Icicles
浪かくる岩まひまなくたるひして氷とぢたる山川の水
nami kakuru iwama himanaku taruhishite kōri tojitaru yamakawa no mizu Waves hang from Every single space between the rocks In icicles— Sealed in ice is The water of this mountain stream.
Akisue
Composed gazing at the moon.
あまの原そらさへさえや渡るらん氷と見ゆる冬の夜の月
ama no Fara sora saFe sae ya wataruran koFori to miyuru Fuyu no yo no tuki The plain of Heaven, The sky, so coldly Does it seem to cross, Ice, it does appear, The moon upon a winter’s night.
Egyō
Topic unknown.
思ひつつねなくにあくる冬の夜の袖の氷はとけずもあるかな
omoFitutu nenaku ni akuru Fuyu no yo no sode no koFori wa tokezu mo aru kana Filled with passionate thoughts, Sleepless until dawn, On a winter’s night The ice upon my sleeves Shows no sign of melting.
Anonymous
Topic unknown.
池水や氷とくらむあしがもの夜ぶかくこゑのさわぐなるかな
ikemizu ya kōri tokuramu ashigamo no yobukaku koe no sawagunaru kana Above the pond waters The ice has melted, it seems, for The ducks Deep within the night are crying So noisily!
Tachibana no Yukiyori 橘行頼
A poem from the Poetry Competition held in the reign of the Kanpyō Empress.
谷風にとくる氷のひまごとに打いづる波や春のはつ花
tanikaze ni
tokuru koFori no
Fimagoto ni
uti’iduru nami ya
Faru no FatuFana
In the valley’s breezes
Does melt the ice, and
From every crack
Do burst waves – are these
The first blooms of spring?
Minamoto no Masazumi
源当純
竜田川紅葉葉とづる薄氷渡らばそれと中や絶えなむ
tatsutagawa
momijiba tozuru
usukōri
wataraba sore to
naka ya taenamu
The River Tatsuta:
Scarlet leaves are sealed within
Sheet ice;
Should I cross would it
Shatter in the centre?
Ietaka
とぢ渡すこほりに雪のうはぎして寒けに見ゆる衣川かな
todiwatasu
koFori ni yuki no
uFagisite
samuke ni miyuru
koromogaFa kana
Sealed across
The ice has snow
In a coat upon it;
You can see the chill
At the River Robe!
Fujiwara no Nakamasa
藤原仲正
衣川むすぶこほりのけぬが上につもる雪をやとぢかさぬらむ
koromogaFa
musubu koFori no
kenu ga uFe ni
tumoru yuki wo ya to
todikasanuramu
At the River Robe,
Bound in ice that
Never fades, upon it
Piles the snows: is
Not that why I am sealed in here?
Shunzei
ますらをが藻ふしつか鮒ふし漬けしかひやが下も氷りしにけり
masurao ga
mofushitsukabuna
fushizukeshi
kaiya ga shita mo
kōrishinikeri
Where brawny man
Finger carp
Did trap,
Even beneath the keeping-hut
Is thick with ice.
Fujiwara no Kinzane
藤原公実
Left.
氷ゐるみるめなぎさのたぐひかな上堰く袖の下のさゞ浪
kōri iru
mirume nagisa no
tagui kana
ue seku sode no
shita no sazanami
As ice-bound
Algae on the beach
Am I:
The surface stopped up, but my sleeves
Conceal a confusion of waves…
Lord Sada’ie .
621
Right.
我とはと思ふにかゝる涙こそ抑ふる袖の下になりぬれ
ware to wa to
omou ni kakaru
namida koso
osauru sode no
shita ni narinure
I should say nothing,
I feel, and yet
My tears,
Held down by my sleeves,
Do flow beneath them…
Nobusada .
622
The Gentlemen of the Right state: the Left do not seem to be expressing enough. The Gentlemen of the Left state: the initial line of the Right’s poem is difficult to pronounce. In addition, it is difficult to understand.
Shunzei’s judgement: the Left’s ‘the surface stopped up, but my sleeves’ (ue seku sode no ) and the Right’s ‘held down by my sleeves’ (osauru sode no ) are both elegant in form [yū naru sama ], but no matter how much I ponder them I find them difficult to comprehend, so again, there is no clear winner or loser this round.
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'Simply moving and elegant'