Left
わかれてののちやわびしきたなばたのあふごはるけきことをおもへば
| wakarete no nochi ya wabishiki tanabata no au go harukeki koto o omoeba | They part, and Later are filled with lonely sadness The Weaver Maid’s Time of meeting distant grows Within her thoughts… |
13
Right (Win)
わかれてはわびしきものをひこぼしのきのふけふこそおもひやらるれ
| wakarete wa wabishiki mono o hikoboshi no kinō kyō koso omoyararure | Parting is Such a sad and lonely thing— The Herd Boy, Yesterday and today, too, Dwells on it in his thoughts… |
14
Left
あふばかりうれしきものはなけれどもわかれてのちぞわびしかりける
| au bakari ureshiki mono wa nakeredomo wakarete nochi zo wabishikarikeru | Simply meeting A joyous thing ‘Tis not, yet After having parted, indeed, I am filled with lonely sorrow. |
11
Right (Win)
まれにあひてなにわかるらむひこぼしののちわびしとはしらずやあるらむ
| mare ni aite nani wakaruramu hikoboshi no nochi wabishi to wa shirazu ya aruramu | Meeting but rarely, For what should we part? The Herd Boy’s Later lonely sorrow Shouldn’t you know? |
12
Left
あひみてぞいとどこひしきたなばたのなぐさむばかりあらぬよなれば
| aimite zo itodo koishiki tanabata no nagusamu bakari aranu yo nareba | Having met and seen her How very dear is The Weaver Maid For simple consolation Is not hers alone tonight… |
9
Right (Win)
としごとにあかぬわかれはたなばたのあらぬ人さへなげくべらなり
| toshigoto ni akanu wakare wa tanabata no aranu hito sae nagekuberanari | In every single year, Parting, unsatisfied, and Lacking the Weaver Maid, Would be for other folk A certain source of grief. |
10
Round Nine
Left (Win)
女郎花いづれの秋かみえざりし野原の霧に立ちなかくれそ
| ominaeshi izure no aki ka miezarishi nohara no kiri ni tachi na kakure so | O, maidenflower, In which autumn is it, that You have remained unseen? In the mists upon the meadow Stand and don’t hide yourself! |
Kataoka Shrine Priest Kamo no Masahira
17
Right
心から夜のまの露にしほたれてあさじめりする女郎花かな
| kokoro kara yo no ma no tsuyu ni shiotarete asajimerisuru ominaeshi kana | Her heart Throughout the night with dewdrops Drenches her, Dripping with morning tears is The maidenflower! |
Fujiwara no Koreyuki, Supernumerary Junior Assistant Minster of the Sovereign’s Household
18
The Left is extremely absorbingly composed. As for the Right, though, I wonder about the use of being ‘drenched with dewdrops’—while it does put me in mind of fisherfolk at Ise, because it fails to indicate anything in the conception of the topic, it should lose, I think.
Round Eight
Left (Tie)
うづら鳴く遠里小野の小萩はら心なき身も過ぎうかりけり
| uzura naku tōsato ono no kohagiwara kokoronaki mi mo sugi’ukarikeri | Quails cry from Tōsato plain’s Bush-clover groves— Even one as insensitive as I Finds it hard to pass them by. |
Kenshō Sukenokimi
15
Right
あきの野の花に心をそめしよりくさかやひめもあはれとぞ思ふ
| aki no no no hana ni kokoro o someshi yori kusakayahime mo aware to zo omou | Since the autumn meadows’ Blooms my heart Did fill, for Kusakayahime Fondness, I feel! |
Tōren
16
As for the Left, if one is composing about bush-clover groves, then I would want the poem to mention Miyagi Plain. As for the Right’s Kusakayahime, I wondered if she appeared in the Chronicles of Japan, but in that work you have Izanagi-no-miko and Izanami-no-miko, who wed and create the first land, Akitsushima, and then many provinces, mountains, rivers and seas and thus trees and plants, too. It further states that the primordial tree was Kukunochi and the primordial plant was Kayanohime. The conception of the Right’s poem does not differ from this, yet it continues to mention Kusakayahime, which is unclear. I get the feeling that this poem was composed with the works composed for the banquet held for the completion of the Chronicles of Japan in mind, which refer to each and every spring and the ancient Kayanohime, but even these poems did not differ in conception from that of the main work. It’s impossible to pick a loser or winner.
Round Seven
Left (Win)
萩がはな分けゆく程は古郷へかへらぬ人もにしきをぞきる
| hagi ga hana wakeyuku hodo wa furusato e kaeranu hito mo nishiki o zo kiru | When through the bush-clover blooms He forges his way, To his ancient home Never to return—that man, too, Wears a fine brocade! |
Minamoto no Arifusa, Minor Captain in the Inner Palace Guards, Right Division
13
Right
声たてて鳴くむしよりも女郎花いはぬ色こそ身にはしみけれ
| koe tatete naku mushi yori mo ominaeshi iwanu iro koso mi ni wa shimikere | They lift their songs in Plaintive cries, but far more than the insects ‘Tis the maidenflower’s Wordless hue that truly Pierce my soul! |
Junior Assistant Minister of Central Affairs Sadanaga
14
The Left is well-composed, but what is the Right’s ‘wordless hue’? Are we supposed to imagine that the expression means ‘silent yellow’? This is difficult to grasp, isn’t it. Whatever way you look at it, the Left seems to win.
Round Six
Left (Tie)
むつごともいはまほしきを女郎花くちなし色のつらくもあるかな
| mutsugoto mo iwamahoshiki o ominaeshi kuchinashi iro no tsuraku mo aru kana | A lover’s whisper is What I wish you’d say to me, O, maidenflower, but Your silent yellow hue Is cruel, indeed! |
Minamoto no Moromitsu, Supernumerary Master of the Right Capital Office
11
Right
女郎花はなの心はしらねども名をきくにこそをらまほしけれ
| ominaeshi hana no kokoro wa shiranedomo na o kiku ni koso oramahoshikere | O, maidenflower, A flower’s heart, I cannot know, yet Simply on hearing your name, How I wish to pick you! |
Hōribe no Narinaka, Hiyoshi Shrine Priest
12
The Left is charming. However, would a flower which is not ‘silent yellow’ be saying something? It’s more common to say that flowers say nothing. Even so, this is not a profound fault, so it’s better to evaluate this poem as charming. The Right is elegantly composed—saying ‘simply on hearing your name’, just sounds skillful, so it’s impossible for me to state a winner or loser this round.
Round Five
Left
あきののは花の色色おほかれど萩のにしきにしく物ぞなき
| aki no no wa hana no iroiro ōkaredo hagi no nishiki ni shiku mono zo naki | In the autumn meadows The blooms have hues Aplenty, yet To the bush-clover’s brocade There’s nothing to compare. |
Lord Fujiwara no Yorisuke, Assistant Master of the Empress Dowager’s Household Office
9
Right (Win)
ほりはてぬ花こそあらめ秋ののに心をさへものこしつるかな
| horihatenu hana koso arame aki no no ni kokoro o sae mo nokoshitsuru kana | As yet undug Flowers, indeed, may there be In the autumn meadows, for Even my heart Does linger there! |
Lord Minamoto no Yorimasa, Former Director of the Bureau of Military Storehouses
10
The Left seems a bit cliched, yet it’s not bad. As for the Right, the image of having dug up all the flowers is unsatisfying, yet it’s not worth drawing attention to when the whole sentiment is so charming, and thus the Right should win.
