Murasaki and Musashino

KKS XVII 867 Anon thougt possibly Narihira ?

#kokinshu #heianpoetry #murasaki #musashino

The theme for November is PURPLE and the word Murasaki refers
to both a plant and the color of its blossoms - PURPLE

Murasaki no           plant of
Hito moto yue ni    single /the poet as individual?  stem or origin yue ni reason for being there
Musashino no                  musashi plains  once grasslands now covered by modern Tokyo
Kusa wa minagara    grasses while seeing
Aware to zo miru.     appreciate indeed seeing

I had to expand this for it to be poetic in English

A single plant of murasaki
is the reason for my visit
to Musashi's plains
its plants are worth viewing
yes indeed worth seeing

Where Tokyo is today was once a wide stretch of grasslands low hills and rivers
Very different from the mountains and farmlands around Kyoto's valley.

I'm still laptop free n have limited net access
next time I can get near a computer
SUMIRE 2 haiku by Chiyo

Like these translations ?

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Waga sono a Heian Waka featuring plum blossom

#wagasono #waka #plum #heian

MYS XIX:4140
Ootomo Yakamochi 718-85

Waga sono no sumomo no hana ka?
Niwa ni furu hadare no imada nokaritaru mo.

This is one of those seeming so simple poems that has a few twists.

(in) my garden is that the plum blossom?
In the yard falling (like rain) patches still are lingering.

Sono seems to be his outer garden and niwa his inner yard implying the blossom is falling all through his property. As a Heian aristocrat he may have had a property large enough to have a outer garden surrounding the pavilions and some enclosed private yards as well.
But is it plum blossom (sumomo is a type of plum) or patches of something else like snow implied by hadare?

While I've seen texts of this poem written in a mixture of kana and kanji note that this poem has NO chinese loan words and can be written entirely in kana.

Frost and Confusion

#hyakuninisshu 29  mitsune ooshi koochi #waka #japanesepoetry
aristocrat provincial governor and one of the people who helped compile the kokinshu anthology.

Kokoro ate ni
Orabaya oramu
Hatsu shimo
Oki madowaseru
Shiragiku no hana.

There's nothing quite like confronting damaged plants to freak out a gardener or the owner of a garden. This is one of those waka that describe a simple event but the poet's skilled use of language turns his description of his dismay into a masterpiece.

word its something like
heart hope or hit ? at /on
fold / break if only (i could) I wish to break / fold / bend?
oramu is reinforcing orabaya or oraba ya ?
first / new frost on
place = confused / perplexed his position state of mind and the flowers
white chrysantheums of flowers

It seems he's come outside to pick or select flowers for cutting and to his horror found there was a severe unexpected frost and his beloved flowers are at the least marred or will be when they thaw or a solid mass of ice that cant be cut without damaging the whole plant

I have to confess I'm not entirely sure I understand the second line as well as I could even after consulting the Bungo manual.

I'm welcome to ideas on that!

Brocade Waka One

#fujiwara no nakahira GSS 8:458

Hito sumazu
aretaru yado (w)o
kite mireba
ima zo ko no ha(ha)
nis(h)iki (w)orikeri

Where this person once lived is overgrown and ruined.
I am coming to see if now the leaves of the trees are weaving brocade.