冬草と見えし春野の小笹原弥生の雨に深緑なる
| fuyu kusa to mieshi haruno no ozasawara yayoi no ame ni fukamidori naru |
A winter plant They did appear in the fields in springtime: The groves of young broad-leaved bamboo By the Third Month’s rains Turned the darkest green. |
Fujiwara no Nakazane
藤原仲実
百草の花のけぶりや七夕の雲の衣の袖に染むらむ
| momokusa no hana no keburi ya tanabata no kumo no koromo no sode ni shimuramu |
Are all the grasses Blooms, a smoke, that into The Weaver Maid’s Robe of cloud’s Sleeves will sink? |
Fujiwara no Shunzei
On the moon passing over the plain, when he presented a fifty poem sequence.
行く末は空もひとつの武蔵野に草の原より出づる月影
| yukusue wa sora mo hitotsu no musashino ni kusa no hara yori izuru tsukikage |
Its destination: The skies, one with Musashi Plain, where From among the fields of grass Emerges moonlight. |
The Regent and Prime Minister (Fujiwara no Yoshitsune)
In Kanpyō-Shōhō 2 [750], on the 24th day of the Third Month, it would be near to the beginning of summer in the Fourth Month, so he composed these two poems when, on the evening of the 23rd day, he suddenly thought of a cuckoo calling at dawn.
霍公鳥来鳴き響めば草取らむ花橘を宿には植ゑずて
| pototogisu kinaki toyomeba kusa toramu panatatibana wo yado ni wa uwezute |
When the cuckoo Arrives, his resounding song Sends me gathering grasses, For orange blossom Has not been planted in my grounds… |
Ōtomo no Yakamochi
Left (Win).
旅寢する我をば床の主にて枕に宿る小夜の面影
| tabinesuru ware oba toko no aruji nite makura ni yadoru sayo no omokage |
When sleeping on my travels I of my bedding Am master! Lodging by my pillow is A face from a night too brief… |
Lord Ari’ie
895
Right.
まどろまぬその夜な夜なを數ふれば夢路も遠き草枕哉
| madoromanu sono yona yona o kazoureba yumeji mo tōki kusamakura kana |
Unable to even doze Night after night I count them up, and The path of dreams gets more Distant from my grassy pillow. |
Lord Takanobu
896
The Right state: the Left’s poem seems fine. The Left state: we find no faults to mention.
In judgement: the Right’s ‘the path of dreams gets more distant’ (yumeji mo tōki) sounds elegant, but the Left’s poem has already been assessed as ‘fine’ in the comments by the gentlemen of the Right. This round I will leave the judgement in their hands and make the Left the winner.
Left (Tie).
思ひをく人ある身にはやがてこの旅の道こそ戀路なりけれ
| omoi’oku hito aru mi ni wa yagate kono tabi no michi koso koiji narikere |
Leaving behind one In my thoughts, for me All these Roads I tread are but The paths of love… |
Lord Kanemune
893
Right.
變り行く涙の色ぞあはれなる草の枕の日數知られて
| kawariyuku namida no iro zo awarenaru kusa no makura no hikazu shirarete |
The shifting Teardrops’ shades Touch me deeply; Pillowed on the grasses And thinking on the days away… |
Ietaka
894
Both Left and Right say together: we can see no faults to mention.
In judgement: the Left’s poem is charming in style. The conception of the Right’s ‘teardrops’ shades’ (namida no iro) shifting is elegant, but both poems seem to be simply lamenting that one has gone on a journey, and there is little conception of love in them. They are equivalent and the round should tie.
Left (Win).
枕にも跡にも露の玉散りてひとり起きゐる小夜の中山
| makura ni mo ato ni mo tsuyu no tama chirite hitori oki’iru sayo no naka yama |
Upon my pillow and My foot prints both, dew Drops have fallen Awakening alone in Sayo-no-Nakayama. |
A Servant Girl
889
Right.
草枕ひとりあかしの浦風にいとゞ涙ぞ落ちまさりける
| kusamakura hitori akashi no ura kaze ni itodo namida zo ochimasarikeru |
Pillowed on the grass, Alone at dawn in Akashi, The breeze from the bay Makes even more tears Fall. |
Lord Tsune’ie.
890
The Right state they have no criticisms of the Left’s poem. The Left merely say that the Right’s poem is ‘old-fashioned’.
Shunzei’s judgement: The Left’s ‘dew drops’ (tsuyu no tama) falling so widely at Sayo-no-Nakayama one can surmise to be deeply expressive of the concept of travel. The Right’s Akashi Bay is a place strongly associated with the sad sound of the wind and the waves, but the final ‘makes even more fall’ (ochimasarikeru) is insufficient. Thus, the Left should win.
草深く荒たる宿の灯火の風にきえぬは蛍なりけり
| kusa Fukaku aretaru yado no tomosibi no kaze ni kienu Fa Fotaru narikeri |
Deep within the grasses A ruined house has Torches Not guttering in the breeze: Fireflies. |
その駒ぞや 我に 我に草請ふ 草は取り飼はむ 水は取り飼はむや
| sono koma ya ware ni ware ni kusa kau kusa wa torikawamu mizu wa torikawamu ya |
O, my steed, From me From me you beg for fodder, so I’ll go gather grass to feed you; I’ll go gather water to give you! |
Anonymous
日数ゆく野原篠原夏深し分入る袖の露の草摺
| hikazu yuku nohara shinohara natsu fukashi wake’iru sode no tsuyu no kusazuri |
The days go by, and Upon the plains and bamboo groves Summer lies deep; Sleeves forging through are Dyed by dewy grasses. |
Fujiwara no Shunzei
藤原俊成