Composed when viewing the blossom at the Enshūji and recalling former Emperor Gosanjō.
うゑおきしきみもなきよにとしへたる花は我が身のここちこそすれ
| ueokishi kimi mo naki yo ni toshi hetaru hana wa wa ga mi no kokochi koso sure | You planted them here, My Lord, though gone from this world, These many years past— The flowers and my sorry self Both feel the same… |
The Third Prince
三の宮
Original
こまなべてきみがみにくるかすがのはまつかさしげしあめにさはるな
| koma nabete kimi ga mi ni kuru kasugano wa matsukasa shigeshi ame ni sawaru na | Mounts aligned, My Lord has come to see Kasuga Plain, where The plentiful pinecones mean He’ll be untroubled by rain! |
43
Left (Win)
ぬれつつもあめにはゆかむまつかさのちとせのはるをもらさざらなむ
| nuretsutsu mo ame ni wa yukamu matsukasa no chitose no haru o morasazaranamu | Even dampened By the rain, let us go! For the pinecones Over a thousand years of springtimes Will surely not allow a single drip! |
44[1]
Right
かすがののまつかさだにもなかりせばあめふるさとにわれこましやは
| kasugano no matsukasa dani mo nakariseba ame furu sato ni ware komashi ya wa | If on Kasuga Plain Even pinecones Were there not, then, To the rainswept ancient capital Why would I come at all? |
45
[1] This poem is included in Ise-shū (107) with the headnote ‘From the time of the Kasuga Poetry Match’, implying that this is Ise’s work, even if she is not identified as the poet in the text here.
Original
かすがののけふのみゆきをまつばらのちとせのはるはきみがまにまに
| kasugano no kyō no miyuki o matsubara no chitose no haru wa kimi ga manimani | On Kasuga Plain Today’s progress Awaited have the pine groves, A thousand years of springtimes, Just as my Lady’s thoughts. [1] |
Mitsune
31
Left
ゆくさきのはるをとほくしまかすればいまはちとせのうたがひもなし
| yukusaki no haru o tōkushi makasureba ima wa chitose no utagai mo nashi | Future Springtimes to distant times May we entrust, for Now that she will live a thousand years more There is no doubt, at all. |
32
Right (Win)
むれたちてわれをまつてふかすがののみどりふかくやおもひそめけむ
| muretachite ware o matsu chō kasugano no midori fukaku ya omoisomekemu | Growing crowded together, and Awaiting me are the pines On Kasuga Plain— Why should their green so deeply Seem to think of me? |
33
[1] A minor variant of this poem occurs in Mitsune-shū (325) with the same headnote as for poem (22), above.
Original
はるごとにきみしかよはばかすがののやちよのまつもかれじとぞおもふ
| haru goto ni kimi shi kayowaba kasugano no yachiyo no matsu mo kareji to zo omou | Should every single spring My Lady visit here, On Kasuga Plain The pines, eight thousand ages old Would never wither, I feel! |
25
Left (Win)
かすがのにはるはかよはむわがためにまつこころありてよはひますなり
| kasugano ni haru wa kayowamu wa ga tame ni matsu kokoro arite yowai masu nari | To Kasuga Plain Where spring is wont to come For my sake, then Should the pines be a mind to tarry with me How exceeding old would I become. |
26
Right
かすがののまつしかれずはみたらしのみづもながれてたえじとぞおもふ
| kasugano no matsu shi karezu wa mitarashi no mizu mo nagarete taeji to zo omou | On Kasuga Plain The pines will wither never, for The Mitarashi’s Water’s flow, too, Will never cease, I feel. |
27
Original
きみしなほかくしかよはばいそのかみふるきみやこもふりじとぞおもふ
| kimi shi nao kaku shi kayowaba isonokami furuki miyako mo furiji to zo omou | O, my Lady, Should you thus ever visit Isonokami, where at Furu, the ancient capital, too, Never stales, I feel![1] |
Mitsune
22
Left (Win)
かよふともしられじものをふるさとはかすがのやまのふもとならねば
| kayou tomo shirareji mono o furusato wa kasuga no yama no fumoto naraneba | To ever visit there is something Folk might not know, for The ancient capital Among Kasuga Mountain’s Foothills does not lie… |
23
Right
はるごとにきてはみるともいそのかみふりにしさとのなにはかはらじ
| haru goto ni kite wa miru tomo isonokami furinishi sato no nani wa kawaraji | Every single spring I come to gaze, yet At Isonokami, Furu’s ancient capital Does nothing ever change? |
24
[1] A variant of this poem occurs in Mitsune’s personal collection: When the Priestly Emperor’s Rokujō Lady of the Bedchamber visited Kasuga, I met and conversed with Lord Tadafusa, the Governor of Yamato, and he mentioned that he had been asked to compose eight quality poems in the name of his province, so I sent him two of my own. The date was the 7th day of the Third Month, Engi 21 [17.4.921]. きくになほかくしかよはばいそのかみふるきみやこもふりしとぞおもふ kiku ni nao / kaku shi kayowaba / isonokami / furuki Miyako mo / furishi to zo omou ‘O, I hear that / Should you ever thus visit / Isonokami, where at / Furu, the ancient capital, too, / Has grown old, I feel.’(Mitsune-shū 323)
Original
ふるさとにさくとわびつるさくらばなことしぞきみに見えぬべらなる
| furusato ni saku to wabitsuru sakurabana kotoshi zo kimi ni mienuberanaru | In the ancient capital In lonely sadness bloom The cherry blossoms, that This year, my Lady Has been able to behold. [1] |
13
Left
ふるさととおもひなわびそさくらばなほかのいろにもおとらざりけり
| furusato to omoi na wabi so sakurabana hoka no iro ni mo otorazarikeri | That ‘tis an ancient place Think not so sadly! For the cherry blossoms To any other hues Are not inferior at all! |
14
Right (Win)
見そめずもあらましものをふるさとのはなにこころのうつりぬるかな
| misomezu mo aramashi mono o furusato no hana ni kokoro no utsurinuru kana | They would not first catch they eye One would have thought, but The ancient capital’s Blossoms in the heart Do linger! [2] |
15
[1] SIS XVI: 1045 Headnote ‘Among the many poems presented by provincial officials, when the Kyōgoku Lady of the Bedchamber visited Kasuga.’
[2] Variants of this poem attributed to Ise, appear in both Ise-shū みそめずもあらましものをからころもたつなのみしてきるよなきかな misomezu mo / aramashi mono o / karakoromo / tatsu na nomi shite / kiru yo naki kana ‘It would not first catch the eye / One would have thought, but / A Cathay robe / Is singly remarkable in name / Though it is worn on nights not a one!’(230) and Shokugoshūishū みそめずはあらましものを山ふかみ花に心のとまりぬるかな misomezu wa / aramashi mono o / yama fukami / hana ni kokoro no / tomarinuru kana ‘They would not first catch the eye / One would have thought, but / Deep within the mountains / The blossoms in the heart / Have halted!’(II: 99)
Original
やへたてるみかさのやまのしらくもはみゆきさぶらふさくらなりけり
| yae tateru mikasa no yama no shirakumo wa miyuki saburau sakura narikeri | Standing eightfold high above Mikasa Mountain, The clouds of white, In service to the excursion Are cherries. |
7
Left (Win)
よそにてもきみしみつれば山ざくらこころやすくやいまはちるらむ
| yoso nite mo kimi shi mitsureba yamazakura kokoro yasuku ya ima wa chiruramu | Seen from afar, and Even by my Lady, do The mountain cherries Contentedly Seem to scatter now? |
8
Right
やへたてるくもゐに見えしさくらばなかへるたむけにけふやちるらん
| yae tateru kumoi ni mieshi sakurabana kaeru tamuke ni kyō ya chiruran | Standing eightfold high Among the clouds, I seemed to see Cherry blossoms, As a memento of our return Seeming to scatter today. |
9
Round Twenty-Nine
Left (Win)
君やあらぬ我が身やあらぬおぼつかなたのめしことのみなかはりぬる
| kimi ya aranu wa ga mi ya aranu obotsukana tanomeshi koto no mina kawarinuru | Aren’t you who you once were? Aren’t I who I was then? How strange that All we trusted in Has changed. |
Shun’e
57
Right
恋ひしなん命ぞをしきつれもなき人にしも身をかへんねたさに
| koishinan inochi zo oshiki tsure mo naki hito ni shimo mi o kaen netasa ni | That I would die of love Makes me regret my life! But for that cruel Girl should I Exchange myself—exasperating! |
Yorisuke
58
I feel the left is old-fashioned, isn’t it? And yet, it is not without feeling. The Right does not have a poor conception, but its diction is insufficient.
