まてとしもたのめぬ人の葛の葉もあだなる風をうらみやはせぬ
| mate to shimo tanomenu hito no kuzu no ha mo ada naru kaze o urami ya wa senu | ‘Wait for me!’ such words From him I cannot expect: An arrowroot leaf The faithless wind Will despise, will it not? |
518

When the Ise Virgin Junior Consort had yet to leave, he attached this to some cherry blossom and sent it to her.
吹く風の音にききつつさくら花めには見えずも過ぐる春かな
| fuku kaze no oto ni kikitsutsu sakurabana me ni wa miezu mo suguru haru kana | In the gusting wind’s Whispers will I ever hear My cherry blossom, though My eyes behold her not As spring passes by… |
Composed by the Tenryaku Emperor


Round Thirty-Nine
Left (Tie)
さをしかのふしどをあさみ吹く風に夜半に鳴く音ぞふかくなりゆく
| saoshika no fushido o asami fuku kaze ni yowa ni naku ne zo fukaku nariyuku | The stag’s Resting place disturbed by The gusting wind At midnight his belling cry Comes from deeper in the mountains. |
Chikanari
77
Right
さらでだにね覚かなしき秋風に夜しもなどか鹿の鳴くらん
| sarade dani nezame kanashiki akikaze ni yoru shimo nado ka shika no nakuran | Even were it not so, To waken is so sad With the cruel autumn wind; Why is it that above all at night The stag should cry so? |
Ie’kiyo
78
The Left poem’s ‘at midnight his belling cry comes from deeper’ does not sound especially elegant. The Right poem composes ‘why is it that above all at night the stag should cry so’, sounding like it is only at night that stags bell, but stags do this all the time in autumn. The Ancient and Modern also has the composition, ‘Mud-daubers buzzing / In the autumn bush clover; / Leaving with morning’.[1] The poems of Left and Right have no merits or faults between them—they should tie.




[1] This is a quotation from: Topic unknown. すがるなく秋のはぎはらあさたちて旅行く人をいつとかまたむ sugaru naku / aki no hagiwara / asa tachite / tabi yuku hito o / itsu to ka matan ‘Mud-daubers buzzing / In the autumn bush clover; / Leaving with morning, / Away on a journey: for him, / How long must I wait?’ Anonymous (KKS VIII: 366)
Round Five
Left (Win)
さくらやまはなのさかりに風ふけばこずゑをこして白波ぞたつ
| sakurayama hana no sakari ni kaze fukeba kozue o koshite shiranami zo tatsu | On the mount of Cherries So fine is the blossom that When the wind does blow, Passing o’er the treetops, Whitecaps arise! |
Controller’s Graduate
9
Right
この春ははなにこころのあくがれてこのもとにてもくらしつるかな
| kono haru wa hana ni kokoro no akugarete ko no moto nite mo kurashitsuru kana | This springtime By the blossoms my heart Is captivated, and Beneath the trees Does dwell! |
Kerin’in Graduate
10
Both Left and Right, in terms of diction, tone and style are superb with no faults at all. Thus, this is a tie.
The final section of the Left’s poem lacks fluency, yet it has conception. As for the Right’s poem, in order for one’s heart to be captivated by the blossom on every single treetop, one would need to be walking around. If one is resting peacefully beneath the trees, then one should say that one’s heart is captured. This section sounds erroneous, so the Left should win.




Round Twenty-Six
Left
秋萩の露もよすがのさがり葉も風吹きたつる色ぞ身にしむ
| akihagi no tsuyu mo yosuga no sagariba mo kaze fukitatsuru iro zo mi ni shimu | On the autumn bush clover Dewdrops rest upon The dangling leaves, Whipped up by the wind, Their hues sharply sink into my flesh. |
The Former Minister of the Centre
51
Right (Win)
さだめなき風を待つ間もうつろひぬもとあらの萩にむすぶ白露
| sadamenaki kaze o matsu ma mo utsuroinu motoara no hagi ni musubu shiratsuyu | While the unsettled Breeze they do await, Faded from The sparse bush clover have The clinging dewdrops.[1] |
Kozaishō
52
The Left poem’s ‘rest upon the dangling leaves, whipped up by the wind’ seems a novel style, and yet, even though everything about dangling leaves is contained in the Ancient and Modern, it does not sound particularly evocative. The Right lacks even a small fault and appears gorgeous, so it should win.




[1] An allusive variation on: Topic unknown. 宮木野のもとあらの小萩つゆをおもみ風をまつごと君をこそまつ miyagino no / motoara no kohagi / tsuyu o omomi / kaze o matsu goto / kimi o koso matsu ‘On Miyagi Plain / The sparse bush clover / Weighed down with dewdrops / Awaits the wind, just as / I do wait for you…’ Anonymous (KKS XIV: 694)
Round Twenty-Five
Dew on Bush Clover
Left
下葉には色なる玉やくだくらむ風の吹きしく萩の上の露
| shitaba ni wa iro naru tama ya kudakuramu kaze no fukishiku hagi no ue no tsuyu | From the underleaves Hues have the gemlets taken In their shattering? Spread by the gusting wind Are the dewdrops on the bush clover… |
A Court Lady
49
Right (Win)
又やみむ又や見ざらん白露の玉おきしける秋萩の花
| mata ya mimu mata ya mizaran shiratsuyu no tama okishikeru akihagi no hana | Will I see again, or Will I not Silver dewdrop Pearls spread upon The autumn bush clover blooms? |
Ietaka
50
The Left’s poem does not seem to have a particularly superlative style. The Right’s poem, saying ‘will I see again, or will I not silver dewdrops’ is particularly charming and moving. Thus, it wins.



