Tag Archives: yado

Kinkai wakashū 30

Plum blossom at an ancient estate.

年ふればやどはあれにけり梅のはな花はむかしの香ににほへども

toshi fureba
yado wa arenikeri
ume no hana
hana wa mukashi no
ka ni nioedomo
The years have passed, so
The house has into ruin fallen, yet
The plum’s blossoming
Flowers, as in days long gone
Scent the air with fragrance.

30

An AI generated image of a ruined old Japanese house surrounded by blossoming plum trees.
Image created with Adobe Firefly.
A kuzushiji version of the poem's text.
Created with Soan.

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 22

Left (Tie)

やまざとにしるひともがなほととぎすなきぬときかばつげもくるがに

yamazato ni
shiru hito mogana
hototogisu
nakinu to kikaba
tsuge mo kuru gani
At a mountain retreat,
I would I had a friend,
O, cuckoo,
That on hearing your call,
He would tell me so…

Okikaze

43

Right

なつきぬとひとしもつげぬわがやどにやまほととぎすはやくなくなり

natsu kinu to
hito shimo tsugenu
wa ga yado ni
yamahototogisu
hayaku nakunari
Summer has come—that
Folk do tell;
At my home
A mountain cuckoo
Gives an early call.

44

Teiji-in uta’awase 21

Summer

Five poems on the Fourth Month

Left (Win)

みやまいでてまづはつこゑはほととぎすよぶかくまたむわがやどになけ

miyama idete
mazu hatsukoe wa
hototogisu
yobu kaku matamu
wa ga yado ni nake
Emerging from the mountains deep,
Early, your first call,
Cuckoo—
Where I would be waiting all night long
At my house, o, sing out!

Masakata[i]

41

Right

けふよりはなつのころもになりぬれどきるひとさへはかはらざりけり

kyō yori wa
natsu no koromo ni
narinuredo
kiru hito sae wa
kawarazarikeri
From today
Summer garb
We have put on, yet
The folk who wear it
Have not changed at all.

Mitsune
42

‘The Right is uninteresting,’ so it lost.


[i] Minamoto no Masakata 源雅固 (dates unknown). A son of Minamoto no Sada’ari 源定有 (dates unknown), one of the sons of Emperor Montoku (827-858; r. 850-858).

Teiji-in uta’awase 11

Ten Poems on the Third Month

Left (Tie)

みてかへるこころあかねばさくらばなさけるあたりにやどやからまし

mitekaeru
kokoro akaneba
sakurabana
sakeru atari ni
yado ya karamashi
Seeing you and returning home
Leaves my heart unsated,
O, cherry blossom!
In the place where you do bloom is
Where I would borrow lodging…

Okikaze
21

Right

しののめにおきてみつればさくらばなまだよをこめてちりにけるかな

shinonome ni
okite mitsureba
sakurabana
mada yo o komete
chirinikeru kana
At the edge of dawn,
When I arise to gaze upon
The cherry blossoms
Within the night’s span
Have they scattered!

Yorimoto
22

The Right’s poem was just as His Majesty said: ‘It expresses affection for the blossom through gazing and gazing upon them.’ When it was suggested to him that the work produced by Lord Sadakata and Lord Noboru conveyed the same overall impression, he took his time to consider the matter, then said, ‘In that case,’ and made the round a tie.