Round Eleven
Left
しら雲の朝たつ山のからにしき枝に一むら春風ぞ吹く
shirakumo no asa tatsu yama no karanishiki eda ni hito mura harukaze zo fuku Clouds of white Arising with the morning on the mountain: Cathay brocade In a single bunch upon the branch Blown by the breeze of spring! [1]
Supernumerary Major Counsellor Moto’ie 21
Right (Win)
かづらきや嶺の桜のさきしより心の空にかかるしら雲
kazuragi ya mine no sakura no sakishi yori kokoro no sora ni kakaru shirakumo Upon Kazuragi Peak, the cherries Have bloomed and ever since The heavens of my heart are Draped with clouds of white.
Lord Nobunari 22
The Left’s poem has ‘Arising with the morning on the mountain: Cathay brocade in a single bunch upon the branch’ and, while it mentions spring breezes in its final section and does not fail to reflect the surface appearance of its source poem, conveys a feeling of scarlet leaves without mentioning blossom or cherry, which I have to say is something of a fault. The Right’s poem does not seem poor and lacks any faults worth mentioning, so it should win.
[1] An allusive variation on SIS IV: 220 .
On seeing the remaining scarlet leaves scattering.
karanisiki eda ni Fitomura nokoreru Fa aki no katami wo tatanu narikeri Cathay brocade In a single bunch upon the branch Remains: Autumn’s keepsake Is being rent away.
Archbishop Henjō
Created with Soan .
From among his summer poems.
枝にもる朝日のかげのすくなさにすずしさふかき竹のおくかな
eda ni moru asahi no kage mo sukunasa ni suzushisa fukaki take no oku kana Leaking through the branches The morning sunlight is Scanty upon The depths of coolness Deep within the bamboo grove!
Former Major Counsellor Tamekane
Created with Adobe Firefly.
Composed on birds.
春霞 流共尓 青柳之 枝喙持而 鴬鳴毛
春霞流るるなへに青柳の枝くひ持ちて鴬鳴くも
parugasumi nagaruru nape ni awoyagi no eda kupimotite ugupisu naku mo The spring haze Flows along The green willow Branches, consuming where The warbler sings…
Anonymous
Spring
Ten Poems on the Second Month
Left
あをやぎのえだにかかれるはるさめはいともてぬけるたまかとぞみる
aoyagi no eda ni kakareru harusame wa ito mo te nukeru tama ka to zo miru Upon the green willow Branches hang Spring raindrops— As if each frond were hand-threaded With gems do they appear.
Ise 1
Right
あさみどりそめてみだれるあをやぎのいとをばはるのかぜやよるらむ
asamidori somete midareru aoyagi no ito oba haru no kaze ya yoruramu Pale green Dyes the tangled Willow Fronds—do spring’s Breeze they seem to beckon?
Korenori 2
I’d say both of these are good—a tie.
In reply.
春雨にいかにぞ梅やにほふ覧わが見る枝は色もかはらず
Farusame ni ika ni zo mume ya niFoFuran wa ga miru eda Fa iro mo kaFarazu n such spring rain However might the plum Let out its lustrous scent? The branches before my eyes Have yet to change their hues.
Ki no Haseyo
These are poems which His Majesty had everyone in attendance compose on the day.
わがやどをみなへし ひとのすぎゆかばあきのくさばはしぐれざらまし
wa ga yado o mina heshi hito no sugiyukaba aki no kusaba wa shigurezaramashi Should my house By all the passing folk Be passed by, then Would not the autumn grasses Scatter showers?
Minamoto no Tsuruna 29
をしめどもえだにとまらぬもみぢばをみなへし おきてあきののちみむ
oshimedomo eda ni tomaranu momijiba o mina heshi okite aki no nochi mimu I regret it, yet On the branches have not lingered Scarlet leaves— I will press them, every one, To gaze on after autumn’s passing.
Muneyuki 30
Left
をみなへしうつろふあきのほどをなみねさへうつしてをしむけふかな
ominaeshi utsurou aki no hodo o nami ne sae utsushite oshimu kyō kana The maidenflower With the autumn will fade Soon away; Being shifted here root and all She must regret, today!
19[1]
Right
うつらずはふゆともわかじをみなへしときはのえだにさきかへらなむ
utsurazu wa fuyu to mo wakaji ominaeshi tokiwa no eda ni sakikaeranamu Ever unfading and All unknowing of the winter, O, maidenflower, On evergreen branches I would you returned to bloom!
20
[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 514
Left
かくをしむあきにしあはばをみなへしうつろふことはわすれやはせぬ
kaku oshimu aki ni shi awaba ominaeshi utsurou koto wa wasure ya wa senu If feeling such regret I should encounter autumn, then O, maidenflower, To fade You should not forget, should you?
11
Right
ながきよにたれたのめけむをみなへしひとまつむしのえだごとになく
nagaki yo ni tare tanomekemu ominaeshi hito matsumushi no edagoto ni naku On a long, long night Who is it has made you believe, O, maidenflower? Pining for him while crickets Cry from your every branch…
12[1]
[1] Shinsen man’y ōshū 536; Fubokushō 4231
Left 白雪の降りつもれる山里は人さへやおもひ消ゆらむ[1]
shirayuki no furitsumoreru yamazato wa sumu hito sae ya omoikiyuramu White snow Has fallen, drifted high around The mountain home; Might even he who lives there Be buried in melancholy?
This poem is missing from some texts of the contest and thus is unnumbered.
Right
ひかりまつ枝にかかれる雪をこそ冬の花とはいふべかりけれ
hikari matsu eda ni kakareru yuki o koso fuyu no hana to wa iubekarikere Awaiting the light Upon the branches clings Snow: Winter’s blossom—that’s what It should be called!
144
[1] Kokinshū VI: 328, attributed to Mibu no Tadamine.
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