When I had gone to a place called the Kawara Mansion with friends to view the plum blossom, and there was no plum blossom there, only the distant sight of cherry.
春霞たちななよりそうすくこき錦とみゆる山のさくらに
| harugasumi tachi na na yori so usu koki nishiki to miyuru yama no sakura ni | O, haze of spring, Arise not and cover not, Either thick or thin, The seeming brocade of Cherry o’er the mountains… |
When the courtiers were commanded to hold an autumn leaves match, during the reign of the Murakami emperor.
思ひやるくらぶの山の紅葉ばにおとらぬ物はこころなりけり
| omoiyaru kurabu no yama no momijiba ni otoranu mono wa kokoro narikeri | Pondering, To compare Mount Kurabu’s Scarlet leaves— Only not lesser is My heart… |
Motosuke-shū 1[i]
[i] This poem is not included the extant texts of the match, but from its headnote must have been composed for it and been subsequently lost among with the others.