Round Four
Left (Win)
あけぬるか霞の衣たちかへり猶君が代の春をまつかな
| akenuru ka kasumi no koromo tachikaeri nao kimi ga yo no haru o matsu kana | Is it the breaking dawn that Hazy raiment Casts back? Ever for my Lord’s reign’s Springtime do I pine! |
Novice Dōchin
7
Right
天の戸のあけゆく空はうれしきを猶はれやらず立つ霞かな
| ama no to no akeyuku sora wa ureshiki o nao hareyarazu tatsu kasumi kana | That Heaven’s door Opens to brighten the sky— What joy, but Still, never clearing is The rising haze! |
Dharma Master Nyogan
8
The Left poem’s links with celebration are certainly not something praiseworthy, but I am unable to accept the Right’s ‘joy’. Thus, the Left wins.
Wisteria
Left (Win)
おくつゆのひかりてたまぞみえまがふちのはながらにきえずもあらなむ
| oku tsuyu no hikarite tama zo miemagau chi no ha nagara ni kiezu mo aranamu | The fallen dewdrops Shine like gems Within my sight; From the budding leaves I would they vanished not! |
21
Right
あまつそらてりみくもりみゆくつきのふちのはなどはさやけかるらん
| ama tsu sora terimi kumorimi yuku tsuki no fuchi no ha nado wa sayakekaruran | Through the heaven-bound skies Shining, then clouding, Goes the moon, so Why, by this deep pool’s edge Should it show so clear? |
Fukayabu
22
Left
秋のよのあまてる月の光にはおく白露を玉とこそ見れ
| aki no yo no ama teru tsuki no hikari ni wa oku shiratsuyu o tama to koso mire | On an autumn night The heaven-shining moon’s Light upon The fallen silver dewdrops Truly, makes them seem as jewels. |
98[1]
Right
あきののにおける露をばひとりぬる我が涙とも思ひしれかし
| aki no no ni okeru tsuyu oba hitori nuru wa ga namida to mo omoishire kashi | Upon the autumn fields Drop dewdrops; Sleeping alone, My tears— Think on them, why don’t you! |
99
[1] Shinchokusenshū V: 281/Shinsen man’yōshū 95
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Empress Dowager during the reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.
秋のよのあまてる月の光にはおく白露を玉とこそ見れ
| aki no yo no ama teru tsuki no hikari ni wa oku shiratsuyu o tama to koso mire | On an autumn night The heaven-shining moon’s Light upon The fallen silver dewdrops Truly, makes them seem as jewels. |
Anonymous
