わぎもこがひもゆふぐれのきくなればあかずぞはなのいろはみえける
wagimoko ga hi mo yūgure no kiku nareba akazu zo hana no iro wa miekeru | My darling girl Both day and eve is As a chrysanthemum, so Never sated am I with this flower’s Hues I see. |
Korenori
5
きくのはなふゆののかぜにちりもせでけふまでとてやしもはおくらん
kiku no hana fuyu no kaze ni chiri mo sede kyō made tote ya shimo wa okuran | Chrysanthemum blooms In the winter wind Scatter not; Is it that up to today is when Frost is said to fall? |
Korenori
6
かげさへやこよひはにほふきくのはなあまてるつきにかのそはるらん
kage sae ya koyoi wa niou kiku no hana ama teru tsuki ni ka no sowaruran | Even their shape Fills tonight with a scented glow; Chrysanthemum blooms To the heaven-shining moon Seem to add their fragrance. |
Korenori
7
やまぶきのはなの盛になりぬればゐでのわたりにゆかぬ日ぞなき
yamabuki no hana no sakari ni narinureba ide no watari ni yukanu hi zo naki | The kerria Blossoms so fine Have become, so Toward Ide There’s not a day I will not go! |
Created with Soan.
みちすがら散りかふはなを雪とみてやすらふ程にこの日くらしつ
michi sugara chirikau hana o yuki to mite yasurau hodo ni kono hi kurashitsu | All along, the road is So scattered with blossom that Seems as snow Idling along Shall I while the day away. |
Created with Soan.
With the passage of the day, so life falls into decline.
けふくれぬいのちもしかとおどろかす入あひのかねの音ぞかなしき
kyō kurenu inochi mo shika to odorokasu iriai no kane no oto zo kanashiki | The day has turned to twilight, and so Does life before you Notice it; The sunset bell’s Toll is sad, indeed. |
Monk Jakunen
Created with Soan.
Composed on the conception of seeing blossom every morning.
たづねきてたをるさくらの朝露に花のたもとのぬれぬ日ぞなき
tadunekite taworu sakura no asatuyu ni Fana no tamoto no nurenu Fi zo naki | I pay a visit and Pluck, with my hand, a stem of cherry blossom; The morning dew My springtime sleeves Dampens every single day! |
The Naka-no-in Minister of the Right
Created with Soan.
On visiting the blossom.
はなをみん年もおもはでこし我ぞふかき山路に日数へにける
hana o min to shi mo omowade koshi ware zo fukaki yamaji ni hikazu henikeru | To view the blossom I had no thought, but Here I am Deep upon the mountain trails Passing day after day. |
Created with Soan.
Composed when I had held an archery entertainment, and made a model of Mount Yoshino, with a sage gazing at blossom upon it.
みよしのの山の山守花を見てながながし日をあかずも有るかな
miyoshino no yama no yamamori hana o mite naganagashi hi o akazu mo aru kana | On fair Yoshino Mountain, a guardian Gazes on the blossom Throughout the long, long day He remains unsated! |
Created with Soan.
Left (Win)
さくらちるこのしたかぜはさむからでそらにしられぬゆきぞふりける
sakura chiru ko no shitakaze wa samukarade sora ni shirarenu yuki zo furikeru | The cherry scattering Breeze beneath the trees Lacks chill— Unaware from within the skies The snow is falling. |
Tsurayuki
13[i]
Right
わがこころはるのやまべにあくがれてながながしひをけふもくらしつ
wa ga kokoro haru no yamabe ni akugarete naganagashi hi o kyō mo kurashitsu | My heart to The mountainside in springtime Is drawn— The long, long day Today, too, has reached its dusk. |
Mitsune
14[ii]
The Left wins. ‘The Right has “long, long” which is a disagreeable word. It was hissed through pursed lips with drooping shoulders,’ and so it lost.
[i] This poem is included in Shūishū (I: 64), with the headnote, ‘From Former Emperor Uda’s Poetry Contest’.
[ii] This poem is included in Shinkokinshū (I: 81), attributed to Tsurayuki with the headnote ‘A poem from Former Emperor Uda’s Poetry Contest’.
Hair.
ねくたれのかみけづるよもあはざればこひしきものをけふはくらしつ
nekutare no kami kezuru yo mo awazareba koishiki mono o kyō wa kurashitsu | My sleep-tangled Hair I comb tonight, even though We have not met, so The one I love will be In my thoughts all day long. |
Anonymous
On an old woman wiping her face with chrysanthemum dew on the ninth day of the Ninth Month.
けふまでに我をおもへば菊の上の露は千年の玉にざりける
kyō made ni ware o omoeba kiku no ue no tsuyu wa chitose no tama nizarikeru | Up until this day Have you thought of me, so Upon the chrysanthemums These dewdrops, thousand year Jewels do not seem to be. |
Ki no Tsurayuki
'Simply moving and elegant'