Silver grass
Left (Tie)
はなすすきほにいづるをのはしらくものあさゐるとのみあやまたれけり
| hanasusuki ho ni izuru ono wa shirakumo no asa iru to nomi ayamatarekeri | Silver grass Fronds appear upon the plains For clouds of white Spreading through the morning, simply Have I mistaken them. |
Ariwara no Suetaka
15
Right
はなすすきほのくれがたのつゆけきはうきよのなかをそよとしればか
| hanasusuki ho no kuregata no tsuyukeki wa ukiyo no naka o soyo to shireba ka | The silver grass Fronds at twilight Are dew-drenched— That this cruel world Is so, I wonder if they know? |
Fujiwara no Aritoki
16
Round Ten
Left (Win)
色色に心ぞうつる秋ののは露もあだなる花しなければ
| iroiro ni kokoro zo utsuru aki no no wa tsuyu mo adanaru hana shi nakereba | From one to another My heart does shift, for In the autumn meadows Even a slightly unattractive Bloom is there not a one… |
Master Shinkaku
19
Right
花すすき風のけしきにしたがひて心おこらぬ人なまねきそ
| hanasusuki kaze no keshiki ni shitagaite kokoro okoranu hito na maneki so | O, silver grass! The feelings of the wind Follow, and Folk whose hearts will not be moved Beckon not! |
Lay Priest and Supernumerary Director of the Bureau of Horses, Right Division Sanekiyo
20
The Left, in terms of both conception and diction seems to be much better composed than the Right.
Round Two
Left (Win)
花すすき誰ともわかずまねくにも心をとむる我やなになり
| hanasusuki tare tomo wakazu maneku ni mo kokoro o tomuru wa ya nani nari | The silver grass fronds Care not who They beckon, yet Entranced What am I to them them? |
Lord Taira no Tsunemori, Assistant Master of the Dowager Empress’ Household
3
Right
あだにおく夜のまの露にむすぼほれて思ひしほるる女郎花かな
| ada ni oku yo no ma no tsuyu ni musubōrete omoishioruru ominaeshi kana | Faithlessly falling In the night, the dewdrops Have drenched The dejected Maidenflower! |
Former Minor Captain, Lord Fujiwara no Kinshige
4
This round the poems, again, are equal in quality, but the Right’s use of ‘dejected’ as a piece of diction is vague, and in the absence of a prior example of usage, the Left should win.
Topic unknown.
花すすき草のたもとをかりぞなくなみだの露やおき所なき
| hanasusuki kusa no tamoto o kari zo naku namida no tsuyu ya okidokoro naki | The flowering miscanthus Grass cuffs Reaped and wept Tears of dew Have no place to fall.[i] |
Consultant Masatsune
[i] An allusive variation on KKS IV: 243.
Silver Grass
Left
ひとしれずおひぬものから花すすきなどかあきしもほにはいづらん
| hito shirezu oinu mono kara hanasusuki nado ka aki shimo ho ni wa izuran | Unknown to all Does grow The silver grass, so Why with the autumn frosts Might the fronds emerge? |
3
Right
まねくかとみてたちよれば花すすきうちふくかぜになびくなりけり
| maneku ka to mite tachiyoreba hanasusuki uchifuku kaze ni nabiku narikeri | Wondering at being beckoned, I gazed, and then drew near to The silver grass, but The gusting wind Was trailing ‘cross it! |
4
Left
はなすすきそよともすれば秋風の吹くかとぞきくひとり寝る夜は
| hanasusuki soyo tomo sureba akikaze no fuku ka to zo kiku hitori nuru yo wa | When the silver grass fronds Rustle all together, I wonder if ‘tis our autumn wind Blowing that I hear, Tonight, as I sleep alone… |
104[1]
Right
音にきく花見にくれば秋の野のみちさまだけにたちわたりつつ
| oto ni kiku hana mi ni kureba aki no no no michisamadake ni tachiwataritsutsu | I have heard of These blooms I have come to see, so The autumn meadows Blocking my way Will I ever rise to cross… |
105
[1] Gosenshū VII: 353
