When he had begun to live with the Katsura Princess, and felt that she did not wish to see him.
人知れず物思頃の我が袖は秋の草葉に劣らざりけり
| Fito sirezu mono’omoFu koro no wa ga sode Fa aki no kusaba ni otorazarikeri | When unknown to all I am sunk in gloomy thought My sleeves To blades of grass in autumn Lack nothing! |
Prince Sadakazu
These are poems which His Majesty had everyone in attendance compose on the day.
わがやどをみなへしひとのすぎゆかばあきのくさばはしぐれざらまし
| wa ga yado o mina heshi hito no sugiyukaba aki no kusaba wa shigurezaramashi | Should my house By all the passing folk Be passed by, then Would not the autumn grasses Scatter showers? |
Minamoto no Tsuruna
29
をしめどもえだにとまらぬもみぢばをみなへしおきてあきののちみむ
| oshimedomo eda ni tomaranu momijiba o mina heshi okite aki no nochi mimu | I regret it, yet On the branches have not lingered Scarlet leaves— I will press them, every one, To gaze on after autumn’s passing. |
Muneyuki
30
Left
おしなべて五月のそらを見渡せば草葉も水もみどりなりけり
| oshinabete satsuki no sora o miwataseba kusaba mo mizu mo midori narikeri | When the entire Fifth Month sky I gaze across, Blades of grass and water, too, Are green. |
72[1]
Right
くるるかとみれば明けぬる夏の夜をあかずとや鳴く山郭公
| kururu ka to mireba akenuru natsu no yo o akazu to ya naku yamahototogisu | Did you think ’twas sunset? When a glance would show the breaking dawn Of this summer night- Unsated by your song, do you sing on, Cuckoo in the mountains? |
73[2]
[1] Shinchokusenshū III: 152/Kokin rokujō I: 89
[1] Kokinshū III: 157, attributed to Mibu no Tadamine/Shinsen man’yōshū 57/Kokin rokujō VI: 4437
Left
かりそめのみやたのまれぬ夏の日をなど空蝉のなきくらしつる
| karisome no mi ya tanomarenu natsu no hi o nado utsusemi no nakikurashitsuru | Is my transient Flesh untrustworthy? On a summer day Why does the cicada, an empty shell, Cry the day away? |
47[1]
Right
はかもなき夏のくさ葉におく露を命とたのむ虫のはかなさ
| haka mo naki natsu no kusaba ni oku tsuyu o inochi to tanomu mushi no hakanasa | Fleetingly Upon the blades of summer grass Falls the dew— A lifetime, I expect, for The short-lived insects. |
48
[1] A minor variant of this poem, with a headnote associating it with this contest, occurs in Shokugosenshū (XVI: 1058): かりそめの世やたのまれぬ夏の日をなどうつせみのなきくらしつる karisome no / yo ya tanomarenu / natsu no hi o / nado utsusemi no / nakikurashitsuru ‘Is this transient / World untrustworthy? / On a summer day / Why does the cicada, an empty shell, / Cry the day away?’
あきくればむしとともにぞなかれぬるひとも草ばもかれぬと思へば[1]
| aki kureba mushi to tomo ni zo nakarenuru hito mo kusaba mo karenu to omoeba | When the autumn comes Together with the insects Do I weep, That both folk and grass and leaves Have withered, is in my thoughts… |
33
からにしきみだれるのべとみえつるはあきのこのはのふるにざりける
| karanishiki midareru nobe to mietsuru wa aki no ko no ha no furu ni zarikeru | For Cathay brocade Confused the meadows Do seem, for In autumn, the leaves from the trees Have truly fallen! |
34
[1] This poem also occurs in Fubokushō (5580).
久方の天照る月のにごりなく君が御代をばともにとぞ思ふ
| hisakata no ama teru tsuki no nigorinaku kimi ga miyo oba tomo ni to zo omou | The eternal Heaven-shining moon is So clear that My Lord’s reign Lives together with it in my thoughts! |
9
宵よひに秋の草葉におく露の玉にぬかむととれば消えつつ[1]
| yoiyoi ni aki no kusaba ni oku tsuyu no tama ni nukamu to toreba kietsutsu | Night after night Upon the blades of autumn grass Fall dewdrops; I would thread those jewels, but At a touch, ever do they vanish away… |
10
[1] This poem is also Shinsenzaishū 316, where it is attributed to Ōshikōchi no Mitsune.