Tag Archives: water

Teiji-in uta’awase 38

Left

さくはなのちりつつうかぶみづのおもにいかでうき草ねざしそめけむ

saku hana no
chiritsutsu ukabu
mizu no omo ni
ikade ukikusa
nezashi somekemu
Blossom blooming and
Ever scattering, and floating
Upon the surface of the water,
So why might the waterweed
Begin to put down roots?

76

Right

まつひとはつねならなくにほととぎすおもひのほかになかばうからむ

matsu hito wa
tsune naranaku ni
hototogisu
omoi no hoka ni
nakaba ukaramu
The one awaiting you is
Ever changing,
O, cuckoo, but
If, my longing you should not meet
With your song, how I will hate you!

77

Teiji-in uta’awase 26

Love

Five poems, stopping at five

Left (Win)

なみだがはいかなるみづかながるらんなどわがこひをけすひとのなき

namidagawa
ika naru mizu ka
nagaruran
nado wa ga koi o
kesu hito no naki
In the River of Tears
What sort of water is it
That does flow?
Why is it that my love’s burn
To extinguish is there no one?

Okikaze
51

Right

みをもかへおもふものからこひといへばもゆるなかにもいるこころかな

mi o mo kae
omou mono kara
koi to ieba
moyuru naka ni
iru kokoro kana
Staking my life is
Often in my thoughts, but
Within the fires of love,
Burning,
Does my heart lie!

Okikaze
52

Teiji-in uta’awase 25

Left

さよふけてなどかなくらむほととぎすたびねのやどをかすひとやなき

sayo fukete
nado ka nakuramu
hototogisu
tabine no yado o
kasu hito ya naki
Brief night breaks, so
Why does he cry so?
The cuckoo
A lodging on his journey
Has no one to lend him!

49

Right (Win)

なつのいけによるべさだめぬうきくさのみづよりほかにゆくかたもなし

natsu no ike ni
yorube sadamenu
ukikusa no
mizu yori hoka ni
yuku kata mo nashi
Upon the pond in summer
No destination has
The waterweed, so
Other than the water
It has no place to go…

Okikaze
50

Teiji-in uta’awase 23

Left (Tie)

むらさきにあふみづなれやかきつばたそこのいろさへかはらざるらむ

murasaki ni
au mizu nare ya
kakitsubata
soko no iro sae
kawararuramu
Violet
Suits the water here!
Irises
The hues beneath
Seem to have changed.

Mitsune
45

Right

ほととぎすこゑのみするはふくかぜのおとはのやまになけばなりけり

hototogisu
koe nomi suru wa
fuku kaze no
otowa no yama ni
nakeba narikeri
A cuckoo’s
Call alone upon
The gusting wind;
Wingbeats sound on
Otowa Mountain
Where he does sing.

46

Teiji-in uta’awase 19

Left

さくらばなちりぬるかぜのなごりにはみづなきそらになみぞたちける

sakurabana
chirinuru kaze no
nagori ni wa
mizu naki sora ni
nami zo tachikeru
The cherry blossom
Scattering wind as
A keepsake in
The waterless skies
Has roused the waves.

Tsurayuki
37

Right

みなそこにはるやくるらんみよしののよしののかはにかはづなくなり

minasoko ni
haru ya kururan
miyoshino no
yoshino no kawa ni
kawazu nakunari
To the water’s depths
Has the spring arrived, it seems, for
In fair Yoshino
From the Yoshino River
The frogs are singing.

Tsurayuki
38

The Right won. His Majesty remarked, ‘There is a Royal poem here, so how could it lose?’

Teiji-in uta’awase 17

Left (Tie)

かけてのみみつつぞしのぶむらさきにいくしほそめしふぢのはなぞも

kakete nomi
mitsutsu zo shinobu
murasaki ni
iku shiosomeshi
fuji no hana zo mo
Hanging there do I
Ever gaze with wonder on
Their violet hues—
How many dippings dyed
The wisteria blossom so?

Mitsune
33

Right

みなそこにしづめるはなのかげみればはるのふかくもなりにけるかな

minasoko ni
shizumeru hana no
kage mireba
haru no fukaku mo
narinikeru kana
When in the water’s depths
Sunken blossoms’
Shapes I see,
How deep the springtime
Has become!

Korenori
34

GSIS II: 145

Composed on seeing scattered cherry blossoms floating on the stream at his house.

ここにこぬ人もみよとてさくらばな水の心にまかせてぞやる

koko ni konu
Fito mo miyo tote
sakurabana
midu no kokoro ni
makasete zo yaru
To folk who fail to come
Here, I’d say, ‘Behold!’
O, cherry blossoms,
The water’s heart
I’ll trust, to send you on your way.

Ōe no Yoshitoki

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 70

Left

冬の池のうへはこほりてとぢたるをいかでか月のそこにすむらん

fuyu no ike no
ue wa kōrite
tojitaru o
ikade ka tsuki no
soko ni sumuramu
A winter pond is
Frozen above and
Completely sealed, so
Why is it that the moon
Seems so clear upon its bed?

Tomonori
137

Right

ふゆさむみみのもにかくるますかがみとくも我なむ老いまどふべく

fuyu samumi
mi no mo ni kakuru
masukagami
toku mo warenamu
oimadoubeku
In winter’s chill
Upon the water’s surface rests
A clear glass, but
Long since did I break it—
Surely confused in my old age!

138