Blossoming silver grass beckoning folk.[i]
Left
はなすすきまねくたもとのあまたあればゆきもやられずあきのののみち
| hanasusuki maneku tamoto no amata areba yuki mo yararezu akino no michi | Of blossoming silver grass Beckoning sleeves Are there many, so I can go no further on The path across the autumn plains. |
9
Right (Win)
はなすすきまねくたもとやたゆからんはかるのかぜにかへるひとなみ
| hanasususki maneku tamoto ya tayukaran hakaru nokaze ni kaeru hito nami | Have the blossoming silver grass Sleeves their beckoning Ceased, perhaps? For with The deceitful breeze across the plains Returns not a single soul… |
10
[i] 花薄招人
Original
ひとりぬるよをながづきのはなすすきそよともあきのかぜぞこたふる
| hitori nuru yo o nagazuki no hanasusuki soyo to mo aki no kaze zo kotauru | Sleeping alone, How long the night in the Longest Month: The blossoming silver grass Whispers, ‘So it is,’ with the autumn Wind replying! |
45
Left
こたふともたのまざらなむはなすすきふくあきかぜのさだめなければ
| kotau tomo tanomazaranamu hanasusuki fuku akikaze no sadame nakereba | It may reply, but I would not have you trust, for The blossoming silver grass Blowing in the autumn wind is Fickle, indeed… |
46
Right
そよとだにしりてこたふるかぜしあらばなにかながきよおもひわぶらん
| soyo to dani shirite kotauru kaze shi araba nanika nagaki yo omoiwaburan | If, ‘So it is,’ You know and reply, O, wind, then Why, all the long night through Do my thoughts torment me so? |
47
Original
ゆくあきをまねくをばなのたもとにはつゆもおきあへずのどけからねば
| yuku aki o maneku obana no tamoto ni wa tsuyu mo oki’aezu nodokekaraneba | Departing autumn Beckoning, upon the silver grass Sleeves The dew cannot fall, For tranquil they are not… |
36
Left
まねくにしあきのとまらぬものならばをばなのそでやせばくなりなん
| maneku ni shi aki no tomaranu mono naraba obana no sode ya sebaku narinan | They may beckon, but Autumn will not linger, So, The silver grass sleeves Narrow will become… |
37
Right
まねけどもとまらぬあきをはなすすきほにいでてしかをなきてしたはむ
| manekedomo tomaranu aki o hanasusuki ho ni idete shika o nakite shitawamu | They beckon, yet Autumn does not linger for The silver grass, Bursting into bloom, as the stags Cry out, as I would, too… |
38
Round Fourteen
Left
つれもなき人にみせばや花薄うらなく風に靡くけしきを
| tsure mo naki hito ni miseba ya hanasusuki uranaku kaze ni nabiku keshiki o | To that cruel Girl would I show The flowering silver grass, In the artless wind Inclining… |
Lord Masakane, Controller and Head Chamberlain
27
Right
くる人も絶えぬる宿の糸すすきほに出て誰を招くなるらん
| kuru hito mo taenuru yado no itosusuki ho ni idete tare o maneku naruran | His visits have Ceased to this house, so The slender silver grass Bursting into bud—who Might it be beckoning? |
Tadasue
28
The Left’s poem, up to ‘would I show’ is poetic, but I do not feel that the expression ‘In the artless wind / Inclining’ is elegant. For the topic of love, it seems to me that both the beginning and the end of the poem is a slight case of ‘As a bamboo stalk / Has joints, from years gone by old-fashioned phrases’ lingering! The Right’s ‘Ceased to this house, so / The slender silver grass’ lacks anything remarkable about it, and seems excessively overgrown, so it’s impossible to decide on anyone as the winner or loser here.
Silver Grass and the Same
Round Thirteen
Left
ほに出てもなどかひもなき花薄思ひこめてぞ有るべかりける
| ho ni idetemo nadoka kai mo naki hanasusuki omoikomete zo arubekarikeru | My feelings burst from bud, but Somehow, to no avail at all, O, blossoming silver grass! Keeping them closed up— That’s what I should have done! |
Major Archbishop
25
Right
うしとのみ人の心はいはれ野にまねくすすきを何か頼まん
| ushi to nomi hito no kokoro wa iwareno ni maneku susuki o nanika tanoman | Simply cruel is That girl’s heart— Upon Iware Plain In the beckoning silver grass How can I place my trust? |
Head
26
Left and Right appear to be of about the same standard.
