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Showing posts with the label Ki no Tsurayuki

Hyakunin Isshu: poem 33 (Ki no Tomonori・hisakata no)

In the  quiet  spring sunlight cherry’s new blossoms in a whirlwind of petals descend. *  

Hyakunin Isshu: poem 35 (Ki no Tsurayuki・hito wa isa)

In order for us to find our way home, the plum blossoms still smell the same.

Tosa Nikki: from the record of the Ninth Day of the First Month

Presently, the boat passed the Uda pine woods. It was impossible to imagine how many trees might be standing there, or how many thousands of years they might have lived. The waves came up to their roots, and cranes flew back and forth among the branches. Too deeply moved to admire the spectacle in silence, one passenger composed a poem that went something like this:

Ōkagami: from chapter 6・Mukashi monogatari (Tales of the Past)

I remember one interesting and affecting incident from that reign [of Emperor Murakami]. A plum tree in front of the Seiryōden had died, and His Majesty was looking for a replacement. He entrusted the matter to a certain gentleman who was serving as a Chamberlain at the time. “Young people can't recognize a good tree,” the Chamberlain said to me. “You find one for us.” After walking all over the capital without success, I located a beautiful specimen, covered with deep red blossoms, at a house in the western sector. As I was digging it up, the owner sent someone out with a message. “Attach this to it before you carry it away·“ I supposed there was some reason behind it, so I took the paper along. The Emperor saw it and said, “What's that?” It was a poem in a woman's hand: