Rhododendron [sakunamusa].
紫の色にはさくなむさしのの草のゆかりと人もこそ見れ
| murasaki no iro ni Fa saku na musasino no kusa no yukari to Fito mo koso mire | In violet Hues it must bloom not— Lest on Musashi Plain With the grasses a bond Folk, too, imagine! |
Dharma Master Jogan
Jogan alludes to the sentiments expressed in KKS XVII: 867 here.
Original
やまざとはふゆぞさびしさまさりけるひとめもくさもかれぬとおもへば
| yamazato wa fuyu zo sabishisa masarikeru hitome mo kusa mo karenu to omoeba | In a mountain retreat Winter’s loneliness Overwhelms As both folks’ gaze and the grasses, too Have withered away, I feel… |
Minamoto no Toshiyuki
6
Left (Tie)
おほかたのあきはあはれのふかければやまざとならでなほぞかなしき
| ōkata no aki wa aware no fukakereba yamazato narade nao zo kanashiki | In general, when Autumn’s sorrow Is at its deepest ‘Tis not only a mountain retreat That is still sunk in sadness! |
7
Right
やまざとはいつともわかじいとどしくあきはしかこそかなしかるらめ
| yamazato wa itsu to mo wakaji itodoshiku aki wa shika koso kanashikarurame | A mountain retreat Fails to stand out— Most of all In autumn does the stag Seem so sad! |
8
水の泡や種となるらむ浮草のまく人なみの上に生ふれば
| mizu no awa ya tane to naruramu ukikusa no maku hitonami no ue ni oureba | Might the foam upon the waters Be its seeds, perhaps? When the drifting waterweed Twines atop a wave Where it does grow… |
1[i]
山里は冬ぞさびしさまさりける人めも草もかれぬとおもへば
| yamazato wa fuyu zo sabishisa masarikeru hitome mo kusa mo karenu to omoeba | In a mountain retreat Winter’s loneliness Overwhelms As both folks’ gaze and the grasses, too Have withered away, I feel… |
2[ii]
今日人をこふる心はあすか川流るる水に劣らざりけり
| kyō hito o kouru kokoro wa asukagawa nagaruru mizu ni otorazarikeri | Today, for her The love within my heart, By the River Asuka’s Running waters Will not be outdone! |
[i] This poem is included in Shūishū (IX: 524) as an anonymous poem with the headnote ‘Produced but not matched in a poetry contest.’
[ii] This poem is included in Muneyuki-shū (15) with the headnote ‘For a poetry match’.
[iii] This poem is included in Muneyuki-shū (16) with the headnote ‘For a poetry match’.
Round Eight
Left
風さむみゆふかげ草にかくろへてはたおる虫の声聞ゆなり
| kaze samumi yūkage kusa ni kakuroete hataorumushi no koe kikoyu nari | Chill the wind Upon the evening grasses, from Whence, concealed, The crickets’ Cries I hear. |
Chikafusa
15
Right
誰がためとあやめも見えぬ夕ざれにはたおる虫の声聞ゆらん
| ta ga tame to ayame mo mienu yūzare ni hataorumushi no koe kikoyuran | For whose sake Amidst the gloam Of eventide, might The crickets’ Cries I hear? |
Lady Hȳoe
16
At present, ‘Amidst the gloam / Of eventide’ appears to have a bit more conception than ‘the evening grasses, from / Whence, concealed, / The crickets’.
Round Thirty-Seven
Left (Tie)
むば玉のよやふけぬらんさをしかの声すみのぼるをのの草ぶし
| mubatama no yo ya fukenuran saoshika no koe suminoboru ono no kusabushi | Might lily-seed dark Night have fallen? The stag’s Cry clearly climbs From where he lies among the meadow grasses. |
Takasuke
73
Right
秋のよはつまどふ鹿の深山出でていまだ旅なるをのの草ぶし
| aki no yo wa tsumadou shika no miyama idete imada tabi naru ono no kusabushi | On an autumn night, Seeking his bride, the stag Emerges from the mountains’ depths, And now on his travels Lies among the meadow grasses. |
Shimotsuke
74
Left and Right’s ‘lies among the meadow grasses’ have no merits or faults between them. A pleasant tie.
Sent in a letter when one of the lads who was an acolyte of his departed for a distant province, accompanying his father.
わかれぢの草葉をわけむ旅ごろもたつよりかねてぬるるそでかな
| wakaredi no kusaba wo wakemu tabigoromo tatu yori kanete nururu sode kana | Along the path that parts us, Forging through the leafy grasses In your traveller’s garb Since you have left, and before How soaked are my sleeves! |
Dharma Master Yūzen
