Bird cherry.
ゆきふかきかきねのむめのいかにしてなほうづもれぬかにはさくらん
| yuki fukaki kakine no mume no ika ni shite nao uzumorenu ka ni wa sakuran | Deep with the snow is The plum blossom by my brushwood fence: O, what will become of it— Still buried Will its fragrance bloom forth? |
The Former Kinugasa Minister of the Centre [Kinugasa no Ieyoshi 衣笠家良 (1192-1264)]
衣笠前内大臣
For a folding screen for the residence of Minister of the Right Tsunesuke.
野辺見ればわかなつみけりむべしこそかきねの草もはるめきにけれ
| nobe mireba wakana tumikeri mube si koso kakine no kusa mo Farumekinikeri | When I gaze upon the meadows, and Have picked fresh herbs Indeed, indeed The grasses along my brushwood fence Have grown most springlike! |
Tsurayuki
Summer
Left
夏くればかみにあふひの草つみてかざしにいのるひとにばかりぞ
| natsu kureba kami ni aoi no kusa tsumite kazashi ni inoru hito ni bakari zo | When the summer comes For the God, hollyhocks Are plucked, and for a Prayer placed in the hair of All folk, every one! |
7
夏草も茂りにければ駿河なる田子のうらなへ今やひくらん
| natsu kusa mo shigerinikereba suruga naru tago no ura nae ima ya hikuran | The summer grasses, too, Have grown lush, so As Suruga’s Tago Bay, Do they now extend their charm? |
8
夏虫のやどるにまつは色ならで春秋空にうつろひやする
| natsumushi no yadoru ni matsu wa iro narade haru aki sora ni utsuroi ya suru | The summer insects Lodge upon the pines Unchanging hues; Is it the spring and autumn skies Which fade away? |
9
Right
卯花の咲く夏の夜はやみなれどかきねにやどる月かとぞみる
| u no hana no saku natsu no yo wa yami naredo kakine ni yadoru tsuki ka to zo miru | The deutzia flowers Bloom upon a summer night ‘Tis dark, yet Lodged upon my brushwood fence I wonder if I see the moon? |
10
五月きぬことかたらはむほととぎす君にあふちの花も咲きけり
| satsuki kinu koto katarawamu hototogisu kimi ni auchi no hana mo sakikeri | That the Fifth Month has come Is announced by The cuckoo: For you, the chinaberry Blossoms, too, have bloomed. |
11
空蝉のからにはあらで置く露の身をあらたむる心なるべし
| utsusemi no kara ni wa arade oku tsuyu no mi o aratamuru kokoro narubeshi | A cicada’s shed Shell I am not, for The dripping dew Does refresh my flesh, or So my heart seems to feel. |
12
A profusion of deutzia flowers in full bloom
Left
白妙に卯花さけるかきねをばつもりし雪とおもひけるかな
| shirotae ni u no hana sakeru kakine o ba tsumorishi yuki to omoikeru kana | A spread of white mulberry cloth, The deutzias have bloomed Along my brushwood fence Drifting snow is piled, or So it seems! |
Minamoto no Narikata
13
Right
みわたせばたかねののべのうつぎ原みな白妙にさきにけるかな
| miwatseba takane no nobe no utsugiwara mina shirotae ni sakinikeru kana | When I gaze across The high-peak meadows A field of deutzia, All as white as mulberry cloth, Have bloomed there. |
Ōe no Fumi’ichi
14
Left (Tie).
涙せく袖のよそめは竝べどもわすれずやともいふひまぞなき
| namida seku sode no yosome wa narabedomo wasurezu ya to mo iu hima zo naki |
Tears are dammed upon My sleeves, and within eyesight Does she sit arrayed, but ‘Have you not forgotten me?’ – To ask that, I have no chance! |
Lord Sada’ie
883
Right.
梅が枝の末越す中の垣根より思ふ心や色に見えまし
| ume ga e no sue kosu naka no kakine yori omou kokoro ya iro ni miemashi |
The plum branches’ Tips cross beyond Her fence, so Will the love within my heart Appear plain before her? |
Jakuren
884
Both teams state there are no faults with their opponent’s poem.
In judgement: the Gentlemen of both Left and Right have stated that there are no faults with the style of either poem. I accept that and will make this round a tie.
Left.
片山の垣根の日影ほのみえて露にぞうつる花の夕顔
| katayama no kakine no hikage honomiete tsuyu ni zo utsuru hana no yūgao |
Facing the single mountainside In evening sunlight upon the fence Faintly seen, Glistening with dew, Is a bloom of moonflower. |
265
Right (Win).
折てこそ見るべかりけれ夕露に紐とく花の光ありとは
| orite koso mirubekarikere yū tsuyu ni himo toku hana no hikari ari to wa |
Plucked, that I might gaze upon her, Touched with evening dew, Her belt undoing, this blossom Is lustrous, indeed! |
The Provisional Master of the Empress’ Household Office.
266
The Right wonder whether the Left’s poem, ‘lacks the emotional import of the topic [dai no kokoro kasuka ni ya], despite the mention of moonflowers?’ The Left counter that, ‘The Right’s poem simplistically recalls The Tale of Genji [genji no monogatari bakari o omoeru]– is this appropriate in a poetry contest [uta’awase no akashi to nasu ni, ikaga]?’
Shunzei states, ‘The Left certainly does lack the emotional import of the topic. Moreover, it does not use the expression “moonflower blossom” (yūgao no hana), but “bloom of moonflower” (hana no yūgao). This, too, is contrary to the topic [dai no mama narade] and, I have to say, an unusual choice of expression. The Right’s poem does simply refer to The Tale of Genji, but in form it cannot be said to be anything less than superb [utazama yū narazaru ni wa arazaru]. It is superior to a “bloom of moonflower”.’