Maidens spinning thread
Left
てにかけてくるなつごとにわぎもこがおほくのいとをひきてけるかな
te ni kakete kuru natsu goto ni wagimoko ga ōku no ito o hikitekeru kana Through her hands a’running
7
Right
てもたゆくひきおくいとのたえまなくきみがみちよのさかゆべきかな
te mo tayuku hiki’oku ito no taemanaku kimi ga michiyo no sakayubeki kana Her weary hands
8
‘Maidens spinning’ is about their expertise at it, and is not something that you need to need to ponder over and over like a peasant’s hempen thread or struggle to pull apart like a hardened silk cocoon, but both Left and Right really seem to have spun things out, and I feel that, although there’s an air of elegance to start with, the diction at the end of both poems is confused, so I would make these a tie.
hidari migi hiku te mo tayuku tatsu ito wa izukata e ka wa yorubekaruran Left and Right,
Judge 4
Poems which had been placed in the carriage of the Tenth Prince [Prince Masa’akira 雅明親王 (920-929)]
Original
ことしよりにほひそむめりかすがののわかむらさきにてでなふれそも
kotoshi yori nioisomumeri kasugano no wakamurasaki ni tede na fure so mo From this year
40
Left (Win)
むらさきにてもこそふるれかすがのののもりよひとにわかなつますな
murasaki ni te mo koso furure kasugano no moriyoito ni wakana tsumasu na On the gromwell
41
Right
ちはやぶるかみもしるらむかすがののわかむらさきにたれかてふれむ
chihayaburu kami mo shiruramu kasugano no wakamurasaki ni tare ka te furemu The mighty
42
Topic unknown.
思ふともこふともあはむ物なれやゆふてもたゆくとくるしたひも
omoFu tomo However much I long,
Anonymous
Composed on waiting for the moon by the water at Lord Kinzane’s residence.
夏の夜の月待つ程の手ずさみに岩もる清水いく結びしつ
natsu no yo no On a summer night,
Fujiwara no Mototoshi
Created with Soan .
をみなへしなどかあきしもにほふらむはなのこころをひともしれとか
ominaeshi nadoka aki shimo ni niouramu hana no kokoro o hito mo shire to ka O, maidenflower,
47
てをとらばひとやとがめむをみなへしにほへるのべにやどやからまし
te o toraba hito ya togamemu ominaeshi nioeru nobe ni yado ya karamashi Should I put my hands on you,
48
Fulling cloth late at night (深夜擣衣)
Left
わぎもこがうつ唐衣さよふけてほのかにきこゆいづこなるらん
wagimoko ga utsu karakoromo sayo fukete honoka ni kikoyu izuko naruran My darling girl
Ki no Sukezane
Right
手もたゆく成りやゆくらんさ夜ふかみ衣しでうつ音ののどけさ
ta mo tayuku nari ya yukuran sayo fukami koromo shideutsu oto no nodokesa Is it that her hands so weary
Taira no Sadamoto
Preparing Tribute 貢調
御調物にひくはまゆのいとをもてくる手もたゆくそなへつるかな
mitsukimono The tribute from
Toshiyori
思ひ草葉末に結ぶ白露のたまたまきてば手にもかからず
omoFigusa
The undergrowth’s
Minamoto no Toshiyori
Falling Leaves
はげしさのみ山おろしはてもなくていかで木のはをこきちらすらん
hageshisa no miyamaoroshi wa te mo nakute ikade ko no ha o kokichirasuran Wild is
Minamoto no Toshiyori
'Simply moving and elegant'
