Composed for Her Majesty, to say that this year, she had the liberty to bond with the blossoms.
しらくもにまがふさくらのこずゑにてちとせの春をそらにしるかな
| sirakumo ni magaFu sakura no kodue nite titose no Faru wo sora ni siru kana | The clouds, so white Blend with the cherry blossom Treetops— Are a thousand years of springtimes Known in the skies, I wonder! |
Chūnagon, in service to Empress Taikenmon’in
待賢門院中納言
Autumn
Left
秋の夜の有明にみれど久堅の月のかつらはうつろはぬかな
| aki no yo no ariake ni miredo hisakata no tsuki no katsura wa utsurouwanu kana | An autumn night’s Dawn I see, yet The eternal Moon’s silver trees Show no sign of fading! |
13
秋萩の花咲く比の白露は下ばのためとわきて置くべし
| aki hagi no hana saku koro no shiratsuyu wa shitaba no tame to wakite okubeshi | In autumn, the bush clover Flowers bloom—just then Silver dewdrops For the under-leaves Do fall, marking every one. |
14
秋風はいなばもそよとふきつめりかりみる程と成りやしぬらん
| akikaze wa inaba mo soyo to fukitsumeri kari miru hodo to nari ya shinuran | The autumn breeze Seems to rustle the rice stalks As it blows; Seeing if ‘tis time to reap them— Is that what it is, I wonder? |
15
Right
銀河とわたる舟は花薄ほにいづるほどぞかげもみゆべき
| ama no kawa towataru fune wa hanasusuki ho ni izuru hodo zo kage mo miyubeki | Across the River of Heaven A boat goes ferrying: When the silver grass Ears burst into bloom, Can its shape be seen. |
16
女郎花さがの花をば色ながら秋をさかりといはれずもがな
| ominaeshi saga no hana oba iro nagara aki o sakari to iwarezu mogana | Maidenflowers: Blossoms from Saga Reveal their hues, and In autumn are most fine—that Goes without saying! |
17
小男鹿の朝たつ霧にうりふ山嶺の梢は色こかりけり
| saoshika no asa tatsu kiri ni urifuyama mine no kozue wa iro kokarikeri | Stags Within the rising morning mist on Urifu Moutain, where The treetops on the peak Have taken darker hues. |
18
Distant colours of blossom in full bloom
Left
なつかしきかこそ袖までにほふなれ花の木ずゑは遥かなれども
| natsukashiki ka koso sode made niou nare hana no kozue wa harukanaredomo | That comforting, familiar Fragrance has reached my very sleeves And scented them; Though the blossom-laden treetops Lie far away… |
Minamoto no Masamitsu, Assistant Director of the Bureau of Medicine
7
Right
花ざかりさきそめしよりあかなくによその梢を折りつつぞみる
| hanazakari sakisomeshi yori akanaku ni yoso no kozue o oritsutsu zo miru | Since a profusion of blossom Began to bloom, Unable to sate myself, Distant treetops Will I ever break off and gaze upon. |
Minamoto no Masamitsu, Assistant Director of the Bureau of Medicine
8
Left (Win)
住みなれし人はこずゑに絶えはてて琴の音にのみ通ふ松風
| suminareshi hito wa kozue ni taehatete koto no ne ni nomi kayou matsukaze |
Accustomed to his being here, Now, he comes not and from the treetops All that endures Are my zither’s strains, Blending with the pines. |
Lord Ari’ie
1103
Right
聞かじただつれなき人の琴の音にいとはず通ふ松の風をば
| kikaji tada tsurenaki hito no koto no ne ni itowazu kayou matsu no kaze o ba |
I will listen no more! To that cruel man’s Zither strains Heedlessly blending With the wind from off the pines… |
Nobusada
1104
The Right state: it sounds as if the man is enduring on the treetops. The Left state: ‘I will listen no more!’ (kikaji tada) is extremely coarse.
In judgement: while it may sound as if the man is enduring on the treetops in the Left’s poem, this is no more than a standard use of metaphorical expression, and the configuration of ‘accustomed to his being here, now, he comes not and from the treetops’ (suminareshi hito wa kozue ni) sounds fine, with the latter part of the poem also being elegant. The initial line of the Right’s poem has a conception of closing up the ears to block one’s auditory sense, which seems excessive. Clearly, the Left’s ‘my zither’s strains’ (koto no ne ni nomi) must win.
Left
相思ふ中には枝も交しけり君が梢はいやおちにして
| ai’omou naka ni wa eda mo kawashikeri kimi ga kozue wa iya’ochi ni shite |
Joined in love Branches meet and Twine together, they say, yet As the treetops, you fail to come Again, and yet again. |
Kenshō
1033
Right (Win)
人しれぬ心に君を楢柴のしばしもよそに思はずもがな
| hito shirenu kokoro ni kimi o narashiba no shibashi mo yoso ni omowasu mogana |
Unknown to all My heart to you Inclines among the oaks; For just a while, as a stranger I would you not think of me… |
Lord Takanobu
1034
The Gentlemen of the Right state: ‘again, and yet again’ (iya’ochi) does not sound pleasant. The Gentlemen of the Left state: the Right’s poem has no faults to mention.
In judgement: the Left’s poem, having the conception of intertwined branches is pleasant, but ‘treetops at my house’ (yado no kozue) would be normal, so I wonder about ‘as the treetops, you fail to come’ (kimi ga kozue)? In the Right’s poem, although ‘among the oaks; for just a while’ (narashiba no shibashi) is commonplace, it is still more elegant than ‘again and yet again’.