Left
ひとのみることやくるしきをみなへしあきぎりにのみたちかくるらむ
| hito no miru koto ya kurushiki ominaeshi akigiri ni nomi tachikakururamu | For man to gaze on you, Is it so painful, O, Maidenflower, That simply in the autumn mists You must hide yourself away? |
Tadamine
13[1]
Right
とりてみばはかなからんやをみなへしそでにつつめるしらつゆのたま
| torite miba hakanakaran ya ominaeshi sode ni tsutsumeru shiratsuyu no tama | If I pick and look How fleeting are Upon a maidenflower, Enveloped in my sleeves Silver dewdrop pearls. |
14
[1] KKS IV: 235
Left
かくをしむあきにしあはばをみなへしうつろふことはわすれやはせぬ
| kaku oshimu aki ni shi awaba ominaeshi utsurou koto wa wasure ya wa senu | If feeling such regret I should encounter autumn, then O, maidenflower, To fade You should not forget, should you? |
11
Right
ながきよにたれたのめけむをみなへしひとまつむしのえだごとになく
| nagaki yo ni tare tanomekemu ominaeshi hito matsumushi no edagoto ni naku | On a long, long night Who is it has made you believe, O, maidenflower? Pining for him while crickets Cry from your every branch… |
12[1]
[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 536; Fubokushō 4231
Left
あさぎりとのべにむれたるをみなへしあきをすぐさずいひもとめなん
| asagiri to nobe ni muretaru ominaeshi aki o sugusazu ii mo tomenan | Amid the morning mists Upon the meadow clusters A maidenflower I’ll not let autumn pass by Without a word to hold her here. |
9
Right
あきかぜのふきそめしよりをみなへしいろふかくのみみゆるのべかな
| akikaze no fukisomeshi yori ominaeshi iro fukaku nomi miyuru nobe kana | Since the autumn wind First began to blow, The maidenflowers’ Hues have simply deepened, Glimpsed upon the meadows! |
10
Left
しらつゆのおけるあしたのをみなへしはなにもはにもたまぞかかれる
| shiratsuyu no okeru ashita no ominaeshi hana ni mo ha ni mo tama zo kakareru | Silver dewdrops Fallen in the morning on A maidenflower: Both bloom and leaves Are all hung with pearls. |
7[1]
Right
をみなへしたてるのざとをうちすぎてうらみむつゆにぬれやん
| ominaeshi tateru nozato o uchisugite uramimu tsuyu ni nure ya wataran | A maidenflower Stands at a house upon the plains As I pass by; Is it her resentful dew That has drenched me on my way? |
8
[1] Gyokuyōshū 526; Shinsen man’yōshū 606; Kokin rokujō 3687
Left
あきののをみなへしるともささわけにぬれにしそでやはなとみゆらむ
| aki no no o mina heshiru to mo sasa wake ni nurenishi sode ya hana to miyuramu | Through the autumn meadows Everyone knows to pass, yet Forging through the dwarf bamboo Will my sleeves, so drenched, Appear as the flowers do?[1] |
3
Right
をみなへしあきののかぜにうちなびきこころひとつをたれによすらん
| ominaeshi aki no nokaze ni uchinabiki kokoro hitotsu o tare ni yosuran | The maidenflower, With a breeze across the autumn fields, Waves back and forth; Having but a single heart, To whom does she incline, I wonder? |
The Minister of the Left[2]
4[3]
[1] This poem is an acrostic, where the syllables of the word ‘maidenflower’ (ominaeshi) are included as part of other words in the poem. It is thus understood that the final reference to ‘flowers’ (hana 花) is to these.
[2] Fujiwara no Tokihira 藤原時平 (871-909).
[3] Kokinshū IV: 230; Shinsen man’yōshū 532; Kokin rokujō 3660
In the year after that in which the Teishi Emperor relinquished the throne, he held a maidenflower match, making no instruction as to who should lead the teams of the Left and Right, so His Majesty and Her Majesty, the Empress, fulfilled those roles.
Left
くさがくれあきすぎぬべきをみなへしにほひゆゑにやまづみえぬらむ
| kusagakure aki suginubeki ominaeshi nioi yue ni ya mazu mienuramu | Hidden ‘mongst the grasses Has she spent the autumn, This maidenflower— Is it for her glow that She is soon discovered? |
1[1]
Right
あらがねのつちのしたにてあきへしはけふのうらてをまつをみなへし
| aragane no tsuchi no shita nite aki heshi wa kyō no urate o matsu ominaeshi | As ore Below the earth Has she spent the autumn, For today’s first round Awaiting—a maidenflower. |
2[2]
[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 508
[2] Shinsen man’yōshū 530; Fubokushō 4229.
Left
をみなへし匂へる野辺にやどりせばあやなくあだの名をやたちなん
| ominaeshi nioeru nobe ni yadoriseba ayanaku ada no na o ya tachinan | A maidenflower Shines in the meadows, and Should I find lodging there, Carelessly, would fickle Rumour arise? |
Ono no Yoshiki
88
Right
秋風にさそはれ来つる雁がねの雲ゐはるかにけふぞ聞ゆる
| akikaze ni sasowarekitsuru kari ga ne no kumoi haruka ni kyō zo kikoyuru | On the autumn breeze Has come, inviting, A goose’s cry From among the distant clouds Today I hear it. |
89
なにしおはばしひてたのまむをみなへしひとのこころのあきはうくとも[1]
| na ni shi owaba shiite tanomamu ominaeshi hito no kokoro no aki wa uku tomo | If the name fits, then Strongly, would I ask you, Maidenflower: Though folk’s full hearts In autumn, be cruel… |
37
あきのよをひとりねたらむあまのがはふちせたどらずいざわたりなむ
| aki no yo o hitori netaramu ama no kawa fuchise tadorazu iza watarinamu | On an autumn night, I sleep alone, it seems, for To the River of Heaven’s Depths and shallows I will not make my way— However can I cross them? |
39
[1] Shinchokusenshū 242; also a minor variant occurs in Kokin rokujō (3368) なにしおはばしひてたのまんをみなへし花の心の秋はうくともna ni shi owaba / shiite tanomamu / ominaeshi / hana no kokoro no / aki wa uku tomo ‘If the name fits, then / Forcefully, would I trust you, / Maidenflower: / Though a flower’s heart / In autumn, be cruel…’ Tsurayuki.
Left (Win)
思あまり絵にかきとめてなぐさむる妹が上にも涙落ちけり
| omoi amari e ni kakitomete nagusamuru imo ta ue ni mo namida ochikeri |
Too much in love I paint a picture for Consolation, but Upon my darling Tears fall… |
Lord Kanemune
1109
Right
かきとめて変らぬ色もをみなへしあはれと見れば露ぞこぼるる
| kakitomete kawaranu iro mo ominaeshi aware to mireba tsuyu zo koboruru |
Painted in Changeless hues is my love – A maidenflower I glimpse in sorrow, Drenched with dew… |
Ietaka
1110
The Right state: the Left’s poem certainly has no faults. The Left state: the Right’s poem has no conception of Love.
In judgement: both Gentlemen’s pictures are ‘painted’ (kakitomete), with the Left then using ‘upon my darling’ (imo ga ue ni mo), which certainly has a conception of love. The Right simply draws a picture of a maidenflower and drenches it with dew, so it does not seem as if he is being moved by the sight of a person. Thus, again, the Left seems the superior poem.
[One of] five poems sent by the Elder Maiden of Nakatomi to Yakamochi, Lord Ōtomo.
をみなへし佐紀沢に生ふる花かつみかつても知らぬ恋もするかも
| wominapesi sakisapa ni opuru panakatumi katute mo siranu kopi mo suru kamo |
A maidenflower as, At Saki Marsh grows The crested iris Still unknown is The love I feel. |
Elder Maiden of Nakatomi
中臣郎女