mushi no ne wa mada oru to shimo kikoenu o karanishiki ni mo miyuru mono kana
The insects’ songs Yet weave and even though I hear them not As Cathay brocade Does all appear!
15a
むしのねはまだおるとしもきこえぬをからにしきにもみゆるのべかな
mushi no ne wa mada oru to shimo kikoenu o karanishiki ni mo miyuru nobe kana
The insects’ songs Yet weave and even though I hear them not As Cathay brocade Do the meadows appear!
15b
Right
きる人をのべやしるらんふぢばかまいたづらにのみつゆのおきつつ
kiru hito o nobe ya shiruran fujibakama itazura ni nomi tsuyu no okitsutsu
Folk wearing them Do the meadows know, perhaps? For upon these violet trousers In mischief alone Does the dew keep falling!
16
Rani is a generic term for ‘orchid’ but in waka it was usually equated with eupatorium (a type of aster), which was also called fujibakama, the literal meaning of which was ‘wisteria [coloured] trousers’.
shirakumo no asa tatsu yama no karanishiki eda ni hito mura harukaze zo fuku
Clouds of white Arising with the morning on the mountain: Cathay brocade In a single bunch upon the branch Blown by the breeze of spring! [1]
Supernumerary Major Counsellor Moto’ie 21
Right (Win)
かづらきや嶺の桜のさきしより心の空にかかるしら雲
kazuragi ya mine no sakura no sakishi yori kokoro no sora ni kakaru shirakumo
Upon Kazuragi Peak, the cherries Have bloomed and ever since The heavens of my heart are Draped with clouds of white.
Lord Nobunari 22
The Left’s poem has ‘Arising with the morning on the mountain: Cathay brocade in a single bunch upon the branch’ and, while it mentions spring breezes in its final section and does not fail to reflect the surface appearance of its source poem, conveys a feeling of scarlet leaves without mentioning blossom or cherry, which I have to say is something of a fault. The Right’s poem does not seem poor and lacks any faults worth mentioning, so it should win.
