Left
なつの日のくるるもしらず鳴く蝉をとひもしてしか何ごとかうき
| natsu no hi no kururu mo shirazu naku semi o toi mo shiteshika nani goto ka uki | Of the summer sun’s Setting unaware are The singing cicadas: Had I but asked them of it, What would they despise? |
70
Right
あやめ草いくらの五月あひくらむ来る年毎にわかく見ゆらむ
| ayamegusa ikura no satsuki aikuramu kuru toshigoto ni wakaku miyuramu | O, sweet flags! In how many Fifth Months Have you come to meet me? With every turning year You seem younger to me! |
71
Left
かかる時あらじとおもへば一とせをすべては春になすよしもがな
| kakaru toki araji to omoeba hito tose o subete wa haru ni nasu yoshi mogana | Such times There cannot be, I feel, so A single year Entirely spring, O, if only I had cause to make it so! |
31
Right
まてといふにとまらぬ物としりながらしひてぞをしき春のわかれを
| mate to iu ni tomaranu mono to shirinagara shiite zo oshiki haru no wakare wa | Asking it to stay, when that It will not remain I know too well— And yet how strongly I regret Parting from spring… |
32[1]
[1] Shinkokinshū II: 172/Shinsen man’yōshū 269
Left
春ながら年はくれなん散る花ををしと鳴くなる鶯のこゑ
| haru nagara toshi wa kurenan chiru hana o oshi to nakunaru uguisu no koe | ‘Tis spring, but The year draws to an end; ‘The scattering blossom I regret!’ sings The warbler’s song. |
23[1]
Right
大空をおほふばかりの袖もがな春咲く花を風にまかせじ
| ōzora o ōu bakari no sode mogana haru saku hana o kaze ni makaseji | If only the heavens I could simply cover With my sleeves, then The blossoms blooming in springtime I’d not abandon to the wind! |
24[2]
[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 35; Shinchokusenshū II: 88.
[2] Shinsen man’yōshū 263.
Left
みよし野の山に咲きたるさくら花雪かとのみぞあやまたれける
| miyoshino no yama ni sakitaru sakurabana yuki ka to nomi zo ayamatarekeru | In Yoshino In the mountains, the flowering Cherry blossoms: Simply for snow I did mistake them! |
13[1]
Right
年のうちはみな春ながらはてななむ花を見てだに心やるべく
| toshi no uchi wa mina haru nagara hate na namu hana o mite dani kokoro yarubeku | Within the year All is springtime, but I would that it end, for Even seeing blossoms Seems to exhaust my soul… |
14[2]
[1] A minor variant of this poem appears in Kokinshū (I: 60), attributed to Ki no Tomonori.
[2] A variant of this poem appears in Shūishū (I: 75) with the headnote ‘Topic unknown’: 年の内はみな春ながらくれななん花見てだにもうきよすぐさん toshi no uchi wa / mina haru nagara / kure na nan / hana mite dani mo / ukiyo sugusan ‘Within the year / All is springtime, but / I would it reach its eve, for / Even seeing blossoms / Makes this fleeting world pass by.’
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Empress Dowager during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.
春ながら年はくれなん散る花ををしと鳴くなる鶯のこゑ
| haru nagara toshi wa kurenan chiru hana o oshi to nakunaru uguisu no koe | ‘Tis spring, but The year draws to an end; ‘The scattering blossom I regret!’ sings The warbler’s song. |
Anonymous
Round Nine
Left
川ぎりのふもとをこめて立ちぬれば空にぞ秋の山はみえける
| kawagiri no fumoto o komete tachinureba sora ni zo aki no yama wa miekeru | The river mists Around the foothills Have risen, so ‘Tis in the skies that autumn On the mountains is revealed. |
Fukayabu
17
Right
年毎の紅葉ばながす立田川みなとや秋のとまりなるらん
| toshigoto no momijiba nagasu tatsutagawa minato ya aki no tomari naruran | Every single year Scarlet leaves wash down The Tatsuta River; Is it at the mouth that autumn Might find its port? |
18
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
Spring
Left
春のたつ霞の衣うらもなく年を経てこそ花の散りけれ
| haru no tatsu kasumi no koromo ura mo naku toshi o hete koso hana no chirikere | Spring does sew A robe of haze Without an underlay, The year passes by in A scattering of blossom |
1
春の野の雪間をわけていつしかと君がためとぞ若菜摘みつる
| haru no no no yuki ma o wakete itsushika to kimi ga tame to zo wakana tsumitsuru | Across the springtime meadows Do I forge between the snows, Eagerly, so eagerly, For you, my Lord, Have I gathered fresh herbs! |
2
春霞かすみこめたる山里はこほりとくともかげはみえじを
| harugasumi kasumi kometaru yamazato wa kōri toku tomo kage wa mieji o | The haze of spring Blurs all around A mountain retreat, Even were the ice to melt I could see no sign of it! |
3
Right
梅枝にきゐる鶯年毎に花の匂ひをあかぬ声する
| ume ga e ni ki’iru uguisu toshigoto ni hana no nioi o akanu koesuru | Upon the plum tree’s branches Has come to rest the warbler; Every single year, that Of the blossoms’ scent He cannot get his fill he sings. |
4
桜色に花さく雨はふりぬとも千しほぞそめてうつろふなそで
| sakurairo ni hana saku ame wa furinu tomo chishio zo somete utsurou na sode | Cherry-coloured Blossoms flower, as the rain Falls on, yet Dyed a thousand times Fade not, o, my sleeves! |
5
青柳のいとはるばると緑なる行末までも思ひこそやれ
| aoyagi no ito harubaru to midori naru yukusue made mo omoi koso yare | The willow’s Branches dangle lengthily So green Right to the very end Will I fondly think of you. |
6