Topics
| Plum | Willow | Blossoming Cherry | Bird Cherry |
| Chinaberry | Taiwan Cherry | Garden Cherry | Peach Blossom |
| Rock Azalea | Mulberry Blossom | Snowbell Blossom | Smilax Blossom |
| Maple | Sand Pear Blossom | Fox Willow | Budding Azalea |
| Waterweed | Kerria Blooms | Wisteria Blooms |
The event was held in the Lady of the Bedchamber’s private apartment, presenting poems on blossoms at the palace. Poems were not presented for the Right.
Plum
かをとめてをりこそしつれむめの花春の霞は立ちかくせども
| ka o tomete ori koso shitsure mume no hana haru no kasumi wa tachikakusedomo | To hold their fragrance here, Indeed, have I picked Plum blossoms, though The haze of spring Arise to hide them from my sight… |
1
In the Twelfth Month of Kempō 5 [January 1218], I stayed at a monk’s cell at the Eifukuji on account of a directional taboo. When I returned home the following morning, I left behind a jacket
春まちてかすみの袖にかさねよと霜のころものおきてこそゆけ
| haru machite kasumi no sode ni kasaneyo to shimo no koromo no okite koso yuke | Awaiting the springtime, Sleeves of haze, O, layer up! A frosty robe I leave you as I go! |
388
Round Eight
Left (Win)
朝まだきたつや霞の波まより昨日はみえし淡路島山
| asa madaki tatsu ya kasumi no namima yori kinō mieshi awajishima yama | Early in the morning, Breaking, haze From between the waves, rather than Yesterday’s sight of The mountains of Awaji Isle… |
Fujiwara no Tomoshige
15
Right
さえ残る雪げの春の朝霞かすむ名のみや空に立つらん
| saenokoru yukige no haru no asagasumi kasumu na nomi sora ni tatsuran | Do chilly remnants of Snowmelt in spring Make morning haze’s Blur in name alone Drift into the skies? |
Dharma Master Zenshin
16
The Left’s ‘Yesterday’s sight of the mountains of Awaji Isle’ sounds pleasant. The Right’s ‘Blur in name alone drift into the skies’ does not sound bad, but thinking of the conception of the topic, haze in name only is a bit inferior, isn’t it? Thus, the Left wins.
Round Seven
Left (Tie)
けさはまたそれともみえず淡路島霞のしたに浦風ぞ吹く
| kesa wa mata sore tomo miezu awajishima kasumi no shita ni urakaze zo fuku | This morning, once again, I cannot that clearly see Awaji Isle, but Beneath the haze The winds are blowing o’er the beach! |
Chikanari, Ranked without Office
13
Right
春霞なびく朝けの塩風にあらぬけぶりや浦に立つらん
| harugasumi nabiku asake no shiokaze ni aranu keburi ya ura ni tatsuran | Spring haze Trails over with the morn— Salt-fire breezes It is not, yet does smoke Seem to rise across the bay? |
Ie’kiyo, Ranked without Office
14
Both Left and Right don’t seem bad. I make them a tie.
Left (Tie)
山のはに有明の月の残らずは霞にあくる空をみましや
| yama no ha ni ariake no tsuki no nokorazu wa kasumi ni akuru sora o mimashi ya | Upon the mountains’ edge Had the moon at dawn Not lingered, then On the brightening, hazy Sky would I have turned my gaze? |
Shō
11
Right
朝戸あけてながめなれたる明ぼのの霞ばかりに春を知るかな
| asa to akete nagamenaretaru akebono no kasumi baraki ni haru o shiru kana | With morn, opening my door, and Accustomed to gazing At the dawn The haze is all that Tells me ‘tis spring![1] |
Nagatsuna, Ranked without Office
12
The Left’s poem has ‘would I wish to see the skies brightening with haze’, which does not seem bad, but the initial line drop ‘dawn’ and the latter part ‘brightening with haze’ which is a bit dubious; the Right’s poem really has nothing special about it. The poems are comparable and tie.
[1] An allusive variation on GSS V: 249.
Round 5
Left (Win)
朝日影まだ出でやらぬ足引の山はかすみの色ぞうつろふ
| asahi kage mada ideyaranu ashihiki no yama wa kasumi no iro zo utsurou | The morning sunlight Has yet to fall upon The leg-wearying Mountains, yet the haze’s Hues are shifting. |
Takasuke, Gentleman-in-Waiting
9
Right
山姫のかすみのそでも紅に光そへたる朝日影かな
| yamahime no kasumi no sode mo kurenai ni hikari soetaru asahi kage kana | The mountain princess has Her sleeves of haze turned Scarlet Draped with light by The morning sunshine! |
Shimotsuke
10
The Left’s poem has no faults worth pointing out; the poem of the Right’s ‘morning sunlight draping scarlet light across the sleeves of haze’ is overly gorgeous, I think, while the Left seems perfectly beautiful, so it should win.
Round Four
Left (Win)
あけぬるか霞の衣たちかへり猶君が代の春をまつかな
| akenuru ka kasumi no koromo tachikaeri nao kimi ga yo no haru o matsu kana | Is it the breaking dawn that Hazy raiment Casts back? Ever for my Lord’s reign’s Springtime do I pine! |
Novice Dōchin
7
Right
天の戸のあけゆく空はうれしきを猶はれやらず立つ霞かな
| ama no to no akeyuku sora wa ureshiki o nao hareyarazu tatsu kasumi kana | That Heaven’s door Opens to brighten the sky— What joy, but Still, never clearing is The rising haze! |
Dharma Master Nyogan
8
The Left poem’s links with celebration are certainly not something praiseworthy, but I am unable to accept the Right’s ‘joy’. Thus, the Left wins.
