The End of Winter
Left
したぎえのゆきまをみればふゆながらはるのけちかきここちこそすれ
shitagie no yukima o mireba fuyu nagara haru no kechikaki kokochi koso sure | Melting below, Gaps in the snow, I see, so Though ‘tis yet winter Spring’s sensation closer Comes, I feel! |
19
Right (Win)
みよしののやまのしらゆきつもるらしふるさとさむくなりまさるなり
miyoshino no yama no shirayuki tsumorurashi furusato samuku narimasaru nari | On fair Yoshino Mountain white snow fall Drifts high, it seems, For in this ancient place the chill Grows ever stronger. |
Korenori
20
Left
霜がれの枝となわびそ白雪を花にやとひてみれどもあかず
shimogare no eda to na wabi so shirayuki o hana ni ya toite miredomo akazu | For the frost-burned Branches, grieve not, for White snows As blossom will visit them, and The sight will never sate. |
131
Right
嵐ふく山下里にふる雪はとくむめの花咲くかとぞ見る
arashi fuku yamashitazato ni furu yuki wa toku mume no hana saku ka to zo miru | The storm wind blows Upon the village ‘neath the mountains, where Fallen snow, Long since, had plum blossom Made seem to bloom? |
132
A wave of chill in the heart due to snow (依雪波心寒)
Left
わだづもにふるしら雪は消えながら波の心にさむさをぞそむ
wadadumi ni furu sirayuki Fa kienagara nami no kokoro ni samusa wo zo somu | Across the broad sea sweep Falls white snow; It vanishes, yet The waves’ hearts are Dyed with cold. |
10
Right (Win)
ふる雪に波の心もさむからし風とかくれやへたにだによる
furu yuki ni nami no kokoro mo samukarashi kaze to kakure ya Feta ni dani yoru | With the falling snow The waves’ hearts, too, Must be so cold; Do they hide from the wind Rushing to the shore? |
11[1]
[1]Minor variants on these poems appear in Fubokushō (XVIII: 7269) and (XVIII: 7268).
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Empress Dowager during the reign of the Kanpyō emperor.
しら雪の八重ふりしけるかへる山かへるがへるも老いにける哉
sirayuki no yaFe Furisikeru kaFeru yama kaFerugaFeru mo oinikeru kana | White snow Falls eightfold on Mount Return— Returning and returning again Is the age I feel! |
Ariwara no Muneyana
Composed on the conception of the beginning of spring.
みよしのは山もかすみてしらゆきのふりにしさとに春はきにけり
miyoshino wa
yama mo kazumite
shirayuki no
furinishi sato ni
haru wa kinikeri |
In fair Yoshino
The mountains are all hazed, and
Where white snows
Fell on the estate
Spring has come! |
The Regent and Prime Minister
'Simply moving and elegant'