Left – Pinks
もも草のときにつけつつさく中にいつともわかぬとこ夏の花
| momokusa no toki ni tsuketsutsu saku naka ni itsu tomo wakanu tokonatsu no hana | A hundred grasses Always with the season Bloom and among them Ever inseparable are The flowering pinks. |
17
Right
よろづよにぬるとこなつの花なればうつろふ秋もまたれざりけり
| yorozuyo ni nuru tokonatsu no hana nareba utsurou aki mo matarezarikeri | For ten thousand ages Have slept abed the pinks In bloom, so For the autumn when they fade They have no need to wait! |
18
Left – Rani
むしのねはまだおるとしもきこえぬをからにしきにもみゆる物かな
| mushi no ne wa mada oru to shimo kikoenu o karanishiki ni mo miyuru mono kana | The insects’ songs Yet weave and even though I hear them not As Cathay brocade Does all appear! |
15a
むしのねはまだおるとしもきこえぬをからにしきにもみゆるのべかな
| mushi no ne wa mada oru to shimo kikoenu o karanishiki ni mo miyuru nobe kana | The insects’ songs Yet weave and even though I hear them not As Cathay brocade Do the meadows appear! |
15b
Right
きる人をのべやしるらんふぢばかまいたづらにのみつゆのおきつつ
| kiru hito o nobe ya shiruran fujibakama itazura ni nomi tsuyu no okitsutsu | Folk wearing them Do the meadows know, perhaps? For upon these violet trousers In mischief alone Does the dew keep falling! |
16
Rani is a generic term for ‘orchid’ but in waka it was usually equated with eupatorium (a type of aster), which was also called fujibakama, the literal meaning of which was ‘wisteria [coloured] trousers’.
Left – Chrysanthemums
きくをうゑて花おもほゆるけふよりはながづきをこそまちわたりけれ
| kiku o uete hana omohoyuru kyō yori wa nagazuki o koso machiwatarikere | I planted chrysanthemums, and Wondering about the blooms From today For the Longest Month Will I always be awaiting. |
13a
きくをうゑて花おもほゆる今よりはながづきをこそまちわたりけれ
| kiku o uete hana omohoyuru ima yori wa nagazuki o koso machiwatarikere | I planted chrysanthemums, and Wondering about the blooms From this moment For the Longest Month Will I always be awaiting. |
13b
Right
よにふれどおいもしられぬものなればいまよりうゑつながづきのきく
| yo ni furedo oi mo shirarenu mono nareba ima yori uetsu nagazuki no kiku | My life goes by, yet Old age I know not So From this moment have I planted Chrysanthemums in the Longest Month. |
14a
よにふれどおいもしられぬものなればいまよりうつすながづきのきく
| yo ni furedo oi mo shirarenu mono nareba ima yori utsusu nagazuki no kiku | My life goes by, yet Old age I know not So From this moment fading are Chrysanthemums in the Longest Month |
14b
Left – Karukaya
はなさかむあきくるまではかるかやのみだれんとだに我がおもはぬに
| hana sakamu aki kuru made wa karukaya no midaren to dani ware omowanu ni | Its flowers bloom In autumn, but ‘til then That the tufted grass Is all confused, I would not even think… |
11
Right
こゑにいでてはかるかやまの山びこはこたふるかたのゆきとはるけき
| koe ni idete wa karukayama no yamabiko wa kotauru kata no yuki to harukeki | A voice sounds out on The tufted grass-covered mount, The mountain spirit In response sends Snow into the distance. |
12a
こゑにいでてはかるかやまの山びこはこたふるかたのゆけどはるけき
| koe ni idete wa karukayama no yamabiko wa kotauru kata no yukedo harukeki | A voice sounds out on The tufted grass-covered mount, The mountain spirit’s Response goes Out yet still is far away. |
12b
Left – Bush clover
おひかかりくずのたままくあきはぎをうへけはあきのここにやつれん
| oikakari kuzu no tamamaku akihagi o ueke wa aki no koko ni ya tsuren | Growing, hung with Kudzu’s gemmed leaves, The autumn bush-clover Does feel overlain with autumn Here, perhaps? |
9a
おひかかりくずのたままくなつはぎをうゑてはあきのしかやまたれむ
| oikakari kuzu no tamamaku natsuhagi o uete wa aki no shika ya mataremu | Growing, hung with Kudzu’s gemmed leaves, The summer bush-clover, Planted, might autumn Be the stag awaiting? |
9b
Right
花もまだはぎはさかねどいまよりはしたばをみつつながめてぞをる
| hana mo mada hagi wa sakanedo ima yori wa shitaba o mitsutsu nagamete zo oru | In blossom yet Has the bush-clover to bloom, yet From this moment on, Will I ever look upon the under-leaves, and Gazing, pick them! |
10
Left — Maidenflowers
うつろへるところありともをみなへしのべのふるさとわすれざらなむ
| utsuroeru tokoro ari tomo ominaeshi nobe no furusato wasurezaranamu | Faded Spots they have, yet, Maidenflowers At an old estate among the fields Never will I forget! |
7
Right
あきののにあだなのみたつをみなへし花さかぬまはしる人ぞなき
| aki no no ni adana nomi tatsu ominaeshi hana sakanu ma wa shiru hito zo naki | In the autumn plains Faithless rumours, alone, arise Of my maidenflower— But while she is not in bloom, There’s no one knows, at all! |
8
Round Ten
Left (T – Tie)
波よする蜑の苫やのひまをあらみもるにてぞしるよはのしぐれは
| nami yosuru ama no tomaya no hima o arami moru nite zo shiru yowa no shigure wa | Waves break near A sedge-thatched hut’s Crude gaps The leaks reveal A midnight shower… |
Lord Tadafusa
19
Right (M – Win)
ゆふ月よいるさの山の高根よりはるかにめぐる初しぐれかな
| yūzukuyo irusa no yama no takane yori haruka ni meguru hatsushigure kana | On a moonlit night From Irusa Mountain’s High peak In the distance circles A first shower! |
Lord Kanemasa
20
Toshiyori states: in the first poem, the shower sounds chilly! A shower is not something that one hears after getting up at dawn, yet this poem says that one first gets to know about it from the leaks, it seems that the poet has gone to bed, been leaked on, had his garments soaked and then got up and made a fuss. If he has not been leaked upon is this something he heard from someone else the following day? It really is very unclear. There’s a poem ‘Together with me / On my mountain pilgrimage’ which refers to showers falling on this mountain. The poem here refers to the same peak, so it sounds as if it’s referring to monks going around. Is that what it’s about? I am not just finding fault for the sake of it—these poems are unclear. As there’s only so much that can be understood from hearing them, they should tie.
Mototoshi states: one can compose about a shower falling anywhere and there’s no need to bring up a fisherman’s sedge-thatch hut, is there! Furthermore, one gets to know about a shower from the sound of it falling constantly on something like a roof of cedar boards, surely? Would one really be startled by rain of varying intensity falling soundlessly in spring? As for the poem of the Right, while it does not display a playfulness which would please the eye, ‘In the distance circles / A first shower’ is a bit better in the current context.
Round Nine
Left (T – Tie; M – Win)
神無月旅行く人もいづくにかたちかくるべき時雨もる山
| kaminazuki tabi yuku hito mo izuku ni ka tachikakurubeki shigure moru yama | In the Godless Month For folk gone travelling Is there anywhere To hide themselves away, As the showers drip down on Mount Moru? |
Lady Shinano
17
Right
くらぶ山いかがこゆべき神無月木の葉とともにしぐれ降るなり
| kurabuyama ikaga koyubeki kaminazuki ko no ha to tomo ni shigure furu nari | Over gloomy Mount Kurabu How can I find my way across? In the Godless Month Together with the leaves from the trees A shower is falling… |
Lord Nobutada
18
Toshiyori states: in the first poem, I do not feel that travelling is a natural continuation from ‘Godless Month’. ‘Is there anywhere’, too, does not sound smooth, does it. As for the second poem, if one mentions ‘gloomy Mount Kurabu’ and then follows it with ‘How can I find my way across?’, one should give a reason for the expression, whether it be because it’s gloomy, or because the sun is going down, otherwise it’s also unclear why one should be having difficulties crossing the mountain. If one is grieved by the falling leaves, then the poem sounds more like an ‘Scarlet Leaves’ one, and this is unreasonable. These both look to be about the same.
Mototoshi states: ‘showers drip down on Mount Moru’ is a bit better than ‘gloomy Mount Kurabu’, isn’t it. I feel it’s only logical that there should be no shadows in which one could hide oneself away.
