しら露はわきてもおかじをみなへし心からにや色のそむらむ
shiratsuyu wa wakite mo okaji ominaeshi kokoro kara ni ya iro no somuramu | Silver dewdrops Fall where they will, so Surely, ’tis the maidenflower’s Own heart that Stains her with such hues? |
Michinaga
His Majesty, Former Emperor Yōzei, held a match on the topic of ‘Love and Summer Insects’.
Left (Tie)
いたづらにみはなるてへどなつむしのおもひはえこそはなれざりけれ
itazura ni mi hanarute hedo natsumushi no omoi wa e koso hanarezarikere | Pointlessly Did I spend my days apart from you, yet As the fireflies, The burning of my passionate thoughts I could not leave behind! |
1
Right
みをすててひとつおもひにこがれたるこころぞなつのむしにまされる
mi o sutete hitotsu omoi ni kogaretaru kokoro zo natsu no mushi ni masareru | Abandoning all restraint, But one fiery passion Chars My heart—the fire Flies does it exceed! |
2
Left
ひとこふとはかなきしにをわれやせんみのあらばこそのちもあひみめ
hito kou to hakanaki shini o ware ya sen mi no araba koso nochi mo aimime | Loving her was Brief, so is die What I should do? If I live on then I might meet her later! |
64
Right
ゆふさればやまのはにいづるつきくさのうつしごころはきみにそめてき
yū sareba yama no ha ni izuru tsukikusa no utsushigokoro wa kimi ni someteki | When the evening comes From the mountains’ edge emerges Moongrass—just as My loving heart has Been dyed by you. |
65
Left (Tie)
たれによりおもひくだくるこころぞはしらぬぞひとのつらさなりける
tare ni yori omoi’kudakuru kokoro zo wa shiranu zo hito no tsurasa narikeru | For who is it that Love should distraught make My heart? That she realises not reveals Her cruelty! |
Mitsune
53
Right
はづかしのもりのはつかにみしものをなどしたくさのしげきこひなる
hazukashi no mori no hatsuka ni mishi mono o nado shitakusa no shigeki koi naru | Shyly in Hazukashi Forest, briefly Did I glimpse her, so Why as undergrowth So lush has my love grown? |
Mitsune
54
Love
Five poems, stopping at five
Left (Win)
なみだがはいかなるみづかながるらんなどわがこひをけすひとのなき
namidagawa ika naru mizu ka nagaruran nado wa ga koi o kesu hito no naki | In the River of Tears What sort of water is it That does flow? Why is it that my love’s burn To extinguish is there no one? |
Okikaze
51
Right
みをもかへおもふものからこひといへばもゆるなかにもいるこころかな
mi o mo kae omou mono kara koi to ieba moyuru naka ni iru kokoro kana | Staking my life is Often in my thoughts, but Within the fires of love, Burning, Does my heart lie! |
Okikaze
52
Ten Poems on the Third Month
Left (Tie)
みてかへるこころあかねばさくらばなさけるあたりにやどやからまし
mitekaeru kokoro akaneba sakurabana sakeru atari ni yado ya karamashi | Seeing you and returning home Leaves my heart unsated, O, cherry blossom! In the place where you do bloom is Where I would borrow lodging… |
Okikaze
21
Right
しののめにおきてみつればさくらばなまだよをこめてちりにけるかな
shinonome ni okite mitsureba sakurabana mada yo o komete chirinikeru kana | At the edge of dawn, When I arise to gaze upon The cherry blossoms Within the night’s span Have they scattered! |
Yorimoto
22
The Right’s poem was just as His Majesty said: ‘It expresses affection for the blossom through gazing and gazing upon them.’ When it was suggested to him that the work produced by Lord Sadakata and Lord Noboru conveyed the same overall impression, he took his time to consider the matter, then said, ‘In that case,’ and made the round a tie.
Left (Win)
はるかぜのふかぬよにだにあらませばこころのどかにはなはみてまし
harukaze no fukanu yo ni dani aramaseba kokoro nodoka ni hana wa mitemashi | The spring breezes Not blowing of an evening—if only That were so, then With peace in my heart I would view the blossom |
His Majesty
11
Right
ちりぬともありとたのまむさくらばなはるはすぎぬとわれにきかすな
chirinu tomo ari to tanomamu sakurabana haru wa suginu to ware ni kikasu na | You have fallen, yet That you are here, I will believe, O, cherry blossom! That spring is past— Don’t tell me that! |
12
‘The Left’s poem is my own—it really should lose, shouldn’t it?’
Evergreens
ちりかはる心なけれどみやまぎのときはは秋もしられざりけり
chirikawaru kokoro nakeredo miyamagi no tokiwa wa aki mo shirarezarikeri | A flighty Heart, has it not, yet Deep within the mountains, that the trees Are evergreen, even the autumn Seems not to know… |
19
Gentian
した草の花をみつればむらさきに秋さへふかくなりにけるかな
shitagusa no hana o mitsureba murasaki ni aki sae fukaku narinikeru kana | When in the undergrowth Flowers I do see, their Violet in Autum much deeper Has become! |
20
Scarlet leaves
Left
つねよりもはやきもみぢはしらつゆのわきて心をおけるとやみん
tsune yori mo hayaki momiji wa shiratsuyu no wakite kokoro o okeru to ya min | Earlier than Usual upon the scarlet leaves Have silver dewdrops Burst—is it my heart that With them seems to fall? |
15
Right
もみぢばのながれてせけばやまがははあさきよりなほみづやひぬらん
momijiba no nagarete sekeba yamagawa wa asaki yori nao mizu ya hinuran | Scarlet leaves Flow down and block A mountain stream, so Shallower than ever do Its waters seem to fall? |
16