Round Twenty

いろみえでうつろふ物は世中の人のこころの花にぞありける

iro miede ururou mono wa yo no naka no hito no kokoro no hana ni zo arikeru

Visible colours (Invisible passions) Fade from This world’s Human hearts And flowers.

39[i]

Right

松のとをおしあけ方の山かぜに雲もかからぬ月を見るかな

matsu no to o oshiakegata no yamakaze ni kumo mo kakaranu tsuki o miru kana

Upon my pinewood door Pushes at the break of dawn A breeze from off the mountains, so Unencumbered by the clouds Do I see the moon!

40[ii]

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[i] KKS XV: 797: Topic unknown.

[ii] Shinchokusenshū IV: 267: On the moon at a mountain retreat, for a Fifty Poem Sequence at the residence of the Lay Priest Prince of the Second Order.

Round Nineteen

Left

はなのいろはうつりにけりないたづらにわが身世にふるながめせしまに

hana no iro wa utsurinikeri na itazura ni wa ga mi yo ni furu nagame seshi ma ni

The colour of this flower Has already faded away, While in idle thoughts My life goes by, As I watch the long rains fall.

Ono no Komachi

37[i]

Right

したもみぢかつちるやまの夕しぐれぬれてや鹿のひとりなくらん

shita momiji katsu chiru yama no yūshigure nurete ya shika no hitori nakuran

The lowest scarlet leaves All over the mountain are scattered In the evening drizzle— Is it from the damp that the stag Bells all alone?[ii]

Ietaka, Senior Third Rank

38[iii]

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[i] KKS II: 113: Topic unknown.

[ii] An allusive variation on KYS IV: 258.

[iii] SKKS V: 437: On a stag at evening, when the gentlemen had been composing poems at the Poetry Office.

Round Eighteen

Left

すゑの露もとのしづくやよの中のおくれさきだつためしなるらん

sue no tsuyu moto no shizuku ya yo no naka no okure sakidatsu tameshi naruran

The dewfall on the tips, or The droplets on the roots: for This world of ours, where We die, go on ahead, I wonder, are they a model?

35[i]

Right

ねがはくはしばしやみぢにやすらひてかかげやせましのりのともし火

negawaku wa shibashi yamiji ni yasuraite kakage ya semashi nori no tomoshibi

I have but one request: That from these tracks of darkness for a while I might escape– O, I would raise high The lantern of the Law.

36[ii]

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[i] SKKS VIII: 757: Topic unknown.

[ii] SKKS XX: 1931/1932: Amongst some poems of reminiscences.

Round Seventeen

Left

みな人は花のころもになりぬなりこけのたもとよかわきだにせよ

minahito wa hana no koromo ni narinu nari koke no tamoto yo kawaki dani seyo

All the other folk, In robes of flowering hues Are dressed. But, oh, these mossy sleeves of mine, Let them at least dry out.

33[i]

Right

おほけなくうきよのたみにおほふかなわがたつそまにすみぞめの袖

ōkenaku uki yo no tami ni ōu kana wa ga tatsu soma ni sumizome no sode

Imprudently Upon the common folk of this cruel world I lay them— In the cell where I now dwell: Ink-dyed sleeves…

34[ii]

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[i] KKS XVI: 847: During the reign of the Fukakusa Emperor, being Head Chamberlain, Henjō served His Majesty day and night and, after the death of His Majesty, abandoned this world and went to Mount Hiei to become a monk. The following year, when everyone had put off their mourning clothes, and he had heard of their pleasure over promotions and suchlike, he composed this.

[ii] SZS XVII: 1137/1134: Topic unknown.

Round Sixteen

Left

磯上ふるのやまべのさくらばなうゑけんときをしる人ぞなき

iso no kami furu no yamabe no sakurabana uekemu toki o shiru hito zo naki

In Iso no Kami Around ancient Furu Mountain Are cherry blossoms: When they were planted, No man knows.

Archbishop Henjō
31[i]

Right

そむれどもちらぬたもとに時雨きて猶いろふかき神な月かな

somuredomo chiranu tamoto ni shigure kite nao iro fukaki kaminazuki kana

Begun, yet Not scattered, still to my sleeves A shower has come, and How much darker is their hue In the Godless Month!

Former Major Archbishop Jien
32[ii]

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[i] GSS 49: Composed going to Mt Furu in Yamato.

[ii] Shūgyokushū 5793