Round Nine

Left

忍びねを我が袖のみと思ひしを劣らざりけり萩の下露

shinobine o wa ga sode nomi to omoishi o otorazarikeri hagi no shitazuyu

Secretly Upon my sleeves, alone, I thought, but ‘Twas not lesser than The dewfall ‘neath the bush clover.

Minor Captain Kin’nori, Fourth Rank
17

Right

色かはる萩の下葉の露けさは我が身のうへと成りにけるかな

iro kawaru hagi no shitaba no tsuyukesa wa wa ga mi no ue to narinikeru kana

A change of hue To the bush clover’s underleaves Drenched with dew— Upon my sorry self Has it befallen, too!

Tadasue, Senior Assistant Minister of the Sovereign’s Household
18

The image of the droplets of secretly wept upon the poet’s sleeves not being less than those of the dewdrops beneath the bush clover appears extremely charming and moving. In addition, the pain expressed by one’s sorry self being as dew-drenched as the bush clover’s underleaves—this has left my own sleeves, both left and right, seeming as soaked with dewdrops from the bush clover.