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
その駒ぞや 我に 我に草請ふ 草は取り飼はむ 水は取り飼はむや
| sono koma ya ware ni ware ni kusa kau kusa wa torikawamu mizu wa torikawamu ya |
O, my steed, From me From me you beg for fodder, so I’ll go gather grass to feed you; I’ll go gather water to give you! |
Anonymous
水の面にをはうち触れて立つ鳥のやや天さかる人ぞ恋しき
| mizu no omo ni owa uchifurete tatsu tori no yaya ama sakaru hito zo koishiki |
The face of the water, Is brushed by tails and wings As the birds take flight Returning briefly to the skies – O, how I do love her! |
Minamoto no Yorimasa
源頼政