeed, has
Your heart been swept, it seems!

[Nakako,] The Suō Handmaid
2

Eikyū hyakushu 418

When Spring Arrives in the Old Year 旧年立春

谷の戸をいでずとなけやうぐひすは年もあけぬに春はきにけり

tani no to o
idezu to nake ya
uguisu wa
toshi mo akenu ni
haru wa kinikeri
Will ‘From the valley’s mouth
Come not!’ you sing?
O, warbler, for
The year has not yet dawned, though
Spring has come.

Tadafusa

KKS II: 118

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

KKS I: 12

A poem from the Poetry Competition held in the reign of the Kanpyō Empress.

谷風にとくる氷のひまごとに打いづる波や春のはつ花

tanikaze ni
tokuru koFori no
Fimagoto ni
uti’iduru nami ya
Faru no FatuFana
In the valley’s breezes
Does melt the ice, and
From every crack
Do burst waves – are these
The first blooms of spring?

Minamoto no Masazumi
源当純