Topic unknown.
山がつのかきねにさける卯の花はたが白妙の衣かけしぞ
| yamagatu no kakine ni sakeru unoFana Fa ta ga sirotaFe no koromo kakesi zo | By the woodcutter’s Brushwood fence a’blooming Deutzia: Whose white mulberry Robes are hung there? |
Anonymous[1]
[1] This poem is a minor variant on Sahyōe no suke sadafumi uta’awase 11, which is attributed to Ōshikochi no Mitsune.
Moon
Round One
Left (Tie)
月きよみながむる人の心さへ雲井にすめる秋の夜はかな
| tsuki kiyomi nagamuru hito no kokoro sae kumoi ni sumeru aki no yowa kana | The moon, so pure, that Gazing folk feel Their very hearts Clearly in the heavens On an autumn midnight! |
Lord Shige’ie
49
Right
のこるべきかきねの雪は先消えてほかはつもるとみゆる月かな
| nokorubeki kakine no yuki wa mazu kiete hoka wa tsumoru to miyuru tsuki kana | It should be lingering On my brushwood fence, but the snow First vanishes, then Piling up elsewhere Appears moonlight! |
Lord Yorimasa
50
The Left seems extremely commonplace, and simply ending ‘autumn midnight’ feels incomplete. As for the Right, what does it mean to say that ‘the snow upon my brushwood fence first vanishes’? Might it mean that because of the fence’s shadow, the moon’s light cannot be seen? It really sounds as if the poet has gone too far in his quest for unusual expressions. Then there’s ‘piling up elsewhere’ along with ‘autumn midnight’—neither of these sound superior, so it’s impossible to say which poem is.
Deutzia
わがやどのかきねにさける卯花のうきことしげき世にこそ有りけれ
| wa ga yado no kakine ni sakeru unohana no uki koto shigeki yo ni koso arikere | At my house Upon the brushwood fence bloom Deutzia flowers— Sad things, alone, grow well Indeed, in this world of ours! [i] |
[i] An allusive variation on: On blossom. うぐひすのかよふかきねのうのはなのうきことあれやきみがきまさぬ uguisu no / kayou kakine no / unohana no / uki koto are ya / kimi ga kimasanu ‘The warbler / Flits around my brushwood fence’s / Deutzia blooms— / Is there some sad event which / Stops my Lord from coming?’ Anonymous (MYS X: 1988).
Round Six
Left (Win)
梅の花をりてかざせば二月の雪は衣におつるなりけり
| ume no hana orite kazaseba kisaragi no yuki wa koromo ni otsuru narikeri | When plum blossom I pluck and wear within my hair, Second Month Snows upon my robe Do fall! |
Masashige
11
Right
時ならぬ卯花ともやおもはましかきねの梅のかをらざりせば
| toki naranu u no hana tomo ya omowamashi kakine no ume no ka orazariseba | Unseasonal Deutzia blooms might I think them? Did the plum by my lattice fence Fail to scent the air… |
Atsuyori
12
The Left is not lacking in conception.
Plum
Round Three
Left (Tie)
あしがきのおくゆかしくもみゆるかな誰がすむ宿の梅の立えぞ
| ashigaki no oku yukashiku mo miyuru kana ta ga sumu yado no ume no tachie zo | A fence of reeds and Within, how charming They appear! Who is it dwells at this house of Beckoning branches of plum? |
Lord Kiyosuke
5
Right
ひばりあがる春の日ぐらし袖たれてかきねの梅の花みるわれは
| hibari agaru haru no higurashi sode tarete kakine no ume no hana miru ware wa | Skylarks soar In springtime all day long, Dangling my sleeves, upon The plum inside the lattice fence, At the blossom gaze I… |
Kenshō
6
The Left is in cliched style, while the final line of the Right is interrupted—a tie, I think.
On blossom.
鶯之 徃来垣根乃 宇能花之 猒事有哉 君之不来座
うぐひすのかよふかきねのうのはなのうきことあれやきみがきまさぬ
| ugupisu no kayopu kakine no unopana no uki koto are ya kimi ga kimasanu | The warbler Flits around my brushwood fence’s Deutzia blooms— Is there some sad event which Stops my Lord from coming? |
Anonymous
Left
夏夜のまだもねなくにあけぬれば昨日今日ともおもひまどひぬ
| natsu no yo no mada mo nenaku ni akenureba kinō kyō tomo omoimadoinu | On a summer night, Still sleep has eluded me, When dawn breaks— Is it yet yesterday, or today, I wonder in confusion. |
74
Right
うのはなのさけるかきねは白雲のおりゐるとこそあやまたれけれ
| u no hana no sakeru kakine wa shirakumo no ori’iru to koso ayamatarekere | Deutzia flowers Are blooming by the brushwood fence— Clouds of white Have descended there, I think— How strange… |
75