The End of Autumn
Left
あきやまはからくれなゐになりにけりいくしほしぐれふりてそめけむ
akiyama wa karakurenai ni narinikeri iku shioshigure furitesomekemu The autumn mountains To Cathay scarlet Have turned; How many dippings with drizzle Have fallen to dye them so?
15
Right (Win)
さほやまのははそのもみぢうすけれどあきはふかくもなりにけるかな
saoyama no hahaso no momiji usukeredo aki wa fukaku mo narinikeru kana On Sao Mountain The oak trees autumn leaves Are pale in hue, yet Most deep has autumn Become!
Korenori 16
Autumn
Round Seven
Left
秋山はからくれなゐに成りにけりいくしほしぐれふりてそめけん
akiyama wa karakurenai ni narinikeri iku shio shigure furite someken The autumn mountains To Cathay scarlet Have turned; How many dippings with drizzle Have fallen to dye them so?
13[1]
Right (Win)
秋きぬとめにはさやかにみえねども風の音にぞおどろかれぬる
aki kinu to me ni wa sayaka ni mienedomo kaze no oto ni zo odorokarenuru That autumn has come With my eyes, clearly, I cannot see, yet The sound of the wind Has startled me.
Fujiwara no Toshiyuki 14[2]
[1] Shokugosenshū VII: 429
[2] This poem was particularly highly evaluated and so is included in numerous other anthologies (Kokin rokujō I: 125), exemplary collections (Shinsen waka 2) and senka awase – contests assembled from prior poems (Shunzei sanjū roku nin uta’awase 61; Jidai fudō uta’awase 49).
Scarlet leaves dyed with dew (露染紅葉)
Left
白露のそむる紅葉のいかなればから紅にふかくみゆらん
shiratsuyu no somuru momiji no ikanareba karakurenai ni fukaku miyuran When silver dewdrops Stain the autumn leaves What happens, but Their scarlet hues Seem all the deeper.
A Court Lady 23
Right
いかにおくしら露なれば紅葉ばのくれなゐふかく色をそむらん
ika ni oku shiratsuyu nareba momijiba no kurenai fukaku iro o somuran How can they fall— These silver dewdrops—so The autumn leaves with Ever deeper scarlet Hues are dyed?
A Court Lady 24
'Simply moving and elegant'