Round Seventeen
Left
夜もすがらをばすて山の月をみて昔にかよふ我がこころかな
| yomosugara obasuteyama no tsuki o mite mukashi kayou wa ga kokoro kana | All night long At Mount Obasute Gazing upon the moon— Drifting back to days gone by Goes my heart! |
Lord Kiyosuke
33
Right (Win)
山のはに雲のよこぎるよひのまは出でても月ぞ猶またれける
| yama no ha ni kumo no yokogiru yoi no ma wa idete mo tsuki zo nao matarekeru | Along the mountains’ edge Trail clouds Throughout the night, so Even as it rises, the moon I am yet awaiting! |
Atsuyori
34
Round Thirteen
Left (Tie)
ひこぼしのくれをまつまはあぢきなく雲のよそなる心ちこそせね
| hikoboshi no kure o matsu ma wa ajikinaku kumo no yoso naru kokochi koso sene | While the Herd Boy The evening awaits, He suffers— Beyond the distant clouds Is where his feelings lie! |
Taifu
25
Right
さもこそは身はならはしといひながら七夕いかでたへてすぐらん
| sa mo koso wa mi wa narawashi to iinagara tanabata ikade taete suguran | That is how it is— Her flesh knows how it is, They say, but How is it that the Weaver Maid Endures the passing days? |
Kenshō
26
In terms of overall quality, the Left is superior, but I am unable to understand it. The conclusion of the Right is non-standard.
Round Fifteen
Left (Win)
山たかみみだれてにほふ花桜人もすさめぬ春やへぬらん
| yama takami midarete niou hanazakura hito mo susamenu haru ya henuran | In these mountain heights The riotous glow of Blooming cherries: Is there no one to sing their praises As spring passes by?[1] |
Chikanari
29
Right
行末の山のかひより昨日みし雲もさながら桜なりけり
| yukusue no yama no kai yori kinō mishi kumo mo sanagara sakura narikeri | On my way Through mountain passes Yesterday I saw Clouds of white—all were Cherries![2] |
Ie’kiyo
30
The Right’s poem, having ‘mountain passes yesterday I saw’ sounds like it conveys the conception of Tsurayuki’s poem well, but isn’t it a bit pointless to end up with something that sounds like a Travel poem? The Left’s poem has the fine conception of the old poem which goes ‘In these mountain heights / There is no one to sing the praises of / You cherry blossoms’, so thus it must win.
[1] An allusive variation on: Topic unknown. 山たかみ人もすさめぬさくら花いたくなわびそ我みはやさむ yama takami / hito mo susamenu / sakurabana / itaku na wabi so / ware mihayasamu ‘In these mountain heights / There is no one to sing the praises of / You cherry blossoms. / Do not be aggrieved / For I will do it.’ Anonymous (KKS I: 50).
[2] An allusive variation on: When he was instructed by His Majesty to compose a poem, he composed this and presented it. 桜花さきにけらしもあしひきの山の峡よりみゆる白雲 sakurabana / sakinikerashi mo / ashihiki no / yama no kai yori / miyuru shirakumo ‘The cherry blossom / Seems to have bloomed, and from / The leg-wearying / Mountain passes / Appears white billowing clouds.’ Tsurayuki (KKS I: 59)
Round Ten
Left (Win)
数ならぬ深山がくれを尋ねてぞ心の末の花も見るべき
| kazu naranu miyamagakure o tazunete zo kokoro no sue no hana mo mirubeki | Not for many, but Hidden deep within the mountains, I go seeking for My heart’s final desire: Catching sight of a blossom. |
The Former Minister of the Centre
19
Right
まがひこし雲をばよそに吹きなして峰の桜ににほふ春風
| magaikoshi kumo o ba yoso ni fukinashite mine no sakura ni niou harukaze | I had mistaken The clouds far away A’blowing, for Cherries on the peaks Scenting the breeze of spring. |
Kozaishō
20
Both Left and Right sound elegant, yet still the hue of ‘my heart’s final desire: blossom’ is something I can visualise—thus, it wins.
When he presented a Hundred Poem Sequence to Former Emperor Sutoku.
秋かぜにたなびく雲のたえまよりもれいづる月のかげのさやけさ
| akikaze ni tanabiku kumo no taema yori more’izuru tsuki no kage no sayakesa | The autumn wind Streams clouds, and From gaps between Leaks the moon’s Light, so clear and bright. |
Master of the Left Capital Office Akisuke
When the Gokyōgoku Regent ordered her to produce a hundred poem sequence.
雲となり雨となりても身にそはばむなしき空をかたみとやみん
| kumo to nari ame to narite mo mi ni sowaba munashiki sora o katami to ya min | Even should you become a cloud, and Then become raindrops Falling on my flesh, then Would the vacant skies I see as a keepsake, perhaps? |
Kojijū
A poem in reply.
忘れゆくことしなければたえだえにみえけむくももそらめなるらむ
| wasure yuku koto shi nakereba taedae ni miekemu kumo mo sorame naruramu | Forgetting you is Something I’ve not done, so Intermittently Appearing clouds is Pie in the sky, I’d say! |
When His Majesty ordered him to compose a poem for a love letter match, during the reign of former emperor Nijō.
わすれゆく人ゆゑそらをながむればたえだえにこそ雲もみえけれ
| wasure yuku hito yue sora o nagamureba taedae ni koso kumo mo miekere | Forgetting me, He is, so upon the sky I turn my gaze, where From time to time, indeed, Clouds, too, do show themselves![i] |
Minister of Justice Norikane
[i] See Shige’ie-shū 232 for the reply to this poem in the match..
