[Poem by Ono no Oyu, assistant governor of Dazaifu]
The capital of Nara, rich in blue-green earth, is now at its height, glowing like flowers in bloom.
This poem was not composed in the capital but far away at Dazaifu in Kyushu. Ono no Oyu, who had come there on assignment from the capital, praised its splendor before Otomo no Tabito, governor-general of Dazaifu, and others. Vermilion pillars and blue roof tiles; broad avenues laid out like a grid. The picture of a capital in full bloom must have stirred the homesickness of officials at the edge of the realm all the more. Aoniyoshi, "rich in blue-green earth," is a pillow word for Nara, perhaps because a blue-green pigment was produced there.
[Poem grieving for the old capital of Nara (the gist of a long poem)]
In the capital of Nara, where our great lord ruled all under heaven, when spring came with its shimmering haze, cherry blossoms bloomed in the shade of the trees on Mount Kasuga and the fields of Mikasa, and the kaodori birds sang without end. When autumn came with its dew and frost, on Mount Ikoma and the hill of Tobuhi, stags tangled and scattered the bush clover and called for their mates, their cries echoing. Look at the mountains and you never tired of them; look at the villages and they were good places to live.
Yet this capital, on which the courtiers had relied, has passed with the changing times, and by our lord's command they have moved to a new capital. The roads where people once came and went now see no horses and no travelers, and have fallen into ruin.
The poem laments the decline of Nara after Emperor Shomu moved the capital to Kuni. Set the two poems side by side, one of glory and one of decay, and you feel keenly that the splendor of a capital too passes away.