いまよりはなでておほさむをみなへしときあるあきにあふとおもへば
| ima yori wa nadete ōsamu ominaeshi toki aru aki ni au to omoeba | From this point on With gentle caresses will I raise This maidenflower, That an auspicious autumn She would meet—I thought… |
Nochikata
31
あきぎりにゆくへやまどふをみなへしはかなくのべにひとりほのめく
| akigiri ni yukue ya madou ominaeshi hakanaku nobe ni hitori honomeku | In the autumn mists Has she lost her way? A maidenflower Fleetingly in the meadows Did I faintly glimpse alone… |
Susugu
32
These are poems which His Majesty had everyone in attendance compose on the day.
わがやどをみなへしひとのすぎゆかばあきのくさばはしぐれざらまし
| wa ga yado o mina heshi hito no sugiyukaba aki no kusaba wa shigurezaramashi | Should my house By all the passing folk Be passed by, then Would not the autumn grasses Scatter showers? |
Minamoto no Tsuruna
29
をしめどもえだにとまらぬもみぢばをみなへしおきてあきののちみむ
| oshimedomo eda ni tomaranu momijiba o mina heshi okite aki no nochi mimu | I regret it, yet On the branches have not lingered Scarlet leaves— I will press them, every one, To gaze on after autumn’s passing. |
Muneyuki
30
をせきやまみちふみまがひなかぞらにへむやそのあきのしらぬやまべに
| osekiyama michi fumimagai nakazora ni hemu ya sono aki no shiranu yamabe ni | On Oseki Mountain I wander lost upon the paths; All uncertain Will I pass the days of autumn in Unknown mountain meadows? |
27[1]
をりもちてみしはなゆゑになごりなくてまさへまがひしみつきにけり
| orimochite mishi hana yue ni nagori naku tema sae magai shimitsukinikeri | A bunch picked in hand, I gazed at the flowers, and thus Utterly Lost track of time, Completely captivated. |
28
[1] A variant of this poem occurs in Uda-in ominaeshi uta’awase (9).
〔 〕むつれなつれむなぞもあやなてにとりつみてしばしかくさじ[1]
| mutsure na tsuremu nazo mo ayana te ni toritsumite shibashi kakusaji | How I long to stay fondly with you, So why, indeed, should You be picked, and Briefly fail to hide yourself… |
25
These poems spell out ominaeshi at the beginning of each line.
をののえはみなくちにけりなにもせでへしほどをだにしらずざりける
| ono no e wa mina kuchinikeri nani mo sede heshi hodo o dani shirazu zarikeru | My axe handles Have all rotted away! Doing nothing, Of the passing time completely Unaware, have I been. |
26
[1] The initial line of this poem is missing from the available original texts of the contest, however, given that this is a kutsukamuriuta on maidenflowers (ominaeshi), it must have both begun and ended with o, like poems 23 and 24, and been a similar type of phrase (‘a flower picked’ oru hana o をる花を; ‘those who picked you’ oru hito o をる人を) (Miki et al. 2019, 94).
The following poems were not matched. They are poems composed with the syllables of the word ominaeshi (‘maidenflower’) at the beginning and end of each line.
をるはなをむなしくなさむなををしなでふにもなしてしひやとめまし
| oru hana o munashiku nasamu na o oshi na jō ni mo nashite shii ya tomemashi | A flower picked, Will be pointless— Not to be left with that vain regret Should I press it in paper And force it to linger here? |
23
をるひとをみなうらめしみなげくかなてるひにあててしもにおかせじ
| oru hito o mina urameshimi nageku kana teru hi ni atete shimo ni okaseji | Those who plucked you, I hate them so, and Grieve, for I would you stand in the shining sun, and Be untouched by frost. |
24
Left Final Round
をみなへしこのあきまでぞまさるべきつゆをもぬきてたまにまどはせ
| ominaeshi kono aki made zo masarubeki tsuyu o mo nukite tama ni madowase | The maidenflowers This autumn Have been fine, indeed— Strung with dewdrops As pearls let you be! |
His Majesty
21[1]
Right
きみによりのべをはなれしをみなへしおなじこころにあきをとどめよ
| kimi ni yori nobe o hanareshi ominaeshi onaji kokoro ni aki o todomeyo | For My Lord Have you left your meadows, O, maidenflower, Wishing as we, Autumn—hold here! |
Her Majesty, the Empress
22[2]
The flowers of the Right were inferior, but the poems of the Right won.
[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 528
[2] Shinsen man’yōshū 548
Left
をみなへしうつろふあきのほどをなみねさへうつしてをしむけふかな
| ominaeshi utsurou aki no hodo o nami ne sae utsushite oshimu kyō kana | The maidenflower With the autumn will fade Soon away; Being shifted here root and all She must regret, today! |
19[1]
Right
うつらずはふゆともわかじをみなへしときはのえだにさきかへらなむ
| utsurazu wa fuyu to mo wakaji ominaeshi tokiwa no eda ni sakikaeranamu | Ever unfading and All unknowing of the winter, O, maidenflower, On evergreen branches I would you returned to bloom! |
20
[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 514
Left
あきのののつゆにおかるるをみなへしはらふひとなみぬれつつやふる
| aki no no no tsuyu ni okaruru ominaeshi harau hito nami nuretsutsu ya furu | In the autumn meadows Dripped with dewdrops are The maidenflowers— With no one to brush them off Will they ever be so drenched? |
Okikaze
17[1]
Right
あだなりとなにぞたちぬるをみなへしなぞあきののにおひそめにけむ
| adanari to na ni zo tachinuru ominaeshi nazo aki no no ni oisomenikemu | Faithless is The reputation attached to The maidenflower, So why within the autumn meadows Has she begun to grow? |
18[2]
[1] Gosenshū VI: 275; Kokin rokujō 3689; Okikaze-shū 12
[2] Shinsen man’yōshū 522
Left
をみなへしふきすぎてくるあきかぜはめにはみえねどかこそしるけれ
| ominaeshi fukisugitekuru akikaze wa me ni wa mienedo ka koso shirukere | O, maidenflower, Over you has come blowing The autumn wind— My eyes cannot see it, but Your scent tells me it is so. |
Mitsune
15[1]
Right
ひさかたのつきひとをとこをみなへしあまたあるのべをすぎがてにする
| hisakata no tsukihito’otoko ominaeshi amata aru nobe o sugigate ni suru | The eternal Gentleman moon The maidenflower Filled meadows Cannot bear to pass by… |
16[2]
[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 524; Kokin rokujō 3674; Mitsune-shū 150
[2] Shinsen man’yōshū 542
Left
ひとのみることやくるしきをみなへしあきぎりにのみたちかくるらむ
| hito no miru koto ya kurushiki ominaeshi akigiri ni nomi tachikakururamu | For man to gaze on you, Is it so painful, O, Maidenflower, That simply in the autumn mists You must hide yourself away? |
Tadamine
13[1]
Right
とりてみばはかなからんやをみなへしそでにつつめるしらつゆのたま
| torite miba hakanakaran ya ominaeshi sode ni tsutsumeru shiratsuyu no tama | If I pick and look How fleeting are Upon a maidenflower, Enveloped in my sleeves Silver dewdrop pearls. |
14
[1] KKS IV: 235