Round Twenty-One
Left (Win)
小倉山木木のもみぢのくれなゐはみねの嵐のおろすなりけり
ogurayama
kigi no momiji no
kurenai wa
mine no arashi no
orosu narikeri | On gloomy Mount Ogura
The leaves upon the trees,
So scarlet,
By the storm wind from the peak
Are tossed down. |
Lord Kiyosuke
41
Right
ふかくあさきもみぢばながるあすか河ふちせは色にあらはれにけり
fukaku asaki
momijiba nagaru
asukagawa
fuchise wa iro ni
arawarenikeri | Across both depths and shallows
Flow the scarlet leaves
On the Asuka river,
Among the rapids and the pools
Have they appeared. |
Shun’e
42
Neither of these is bad. The Right violates the five syllable pattern; the Left has no faults.
Dew on a lotus resembling jewels.
さよふけてはすのうきはの露の上に玉とみるまでやどる月影
sayo fukete
hasu no ukiha no
tsuyu no ue ni
tama to miru made
yadoru tsukikage | As brief night wears on,
Upon the drifting lotus leaves
Lie dewdrops
Resembling jewels
Where the moonlight finds lodging. |
五月雨の露もまだひぬ奥山のまきのはがくれなくほととぎす
samidare no
tsuyu mo mada hinu
okuyama no
maki no hagakure
naku hototogisu | The summer rain’s
Dewy droplets have yet to dry
Deep within the mountains, where
Hidden ‘mongst the evergreen leaves
A cuckoo calls out. |
On the wind in the bamboo before the moon.
色かへぬ竹の葉しろく月さえてつもらぬ雪をはらふ秋かぜ
iro kaenu
take no ha shiroku
tsuki saete
tsumoranu yuki o
harau akikaze | The evergreen
Bamboo leave are white
Beneath the chilly moon—
Snow that never drifts
With the brush of autumn breezes. |
Kunaikyō
Created with Soan.
Topic unknown.
ねざめしてたれかきくらん此比の木葉にかかる夜半のしぐれを
nezamesite
tare ka kikuran
kono koro no
ko no Fa ni kakaru
yoFa no sigure o | Starting from sleep
Who else might be listening, I wonder,
At such a time
To the rustling leaves
In a midnight shower? |
The Uma Handmaid
Topic unknown.
我がやどのそともにたてるならのはのしげみにすずむ夏はきにけり
wa ga yado no
sotomo ni tateru
nara no ha no
shigemi ni suzumu
natsu wa kinikeri | At my house,
In the grounds behind stands
An oak tree, leaves
So lush that coolness
To summer has come. |
Monk Egyō
Created with Soan.
When he was in service at an imperial progress to Ōi.
おほゐがは井せきのおとのなかりせばこのはをしけるわたりとやみん
oFowigawa
wiseki no oto no
nakariseba
ko no Fa wo sikeru
watari wo ya min | Upon the River Ōi
If the weirs sounded
Not, then
At the leaves spread
All around would we even look? |
Master of the Palace Repairs Office Akisue
Created with Soan.
On the conception of hidden love, when he held a poetry match in one hundred rounds at his house, while he was Major Captain of the Left.
もらすなよ雲ゐるみねのはつしぐれ木葉は下にいろかはるとも
morasu na yo
kumo’iru mine no
hatsushigure
ko no ha wa shita ni
iro kawaru tomo | O, don’t drip down,
Peak-clinging clouds
First shower!
For under you the trees’ leaves
Will yet change their hues…[i] |
The Regent and Grand Minister
Created with Soan.
[i] An allusive variation on KKS V: 260.
Left
つゆばかりたのみおかなんことのはにしばしもとまるいのちありやと
tsuyu bakari
tanomi okanan
koto no ha ni
shibashi mo tomaru
inochi ari ya to | Dewdrop fragile
Is my trust that dripping
On the leaves, your words
A little longer might hold
My life here, perhaps… |
66
Right
はるさめのよにふるそらもおもほえずくもゐながらにひとこふるみは
harusame no
yo ni furu sora mo
omohoezu
kumoi nagara ni
hito kouru mi wa | Spring showers
Fall from night time skies—living on
Is not for me, I think, for
Beyond the clouds lies
The one I love… |
67
Bamboo
Left
つゆもおけとなびくものからたけのはのいろうつろへるあきもみぬかな
tsuyu mo oke to
nabiku mono kara
take no ha no
iro utsuroeru
aki mo minu kana | ‘Fall, O, dewdrops!’, I say, then
Weighed down
The bamboo leaves’
Hues fading
I’ll see not this autumn! |
18
Asters
Right
あきののにいろなきつゆはおきしかどわかむらさきに花はそみけり
aki no no ni
iro naki tsuyu wa
okishikado
wakamurasaki ni
hana wa somikeri | Upon the autumn meadows
Colourless dew
Has fallen, yet
With pale violet
Have the blooms been dyed. |
18
'Simply moving and elegant'
