春といひ夏とすぐして秋風の吹上のはまに冬はきにけり
| haru to ii natsu to sugushite akikaze no fukiage no hama ni fuyu wa kinikeri | Spring, they say, then Spend the summer where The autumn breeze Blows up the sand on Fukiage Beach— Winter has come. |


Left (Tie)
すみよしのまつのこずゑにふるゆきのつもりまさるとみゆる月かげ
| sumiyoshi no matsu no kozue ni furu yuki no tsumorimasaru to miyuru tsukikage | Sumiyoshi’s Pines’ treetops have Fallen snow upon them, Piled even higher, It seems in the moonlight. |
Lord Taira no Hiromori
Senior Assistant Minister of Justice
Meagre Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade[i]
31
Right
すみよしのはままつがえをこすなみに月のしらゆふかけそへてけり
| sumiyoshi no hamamatsu ga e o kosu nami ni tsuki no shirayū kakesoetekeri | At Sumiyoshi The pine trees on the beach are Washed by waves, with The moon’s sacred streamers Hung, trailing, upon them. |
Grand Dharma Master Chikyō[ii]
32
Both Left and Right lack any particular defects and sound elegant—they tie.




[i] Jūgoige-shu gyōbu taifu Taira ason Hiromori 従五位下守刑部大輔平朝臣広盛
[ii] Daihōshi Chikyō大法師智経
Round One
The Moon over the Shrine
Left (Win)
ふりにけるまつものいはばとひてましむかしもかくやすみのえの月
| furinikeru matsu mono’iwaba toitemashi mukashi mo kaku ya suminoe no tsuki | Could these ancient Pines but speak, I would ask them In ancient times was it so? The moon o’er Suminoe… |
Lord Fujiwara no Sanesada
Senior Second Rank[i]
1
Right
こころなきこころもなほぞつきはつる月さへすめるすみよしのはま
| kokoronaki kokoro mo nao zo tsukihatsuru tsuki sae sumeru sumiyoshi no hama | Even my insensitive Heart is still Quite exhausted, So clear the moon Above the beach at Sumiyoshi… |
Lord Fujiwara no Toshinari
Master of the Dowager Empress’ Household Office
Master of the Right Capital Office
Exalted Senior Third Rank
2
The Left poem’s conception and configuration, saying ‘In ancient times was it so? / The moon o’er Suminoe’ is truly charming! While I am accustomed to hearing conceptions similar to that expressed in the initial line, I have no recollection of this exact turn of phrase and, in addition, leading with ‘Could these ancient’ and continuing with ‘Pines but speak’ is a conception which is rare, indeed. In the poem of the Right, on the moon over the beach before the shrine, I have quite exhausted my own meagre conceptions and, feel that my scanty words are not enough, I think. The Left’s poem is particularly fine, so it should win.




[i] Shōni’i Fujiwara ason Sanesada正二位藤原朝臣実定 (1139-1191):Most frequently referred to today as the Later Tokudaiji Minister of the Left (Gotokudaiji no sadaijin 後徳大寺左大臣), Sanesada had an extensive court career, culminating in appointment as Minister of the Left in 1189, a position he was to hold for only two years, before illness forced him to surrender it in the middle of 1191, a few months before his death. Sanesada skillfully negotiated the fraught political environment following the Genpei War (1180-1185) and is known to have had the trust of Minamoto no Yoritomo 源頼朝 (1147-1199), the first Kamakura shogun. He was well-known as a poet, participating in many uta’awase, including this one, and has 73 poems in imperial anthologies, beginning with Senzaishū. His most famous poem today is: Composed in the conception of hearing a cuckoo at dawn. 時鳥鳴きつるかたをながむればたゞ有明の月ぞのこれる hototogisu / nakitsuru kata o / nagamureba / tada ariake no / tsuki zo nokoreru ‘A cuckoo / Calls from yonder— / Gazing there, / Only the daybreak / Moon remains.’ (SZS III: 161), which was included in Hyakunin isshu (81).
Round Seven
Left (Tie)
けさはまたそれともみえず淡路島霞のしたに浦風ぞ吹く
| kesa wa mata sore tomo miezu awajishima kasumi no shita ni urakaze zo fuku | This morning, once again, I cannot that clearly see Awaji Isle, but Beneath the haze The winds are blowing o’er the beach! |
Chikanari, Ranked without Office
13
Right
春霞なびく朝けの塩風にあらぬけぶりや浦に立つらん
| harugasumi nabiku asake no shiokaze ni aranu keburi ya ura ni tatsuran | Spring haze Trails over with the morn— Salt-fire breezes It is not, yet does smoke Seem to rise across the bay? |
Ie’kiyo, Ranked without Office
14
Both Left and Right don’t seem bad. I make them a tie.




Topic unknown.
かぜさむみ伊勢のはま荻分行けばころもかりがねなみになくなり
| kaze samumi ise no hama ogi wakeyukeba koromo kari ga ne nami ni naku nari | The wind’s so chill, as Through the silver grass upon the beach at Ise I forge my way, that I’d borrow a robe with goose cries Sounding ‘cross the waves! |
Former Middle Counsellor Masafusa

When a man had not visited for a long time.
とふことをまつに月日はこゆるぎのいそにやいでて今はうらみん
| toFu koto wo matu ni tukiFi Fa koyurugi no iso ni idete ya keFu Fa uramin | For a visit I have waited days, months And more, so to Koyurugi’s Rocky shore should I go out And gaze with hatred at the beach? |
Ukon

He composed this, thinking of when his father Lord Yoshifumi had was in Tamazushima and composed:
和歌の浦に名をとどめけるゆゑあらば道しるべせよ玉津島姫
waka no ura ni / na o todomekeru / yue araba / michishirube seyo / tamazushima-hime
‘Upon the Bay of Waka / To leave my name— / If only there was a way, then / I would have you guide me, / O Princess of Tamazushima!’
尋行く和歌のうら路のはま千鳥跡ある方に道しるべせよ
| tazuneyuku waka no uraji no hamachidori ato aru kata ni michishirube seyo | Coming to pay a visit To the ways of Waka Bay, O, plovers on the beach, How to follow in your footsteps I would have you guide me! |
Lord Ki no Yoshito
紀淑氏朝臣

Composed on the conception of showers at a lodging on a journey, when people were composing for the Poetry Match at the Sumiyoshi Shrine.
もしほ草しきつのうらのねざめにはしぐれにのみや袖はぬるらん
| mosiFogusa sikitu no ura no nezame ni Fa sigure ni nomi ya sode Fa nururan | Salt-seaweed grasses grow On the beach at Shikitsu where On waking is it By the showers alone That my sleeves have dampened? |
Monk Shun’e
