A miscellaneous winter poem.
我が袖に霰た走る巻き隠し消たずてあらむ妹が見むため
| wa ga sode ni arare tapasiru makikakusi kedazute aramu imo ga mimu tame | Upon my sleeves The hailstones strike; I’ll wrap them and hide them away That they not melt, and Show them to my darling. |
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Envoy
石見の海打歌の山の木の間より我が振る袖を妹見つらむか
| ipami no umi ututa no yama no ko no ma yori wa ga puru sode wo imo mituramu ka | By the sea at Iwami, On Utsuta Mountain From between the trees I wave my sleeves – Will my darling glimpse them, I wonder? |
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
[One of] two poems sent by Prince Yuhara to a maiden.
目には見て手には取らえぬ月の内の楓のごとき妹をいかにせむ
| me ni pa mite te ni pa toraenu tuki no uti no katura no gotoki imo wo ika ni semu | You fill my gaze, yet My hand can never reach you As the moon’s Silver trees O, darling, what am I to do? |
Singing Girls 妓女
あけぼのにかすみこめたる花よりもあかぬはいもがにほひなりけり
| akebono ni kasumi kometaru hana yori mo akanu wa imo ga nioi narikeri | At the dawning Mingled with the hazes are The blossoms, yet far more Unsated am I by my darling’s Scent. |
Daishin
Singing Girls 妓女
からころもたちもはなれて朝夕にめかれずみれどあかぬいもかな
| karakoromo tachi mo hanarete asayū ni mekarezu miredo akanu imo kana | Her Cathay robe is Sewn so fine, that Morning and evening, too Endlessly, I see her, yet My darling does never sate me! |
Higo
Love on Parting 別恋
いもが家のかたに関守すゑてしか今朝わかれ行く我とまるがに
| imo ga ie no kata ni sekimori sueteshika kesa wakareyuku ware tomaru ga ni | Before my darling’s house A barrier warden If only there were placed, then This morning, departing I would be halted on my way… |
Kanemasa
Lacking a Glimpse of Love Letters 不見書恋
わぎもこがあふみなりせばさりと我ふみもみてましとどろきのはし
| wagimoko ga au mi nariseba sari to ware fumi mo mitemashi todoroki no hashi | If my darling Were convinced to meet, Then, I Would wish to see her letters, too, Here upon the bridge at Todoroki. |
Kanemasa
Love Interrupted by a Single Night 隔一夜恋
さむしろに衣かたしきわぎも子がひとりやぬらんそはさぐりつつ
| samushiro ni koromo katashiki wagimoko ga hitori ya nuran so wa saguritsutsu | Beneath the flimsy cover Of a single spread garment Does my darling Sleep alone? Constantly, I reach for her… |
Nakazane
Love and Bridges.
同じくはいもがりゆかば恋すてふ名取の橋を踏まずもあらなん
| onajiku wa imogari yukaba koisu chō natori no hashi o fumazu mo aranan | ‘Tis ever the same If to my darling’s house I make my way, To love, Upon Natori’s loose-tongued bridge I shall not set my foot. |
Fujiwara no Tadamichi
Left (Win)
思あまり絵にかきとめてなぐさむる妹が上にも涙落ちけり
| omoi amari e ni kakitomete nagusamuru imo ta ue ni mo namida ochikeri |
Too much in love I paint a picture for Consolation, but Upon my darling Tears fall… |
Lord Kanemune
1109
Right
かきとめて変らぬ色もをみなへしあはれと見れば露ぞこぼるる
| kakitomete kawaranu iro mo ominaeshi aware to mireba tsuyu zo koboruru |
Painted in Changeless hues is my love – A maidenflower I glimpse in sorrow, Drenched with dew… |
Ietaka
1110
The Right state: the Left’s poem certainly has no faults. The Left state: the Right’s poem has no conception of Love.
In judgement: both Gentlemen’s pictures are ‘painted’ (kakitomete), with the Left then using ‘upon my darling’ (imo ga ue ni mo), which certainly has a conception of love. The Right simply draws a picture of a maidenflower and drenches it with dew, so it does not seem as if he is being moved by the sight of a person. Thus, again, the Left seems the superior poem.