Round Eighty-Five

Left

おほかたのあきのそらだにかなしきにものおもひそふ昨日今日かな

ōkata no aki no sora dani kanashiki ni mono’omoisou kinō kyō kana

As ever, Even the autumn sky’s Sadness is Overlaid with gloomy thoughts Today, and the day before!

Ukon
169[1]

Right

おもひいでてたれをか人のたづねましうきにたへたるいのちならずは

omoi’idete tare o ka hito no tazunemashi uki ni taetaru inochi narazu wa

Thinking back, Who is this man Seeking to come a’visiting? Ever enduring cruelty is Not how I spend my life…

Handmaid Koshikibu
170[2]

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[1] Gosenshū VII: 423: When a man she had been seeing had failed to visit for a long time, she sent him this in the Longest Month.

[2] Senzaishū XIV: 843: Sent as a reply to someone who said he would visit, after failing to come for a long time.