A poem from the Poetry Competition held in the reign of the Kanpyō Empress.
谷風にとくる氷のひまごとに打いづる波や春のはつ花
| tanikaze ni tokuru koFori no Fimagoto ni uti’iduru nami ya Faru no FatuFana |
In the valley’s breezes Does melt the ice, and From every crack Do burst waves – are these The first blooms of spring? |
Minamoto no Masazumi
源当純
Composed as a poem on blossom.
桜咲く比良の山風吹くままに花になりゆく志賀の浦浪
| sakura saku Fira no yamakaze Fuku mama ni Fana ni nariyuku siga no uranami |
Cherries flower on Hira Mountain while Breezes blow All turned to blossom are The waves on Shiga’s shore. |
Middle Captain of the Inner Palace Guards, Left Division, [Fujiwara no] Yoshitsune
左近中将良経
夏衣薄きかひなく秋待てば木の下風のやまず吹かなむ
| natugoromo usuki kaFinaku aki mateba ko no sitakaze no yamazu Fukanamu |
My summer garb is Thin, but to no effect, so I will wait for autumn, then Beneath the trees the breezes Will blow ceaselessly! |
Left (Win).
夏山のこずゑも高く鳴蝉は中なか聲ぞかすかなりける
| natsu yama no kozue mo takaku naru semi wa nakanaka koe zo kasukanarikeru |
In the summer mountains Treetop high The cicadas sing, yet If anything, their songs More distant have become. |
297
Right.
秋近き木木の梢に風越えて下葉にうつる蝉の聲ごゑ
| aki chikaki kigi no kozue ni kaze koete shitaba ni utsuru semi no koegoe |
Autumn draws near, and The trees’ tops are Brushed by breezes; Shifted to the lower leaves are The cicadas’ songs. |
298
The Right state the Left’s poem has nothing problematic about it. The Left wonder whether there is any evidence that cicadas move in response to wind.
Shunzei remarks, ‘The Right’s poem is, indeed, lacking in evidence. However, could it not be that cicadas would feel a sense of danger from the wind and move to a tree’s lower leaves? The Left’s poem is elegant, though, and must win.’