Original

きみしなほかくしかよはばいそのかみふるきみやこもふりじとぞおもふ

kimi shi nao kaku shi kayowaba isonokami furuki miyako mo furiji to zo omou

O, my Lady, Should you thus ever visit Isonokami, where at Furu, the ancient capital, too, Never stales, I feel![1]

Mitsune
22

Left (Win)

かよふともしられじものをふるさとはかすがのやまのふもとならねば

kayou tomo shirareji mono o furusato wa kasuga no yama no fumoto naraneba

To ever visit there is something Folk might not know, for The ancient capital Among Kasuga Mountain’s Foothills does not lie…

23

Right

はるごとにきてはみるともいそのかみふりにしさとのなにはかはらじ

haru goto ni kite wa miru tomo isonokami furinishi sato no nani wa kawaraji

Every single spring I come to gaze, yet At Isonokami, Furu’s ancient capital Does nothing ever change?

24

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[1] A variant of this poem occurs in Mitsune’s personal collection: When the Priestly Emperor’s Rokujō Lady of the Bedchamber visited Kasuga, I met and conversed with Lord Tadafusa, the Governor of Yamato, and he mentioned that he had been asked to compose eight quality poems in the name of his province, so I sent him two of my own. The date was the 7^th day of the Third Month, Engi 21 [17.4.921]. きくになほかくしかよはばいそのかみふるきみやこもふりしとぞおもふ kiku ni nao / kaku shi kayowaba / isonokami / furuki Miyako mo / furishi to zo omou ‘O, I hear that / Should you ever thus visit / Isonokami, where at / Furu, the ancient capital, too, / Has grown old, I feel.’(Mitsune-shū 323)