Tag Archives: yamabe

Teiji-in uta’awase 04

Left

いそのかみふるのやまべのさくらばなこぞみしはなのいろやのこれる

isonokami
furu no yamabe no
sakurabana
kozo mishi hana no
iro ya nokoreru
In Isonokami
At Furu, on the mountainside is
Cherry blossom—
The flowers I did see last year:
Are their hues lingering on?

Suekata[i]
7

Right

ほどもなくちりなむものをさくらばなここらひささもまたせつるかな

hodo mo naku
chirinamu mono o
sakurabana
kokora hisasa mo
matasetsuru kana
Before a moment’s gone
Seem to scatter
The cherry blossoms, after
Everyone forever
Having made to wait!

Ise
8

The Left only shows affection for the past year, and lacks a conception of the current one—a loss.


[i] Suekata 季方.The identity of this poet is unclear. Hagitani (1963, 174) suggests he could have been the son of any one of a number of nobles: Prince Koga 興我王 (dates unknown); Fujiwara no Toshiyuki 藤原敏行 (?-901/07); Fujiwara no Sugane 藤原菅根 (856-908); or the younger brother of Taira no Atsuyuki 平篤行 (?-910).

Teishi-in ominaeshi uta’awase 23

をみなへしやまののくさとふりしかどさかゆくときもありけるものを

ominaeshi
yamano no kusa to
furishikado
sakayuku toki mo
arikeru mono o
The maidenflowers
With the mountain meadow grasses
Have grown old, yet
A time to flourish
Did they have once…

45[1]

をみなへしさけるやまべのあきかぜはふくゆふかげをたれかかたらむ

ominaeshi
sakeru yamabe no
akikaze wa
fuku yūkage o
tare ka kataramu
A maidenflower
Blooming in a mountain meadow, with
The autumn wind’s
Evening gusts revealed, but
Who is there to tell the tale?

46


[1] This poem is almost identical to poem 4 in Uda-in ominaeshi uta’awase.

Teishi-in ominaeshi uta’awase 14

せきやまちふみまがひかぞらにむやそのあきのらぬやまべに

osekiyama
michi fumimagai
nakazora ni
hemu ya sono aki no
shiranu yamabe ni
On Oseki Mountain
I wander lost upon the paths;
All uncertain
Will I pass the days of autumn in
Unknown mountain meadows?

27[1]

りもちてしはなゆゑにごりなくまさへまがひみつきにけり

orimochite
mishi hana yue ni
nagori naku
tema sae magai
shimitsukinikeri
A bunch picked in hand,
I gazed at the flowers, and thus
Utterly
Lost track of time,
Completely captivated.

28


[1] A variant of this poem occurs in Uda-in ominaeshi uta’awase (9).

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 35

Left

夏の日を天雲しばしかくさなむぬるほどもなく明くる夜にせん

natsu no hi o
amagumo shibashi
kakusanamu
nuru hodo mo naku
akuru yo ni sen
The summer sun is
Briefly by heaven’s clouds
Concealed!
No time to sleep in
The bright night they’ve made!

68

Right

郭公なきつる夏の山辺にはくつていださぬ人やすむらむ

hototogisu
nakitsuru natsu no
yamabe ni wa
kutsute idasanu
hito ya sumuramu
A cuckoo
Singing in summer
On the mountainside:
Does a man who will not reveal
The price of shoes live there?

69

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 13

Left

霞立つ春の山辺にさくら花あかず散るとやうぐひすの鳴く

kasumi tatsu
haru no yamabe ni
sakurabana
akazu chiru to ya
uguisu no naku
Hazes rise from
The springtime moutainside, where
With cherry blossoms’
Scattering unsated, perhaps,
The warbler sings.

25[1]

Right

あまの原春はことにも見ゆるかな雲のたてるも色こかりけり

ama no hara
haru wa koto ni mo
miyuru kana
kumo no tateru mo
iro kokarikeri
Upon the Plain of Heaven
The spring is especially
Revealed!
The clouds stand tall in
Vibrant hues.

26


[1] Shinkokinshū II: 109/Shinsen man’yōshū 31

SKKS II: 109

From the Poetry Contest held by the Dowager Empress during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.

霞立つ春の山辺にさくら花あかず散るとやうぐひすの鳴く

kasumi tatsu
haru no yamabe ni
sakurabana
akazu chiru to ya
uguisu no naku
Hazes rise from
The springtime moutainside, where
With cherry blossoms’
Scattering unsated, perhaps,
The warbler sings.

Anonymous

Kanpyō no ōntoki chūgū uta’awase 2

Round Two

Left

年のうちに春はきにけりひととせをこぞとやいはん今年とやいはん

toshi no uchi ni
haru wa kinikeri
hito tose o
kozo to ya iwan
kotoshi to ya iwan
Within the year
Spring has come once more, so
A single year:
Should I say ‘tis last year, or
Should I say ‘tis this one?

Ariwara no Motokata
3[1]

Right (Win)

みよしのの山べにさけるさくら花雪かとのみぞあやまたれける

miyoshino no
yamabe ni sakeru
sakurabana
yuki ka to nomi zo
ayamatarekeru
In fair Yoshino
In the mountains, the flowering
Cherry blossoms:
Simply for snow
I did mistake them!

Ki no Tomonori

4[2]


[1] Kokin rokujō I: 1

[2] Kokinshū I: 60

Shiki koi sanshu uta’awase – Winter

Winter

Left

冬くれば紅葉ふりしく神無月佐保の山辺はむべもりぬらん

fuyu kureba
momiji furishiku
kaminazuki
saho no yamabe wa
mube morinuran
When the winter comes,
Scarlet leaves, falling and scattering
In the Godless Month,
Upon the slopes of Mount Saho,
Indeed, are at their finest.

19

冬ごもりかれてみゆらん梅がえは今はた花の春はにほはん

fuyugomori
karete miyuran
ume ga e wa
ima hata hana no
haru wa niowan
Sealed in winter, and
All withered seeming,
The plum tree’s branches,
Now, for sure, the blossoms’
Spring will scent.

20

冬みれば水もまかせぬ小山田にいつすき返し種をまきけん

fuyu mireba
mizu mo makasenu
oyamada ni
itsu sukikaeshi
tane o makiken
‘Tis winter, I see, so
There’s no water to draw for
The little mountain paddies:
O, when might I till them, and
Sow my seeds, I wonder?

21

Right

時雨降る宿にすまへば冬の夜に錦とみゆる木木の花かな

shigure furu
yado ni sumaeba
fuyu no yo ni
nishiki to miyuru
kigi no hana kana
Showers fall
Upon the house where I do dwell, so
Upon a winter’s night
As brocade do seem
The blossoming trees!

22

ゆふだすき神の社にかけつればしもし降るにもたのもしきかな

yūdasuki
kami no yashiro ni
kaketsureba
shimo shi furu ni mo
tanomashiki kana
Sacred mulberry cords
Around the God’s shrine
Are hung, so
Even amidst the frost fall,
The future does seem bright!

23

白雲のふたへふりしくときは山うらはへとしはみどりなりけれ

shiragumo no
futae furishiku
tokiwa yama
ura hae toshi wa
midori narikere
Clouds of white
Lie scattered, twofold, upon
The unchanging mountain:
Stretching out behind, the year
Is simply green.

24

Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase 18

よもぎふに露のおきしくあきのよはひとりぬるみもそでぞぬれける

yomogyū ni
tsuyu no okishiku
aki no yo wa
hitori nuru mi mo
sode zo nurekeru
Upon the mugwort
The dew falls, scattered
On an autumn night;
Sleeping alone, my
Sleeves are drenched, indeed!

35

あしひきの山べによするしらなみはくれなゐふかくあきぞ見えける

ashihiki no
yamabe ni yosuru
shiranami wa
kurenai fukaku
aki zo miekeru
Upon the leg-wearying
Mountain meadows break
The whitecaps;
A deeper scarlet
Does autumn reveal.

36