Haze
み冬つぎ春しきぬれば青柳のかづらき山に霞たなびく
mifuyu tsugi haru shikinureba aoyagi no kazuragiyama ni kasumi tanabiku | After deep winter’s passing Spring has come, so Across willow-green Kazuragi Mountain The haze does trail. |

Haze
み冬つぎ春しきぬれば青柳のかづらき山に霞たなびく
mifuyu tsugi haru shikinureba aoyagi no kazuragiyama ni kasumi tanabiku | After deep winter’s passing Spring has come, so Across willow-green Kazuragi Mountain The haze does trail. |
Poems on the beginning of spring
九重の雲ゐに春ぞ立ちぬらしおほうちやまに霞たなびく
kokonoe no kumoi ni haru zo tachinurashi ōuchiyama ni kasumi tanabiku | In ninefold layers of Cloud does springtime Seem to rise; Across Ōuchi Mountain[i] Trails haze. |
2
[i] Ōuchi Mountain (ōuchiyama 大内山) lies to the north of the Ninnaji 仁和寺 temple in the north-west of Kyoto, and was the site of a detached palace belonging to Emperor Uda 宇多 (866-931; r. 887-897).
Spring
Composed on the First day of the First Month
今朝みれば山もかすみて久かたのあまのはらより春は来にけり
kesa mireba yama mo kasumite hisakata no ama no hara yori haru wa kinikeri | Gazing out this morning The mountains are all hazed From the eternal Plains of Heaven[i] Spring has come, at last! |
1
[i] The reference to the ‘plains of Heaven’ (ama no hara 天の原) being ‘eternal’ (hisakata 久方) implies that the poet has been long awaiting the arrival of spring—a nuance which I have attempted to capture with the final ‘at last’.
Left
たまくしげ二上山のほととぎす今ぞあけくれなきわたるなる
tamakushige futakamiyama no hototogisu ima zo akekure nakiwataru naru | On the jewelled comb of Futakami Mountain The cuckoos Now, indeed, both night and day Do fill with their constant song. |
78
Right
時鳥のちのさ月もありとてやながくうづきをすぐしはてつる
hototogisu nochi no satsuki mo ari tote ya nagaku uzuki o sugushihatetsuru | O, cuckoo! A further Fifth Month There is, so Leisurely, the Fourth Month Have you completely spent? |
79
Left
ひとこふとはかなきしにをわれやせんみのあらばこそのちもあひみめ
hito kou to hakanaki shini o ware ya sen mi no araba koso nochi mo aimime | Loving her was Brief, so is die What I should do? If I live on then I might meet her later! |
64
Right
ゆふさればやまのはにいづるつきくさのうつしごころはきみにそめてき
yū sareba yama no ha ni izuru tsukikusa no utsushigokoro wa kimi ni someteki | When the evening comes From the mountains’ edge emerges Moongrass—just as My loving heart has Been dyed by you. |
65
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
Left (Tie)
ふくかぜにとまりもあへずちるときはやへやまぶきのはなもかひなし
fuku kaze ni tomari mo aezu chiru toki wa yaeyamabuki no hana mo kainashi | The gusting wind Does never cease, so Scattering time has come upon The eightfold kerria Blooms—so little good they are! |
Okikaze
35
Right
をしめどもたちもとまらずゆくはるをなこしのやまのせきもとめなむ
oshimedomo tachi mo tomarazu yuku haru o nakoshi no yama no seki mo tomenamu | How I regret it, yet Cannot halt the departure of Parting spring— O, that Nakoshi Mountain’s Barrier would hold it! |
Tsurayuki
36
Bush clover
Left
しかのこゑたかさごやまのはぎなればをりてこしよりねをやなくらん
shika no koe takasagoyama no hagi nareba oritekoshi yori ne o ya nakuran | A stag’s cry On Takasago Mountain, where Lies bush clover: Might someone have come and picked her That he lets out such cries? |
11
Right
あきはぎの花のながるるかはのせにしがらみかくるしかのねもせぬ
akihagi no hana no nagaruru kawa no se ni shigarami kakuru shika no ne mo senu | Autumn bush clover Blooms flow down The river rapids and Hang upon the lattice weir, and The stag cries not at all… |
12
When he was together with the Cloistered Emperor [Uda], gazing the Yoshino waterfall.
何時の間に降り積もるらんみ吉野の山の峡より崩れ落つる雪
itu no ma ni Furitumoruran miyosino no yama no kaFi yori kudure’oturu yuki | How swiftly It does seem to fall From fair Yoshino’s Mountain passes: The snow comes a’tumbling down. |
Minamoto no Noboru
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