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
たつたがはあきはみづなくあせななむあかぬもみぢのながるればをし[1]
tatsutagawa aki wa mizu naku asena namu akanu momiji no nagarureba oshi | The river Tatsuta In autumn, lacks water and Is shallow, indeed, but though I never tire of the scarlet leaves When they flow by, how I do regret it! |
13
いなづまはあるかなきかに見ゆれどもあきのたのみはほにぞいでける
inazuma wa aru ka naki ka ni miyuredomo aki no tanomi wa ho ni zo idekeru | A flash of lightning: It may, or may not Appear, yet In autumn you can trust that Ripened ears of rice will. |
14
[1] This poem was included in Gosenshū (VII: 416).
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Empress Dowager during the reign of the Kanpyō emperor.
水の面にあやをりみだる春雨や山のみどりをなべて染むらん
mizu no omo ni ayaori midaru harusame ya yama no midori o nabete somuran | Upon the water’s surface A confusing pattern paints The rain of spring— Will it now the mountains All dye with green, I wonder? |
Ōchikōchi no Mitsune
Waterweed 萍
水の上によるべさだめぬうき草のよそへられぬる我が身なりけり
mizu no ue ni yorube sadamenu ukikusa no yosoerarenuru wa ga mi narikeri | Upon the water, With no hope of haven, A waterweed is How I imagine Myself to be. |
Nakazane
Temples 寺
谷ふかみ跡だに見えぬ山寺はかけひの水のゆくにてぞ知る
tani fukami ato dani mienu yamadera wa kakehi no mizu no yuku nite zo shiru | Deep within the valley No tracks lead to This mountain temple: Water through the culverts’ Passing reveals it. |
Akinaka
すべらぎのながゐの池は水すみてのどかにちよのかげぞ見えける
suberagi no nagai no ike wa mizu sumite nodoka ni chiyo no kage zo miekeru | Our Sovereign’s Nagai Pond has Water so clear, that In peaceful calm a thousand generations Shape is revealed. |
Higo
Waterfalls 滝
谷川やおちくる滝のしらいとを水のあやには織るにやあるらん
tanikawa ya ochikuru taki no shira’ito o mizu no aya ni wa oru ni ya aruran | From a stream within the valley Comes tumbling a cataract of White threads: A motley pattern of water Do they seem to weave? |
Daishin
Composed on the conception of the beginning of winter at the time a hundred poem sequence was presented during the reign of Former Emperor Horikawa.
泉川水の水曲のふしづけに岩間の氷る冬は来にけり
idumigaFa
midu no miwada no
Fusiduke ni
iFama no koForu
Fuyu Fa kinikeri |
On the River Izumi
The water pools
Around the fish-traps,
Frozen between the rocks,
Winter has come, indeed. |
Fujiwara no Nakazane
藤原仲実
五月雨に畔の細道水深み田中の里は人ぞ通はぬ
samidare ni
aze no Fosomiti
midu Fukami
tanaka no sato Fa
Fito zo kayoFanu |
In the drizzle
Above the narrow paths between the paddies
So deep is the water that
The dwelling within the rice fields
Is visited by no one at all… |
Composed at the River Ōi.
水もなくみえこそわたれ大井河岸の紅葉は雨とふれども
midu mo naku
mie koso watare
oFowigaFa
kisi no momidi Fa
ame to Furedomo |
No water
To be seen around at
The River Ōi
Yet on the banks the scarlet leave
Do fall as rain… |
Fujiwara no Sadayori
藤原定頼
'Simply moving and elegant'