Summer
Five poems on the Fourth Month
Left (Win)
みやまいでてまづはつこゑはほととぎすよぶかくまたむわがやどになけ
miyama idete mazu hatsukoe wa hototogisu yobu kaku matamu wa ga yado ni nake Emerging from the mountains deep,
Masakata[i]
41
Right
けふよりはなつのころもになりぬれどきるひとさへはかはらざりけり
kyō yori wa natsu no koromo ni narinuredo kiru hito sae wa kawarazarikeri From today
Mitsune
‘The Right is uninteresting,’ so it lost.
[i] Minamoto no Masakata 源雅固 (dates unknown). A son of Minamoto no Sada’ari 源定有 (dates unknown), one of the sons of Emperor Montoku (827-858; r. 850-858).
Left (Tie)
はなみつつをしむかひなくけふくれてほかのはるとやあすはなりなむ
hana mitsutsu oshimu kainaku kyō kurete hoka no haru to ya asu wa narinamu Ever do I gaze upon the blossom, in
Mitsune
Right
けふのみとはるをおもはぬときだにもたつことやすきはなのかげかは
kyō nomi to haru o omowanu toki dani mo tatsu koto ya suki hana no kage ka wa “Only today is left
Mitsune[i]
‘Both of these are charming,’—they tied.
[i] This poem is included as the final spring poem in Kokinshū (II: 134), attributed to Mitsune, and with the headnote, ‘A poem on the end of spring from the Poetry Contest held by Former Emperor Uda’.
Left
さくらばなちりぬるかぜのなごりにはみづなきそらになみぞたちける
sakurabana chirinuru kaze no nagori ni wa mizu naki sora ni nami zo tachikeru The cherry blossom
Tsurayuki
Right
みなそこにはるやくるらんみよしののよしののかはにかはづなくなり
minasoko ni haru ya kururan miyoshino no yoshino no kawa ni kawazu nakunari To the water’s depths
Tsurayuki
The Right won. His Majesty remarked, ‘There is a Royal poem here, so how could it lose?’
Left (Tie)
ふくかぜにとまりもあへずちるときはやへやまぶきのはなもかひなし
fuku kaze ni tomari mo aezu chiru toki wa yaeyamabuki no hana mo kainashi The gusting wind
Okikaze
Right
をしめどもたちもとまらずゆくはるをなこしのやまのせきもとめなむ
oshimedomo tachi mo tomarazu yuku haru o nakoshi no yama no seki mo tomenamu How I regret it, yet
Tsurayuki
Left (Tie)
かけてのみみつつぞしのぶむらさきにいくしほそめしふぢのはなぞも
kakete nomi mitsutsu zo shinobu murasaki ni iku shiosomeshi fuji no hana zo mo Hanging there do I
Mitsune
Right
みなそこにしづめるはなのかげみればはるのふかくもなりにけるかな
minasoko ni shizumeru hana no kage mireba haru no fukaku mo narinikeru kana When in the water’s depths
Korenori
Left (Tie)
はるふかきいろこそなけれやまぶきのはなにこころをまづぞそめつる
haru fukaki iro koso nakere yamabuki no hana ni kokoro o mazu zo sometsuru In the depths of spring,
Mitsune
Right
かぜふけばおもほゆるかなすみのえのきしのふぢなみいまやさくらむ
kaze fukeba omohoyuru kana suminoe no kishi no fujinami ima ya sakuramu When the wind blows—that
Prince Kaneyuki
Left (Win)
むさしのにいろやかよへるふぢのはなわかむらさきにそめてみゆらむ
musashino ni iro ya kayoeru fuji no hana wakamurasaki ni somete miyuramu On Musashi Plain
29
Right
あかずしてすぎゆくはるをよぶこどりよびかへしつときてもつげなむ
akazushite sugiyuku haru o yobukodori yobikaeshitsu to kite mo tsugenamu Unsated by
Okikaze 30
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'Simply moving and elegant'