[One of] two poems sent by Prince Yuhara to a maiden.
目には見て手には取らえぬ月の内の楓のごとき妹をいかにせむ
| me ni pa mite te ni pa toraenu tuki no uti no katura no gotoki imo wo ika ni semu | You fill my gaze, yet My hand can never reach you As the moon’s Silver trees O, darling, what am I to do? |
Katsura 桂
久かたの月のかつらはとことはに色もかはらぬ物とこそきけ
| hisakata no tsuki no katsura wa tokotowa ni iro mo kawaranu mono to koso kike | The eternal Moon’s silver trees: Everlastingly Unchanged are their hues, Or so I’ve heard! |
Daishin
Katsura 桂
神山のかつらを折るは月のうちに我がおもふことならざらめやは
| kamiyama no katsura o oru wa tsuki no uchi ni wa ga omou koto narazarame ya wa | On a mountain where deities dwell, I break a katsura branch – though Upon the moon The object of my thoughts Does not seem to be? |
Higo
Katsura 桂
なが月の月の光のさゆるかなかつらの枝にしもやおくらん
| nagatsuki no tsuki no hikari no sayuru kana katsura no eda ni shimo ya okuran | In the longest month The moonlight is Chill, indeed! Upon the branches of the silver trees I wonder, does frost fall? |
Kanemasa
Katsura 桂
はれまなき心のやみにまよひつつえこそたをらね月のかつらを
| harema naki kokoro no yami ni mayoitsutsu e koso taorane tsuki no katsura o | No parting of the clouds Of darkness in my heart, so I am ever lost – No branch will I break from A silver tree upon the moon… |
Tadafusa
Katsura 桂
人しれずけふをしまつと風はやみかつらの枝を折りもよわらず
| hito shirezu kyō o shimatsu to kaze hayami katsura no eda o ori mo yowarazu | Unknown to all For today have I made ready – Amid the rushing wind The katsura branches will I break without hesitation! |
Toshiyori
Katsura 桂
我が身には吹くべき風も吹きこねばかつらの枝もをらずぞ有りける
| wa ga mi ni wa fukubeki kaze mo fukikoneba katsura no eda mo orazu zo arikeru | Upon my flesh I expect the touch of wind, but Not a gust does come, so The katsura branches, too, Have remained unbroken. |
Nakazane
Katsura 桂
あまの原いつ時雨れして秋の夜の月のかつらもあかくなるらん
| ama no hara itsu shigureshite aki no yo no tsuki no katsura mo akakunaruran | Upon the plain of Heaven When will drizzle fall? For On an autumn night The silver trees upon the moon Do seem to shine more bright! |
Akinaka
照る月の桂の川し清ければうえした秋の紅葉をぞ見る
| teru tuki no katura no kaFa si kiyokereba uFe sita aki no momidi wo zo miru |
The moon shines Upon the river at Katsura, So pure that Upstream and down in autumn, Scarlet leaves I see. |
Left (Tie).
おなじ瀬をのぼる鮎子に大井河くだりぞあらぬ篝火の影
| onaji se o noboru ayuko ni ōigawa kudari zo aranu kagaribi no kage |
At the same swift waters: Sweetfish sprats head up The Ōi River, Waiting, unmoving are The lighted fishing-fires. |
217
Right (Tie).
桂川くだりもあらぬ鵜舟かなこの瀬にのみや鮎子さばしる
| katsuragawa kudari mo aranu ubune kana kono se ni nomi ya ayuko sabashiru |
Upon Katsura River, Waiting, unmoving are The cormorant boats; Is it only at these swift waters, that The sweetfish sprats do race? |
218
Neither team sees any difficulties with the other’s poems this round.
Shunzei comments tersely, ‘Both poems use “sweetfish sprats”, and this old-fashioned term cannot help but give them a less than pleasant air. Neither is worthy of victory.’