Left
をしとおもふいのちにかへてあかつきのわかれのみちはいかでやめてむ
| oshi to omou inochi ni kaete akatsuki no wakare no michi wa ikade yametemu | Filled with regret, This life I would exchange: On dawn’s Parting path How can I stop my steps? |
30
Right
あけぬとてあかずしきみをわかるればこころはゆかぬものにざりける
| akenu tote akazu shi kimi o wakarureba kokoro wa yukanu mono ni zarikeru | When at dawn, Unsatisfied, from you, my love, I part, My heart goes nowhere At all! |
31
Round Eleven
Left (T – Win; M – Tie)
逢ふことをその年月と契らねば命や恋の限なるらむ
| au koto o sono toshitsuki to chigiraneba inochi ya koi no kagiri naruramu | That we might meet For months and years She has not promised, so My life will my love’s Limit be, no doubt! |
Lord Shigemoto
69
Right
よとともにもえこそわたれ我が恋は不二の高根のけぶりならねど
| yo to tomo ni moe koso watare wa ga koi wa fuji no takane no keburi naranedo | With the coming of the night Ever burning is My love, though From Fuji’s peak Smoke it is not… |
Lord Toshitaka
70
Toshiyori states: the first poem doesn’t seem bad. The second poem nothing but cliched. Thus, the first poem should win.
Mototoshi states: while love lasting lifelong without even a promise to meet over years and months is a painfully moving conception, someone burning every night is dear, too. Thus, it’s not inferior and these are of the same quality.
Round Thirty-Three
Left (Tie)
人数にあらずなるみのうらに又老の浪さへよるぞかなしき
| hito kazu ni arazu narumi no ura ni mata oi no nami sae yoru zo kanashiki | Numbered among proper folk I am not, as at Narumi Bay, yet again do cruel Waves of age Break—so sad! |
Lord Kinshige
65
Right
うきながらなほをしまるる命かな後の世とてもたのみなければ
| ukinagara nao oshimaruru inochi kana nochi no yo tote mo tanominakereba | In constant suffering Still do I regret This life! For even in the world to come Can I place no trust… |
Moromitsu
66
Neither has any parts I can’t understand.
Round Twenty-Six
Left
恋ひしなんいのちを誰にゆづりおきてつれなき人のはてをみせまし
| koishinan inochi o tare ni yuzuri’okite tsurenaki hito no hate o misemashi | Likely dying of love, My life, to whom should I Consign? That cruel girl’s Ending—would that show it to her? |
Shun’e
51
Right (Win)
つれもなき人はおもひもすてられでうき身のみこそなげまほしけれ
| tsure mo naki hito wa omoi mo suterarede ukimi no mi koso nagemahoshikere | So cruel is That girl, but my passion for her I cannot abandon; It is my pitiful self that I would wish to throw away! |
Kenshō
52
The Left isn’t bad, but it’s a bit cliched. As for the Right, having both ‘abandon’ and ‘throw away’ could be a fault and yet the conception of one ‘abandoning passion’ is different. Whichever way you look at it, it wins.
Round Eight
Left (Tie)
うき世をば又なににかはなぐさめん花にさきだついのちともがな
| ukiyo oba mata nani ni ka wa nagusamen hana ni sakidatsu inochi to mogana | In this cruel world Is there yet anything else To console me? Before the blossoms’ departure I would my life do the same… |
Court Lady Taifu
15
Right
桜さく春の山風みねこせば雪ふりつもる谷のほそみち
| sakura saku haru no yamakaze mine koseba yuki furitsumoru tani no hosomichi | When in cherry-blooming Spring, the mountain breezes Cross the peaks Snow falls and piles high Upon the narrow valley paths. |
Moromitsu
16
Both poems are smooth, and on that basis, I would say that the Right is superior, but it has an archaic element, while the Left lacks anything unusual about it, so this is a tie of quality.
Topic unknown.
おもひわびさてもいのちはあるものをうきにたへぬは涙なりけり
| omoi’wabi sate mo inoti Fa aru mono wo uki ni taenu Fa namida narikeri | Burning with the pain of love, At least life is Something that I have, but Unable to endure her cruelty Are my tears. |
Monk Dōin
Composed on the last day of the Third Month.
いのちあらばまたもあひなむ春なれどしのびがたくてくらしつるかな
| inochi araba mata mo ainamu haru naredo shinobigatakute kurashitsuru kana | If I live I might once more meet with The springtime, yet How hard that is to recall Amid the dark! |
Minister of Central Affairs, Prince Tomohira
I had asked that Master of Discipline Kōkaku be accorded the honour of the role of reader at the ceremony for the recitation of the Vimalakīrti nirdeśa Sutra, and when he was constantly passed over, had complained to the Hosshōji Lay Priest and former Palace Minister; even though he mentioned ‘Shimeji plain’, the following year Kōkaku was once more passed over, so I composed this and sent it to him.
契りおきしさせもが露をいのちにてあはれことしの秋もいぬめり
| tigiri okisi sasemo ga tuyu wo inoti nite aFare kotosi no aki mo inumeri | A promise dropped, as Dewfall on the mugwort— Such is life, so Miserable, this year’s Autumn must arrive. |
Fujiwara no Mototoshi
