Left 白雪の降りつもれる山里は人さへやおもひ消ゆらむ[1]
shirayuki no
furitsumoreru
yamazato wa
sumu hito sae ya
omoikiyuramu | White snow
Has fallen, drifted high around
The mountain home;
Might even he who lives there
Be buried in melancholy? |
This poem is missing from some texts of the contest and thus is unnumbered.
Right
ひかりまつ枝にかかれる雪をこそ冬の花とはいふべかりけれ
hikari matsu
eda ni kakareru
yuki o koso
fuyu no hana to wa
iubekarikere | Awaiting the light
Upon the branches clings
Snow:
Winter’s blossom—that’s what
It should be called! |
144
[1] Kokinshū VI: 328, attributed to Mibu no Tadamine.
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
Left
草も木も枯行く冬の宿なれば雪ならずしてとふ人ぞなき
kusa mo ki mo
kareyuku fuyu no
yado nareba
yuki narazushite
tou hito zo naki | Both grass and trees
Wither away with winter
At my home, so
Even without the snow
No one comes to call. |
135
Right
ふる雪はえだにしばしもとまらなむ花も紅葉も絶えてなきまは
furu yuki wa
eda ni shibashi mo
tomaranamu
hana mo momiji mo
taete naki ma wa | The falling snow
Upon the branches for a while
Does rest, when
Neither blossoms nor scarlet leaves
Are there at all… |
136
Left
みよしのの山のしら雪ふみ分けて入りにし人のおとづれもせぬ
miyoshino no
yama no shirayuki
fumiwakete
irinishi hito no
otozure mo senu | Through fair Yoshino
Mountain’s white snow fall
Forging,
He entered in,
And not a line returned. |
Tadamine
129[1]
Right
吹く風は色も見えねど冬くればひとりぬるよの身にぞしみける
fuku kaze wa
iro mo mienedo
fuyu kureba
hitori nuru yo no
mi ni zo shimikeru | The gusting wind
Shows no hue, yet
When the winter comes,
Sleeping alone at night
It chills me to the bone. |
130
[1] Kokinshū VI: 327/Shinsen man’yōshū 183/Kokin rokujō I: 712.
Left
神無月しぐれふるらしさほ山の正木のかづら色まさりゆく
kaminazuki
shigure fururashi
saoyama no
masaki no kazura
iro masarikeri | In the Godless Month
Showers fall, it seems, for
On Sao Mountain
The evergreen arrowroot’s
Hues are fine, indeed. |
125[1]
Right
冬くれば梅に雪こそ降りかかれいづれのえをか花とはをらむ
fuyu kureba
mume ni yuki koso
furikakare
izure no e o ka
hana to wa oramu | When the winter comes
Upon the plum tree, truly, does snow
Fall and cling;
From which branch, I wonder
Should I pick the blossom? |
126
[1] Shinkokinshū VI: 574
Winter Poems Twenty Rounds
Left
かきくもりあられふりしけ白玉をしける庭とも人の見るがに
kakikumori
arare furishike
shiratama o
shikeru niwa to mo
hito no miru gani | Clouds rush in
Dropping scattered hailstones;
Pearl
Strewn, my garden
I would that he would see… |
119
Right
天の河ふゆは空までこほるらし石間にたぎつ音だにもせず
ama no kawa
fuyu wa sora made
kōrurashi
iwama ni tagitsu
oto dani mo sezu | The River of Heaven in
Winter: the very skies
Seem frozen, with
Between the rocky crags rushing
No sound at all. |
120
On a thin layer of ice remaining atop a pond, for a Poetry Contest held at the Residence of Imperial Princess Miwako.
うす氷残りすくなくなりにけり池のかがみと冬はみしかど
usugōri
nokori sukunaku
narinikeri
ike no kagami to
fuyu wa mishikado | The film of ice
Mere remnants
Has become;
Yet in the mirror of the pond
Winter was once seen… |
Musashino
Composed on the conception of the beginning of winter.
草の葉もはや霜がれの色みえて外山かたかけ冬はきにけり
kusa no ha mo
haya shimogare no
iro miete
toyama katakake
fuyu wa kinikeri | The blades of grass,
Swiftly, their frost burned
Hues do show
All o’er the distant mountains
Has the winter come. |
The Lay Priest and Former Regent and Minister of Left
Round Twelve
Left
冬の夜の月はとほくやわたりけんかげみしみづのまづしこほれば
fuyu no yo no
tsuki wa tōku ya
watariken
kage mishi mizu no
mazu shi kōreba | On a winter’s night
Does the moon distantly
Pass by? For
The waters where I saw its face
Are the first to freeze… |
22
Right
ながれくるみづこほりぬる冬さへやなほうき草のあとはさだめぬ
nagarekuru
mizu kōrinuru
fuyu sae ya
nao ukikusa no
ato wa sadamenu | Flowing down
The waters have frozen
With the winter, so will
The drifting waterweed still
Leave little trace? |
23
Here is the third and final video discussing the seasonal images and topics associated with winter in waka. This one covers animals and plants.
'Simply moving and elegant'