Tag Archives: yama

Kinkai wakashū 2

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

A kuzushiji version of the poem's text.
Created with Soan.

[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).

Kinkai wakashū 1

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

A kuzushiji version of the poem's text.
Created with Soan.

[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’.

Teiji-in uta’awase 39

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

Teiji-in uta’awase 32

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

Teiji-in uta’awase 23

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

Teiji-in uta’awase 18

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

Hon’in sadaijin-ke uta’awase 06

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

Sahyōe no suke sadafumi uta’awase 10

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