A cuckoo at dusk.
夕やみのたづたづしきにほととぎす声うらがなし道やまどへる
yū yami no tazutazushiki ni hototogisu koe uraganashi michi ya modoeru | In the evening gloam Faintly A cuckoo’s Call is somehow sad— Has he lost his way, perhaps? |

Round Twelve
Left
うつり行く花の下道跡もなしながめも白き春の山風
utsuriyuku hana no shita michi ato mo nashi nagame mo shiroki haru no yamakaze | The shifting Blossom on the paths beneath Leaves no footprints there; My gaze with whiteness filled By spring’s breezes in the mountains. |
Dōchin
23
Right (Win)
身にかへておもふもくるし桜花さかぬみ山に宿もとめてん
mi ni kaete omou mo kurushi sakurabana sakanu miyama ni yado mo tometen | It should be me instead, I think, but even that brings pain; Where cherry blossoms Fail to bloom, deep within the mountains Should I make my home. |
Dharma Master Nyokan
24
The Left’s poem does not sound poor, but has ‘gaze with whiteness’—a long time ago, Lay Priest Toshinari repeatedly said that it is not appropriate to compose about looking at something specific using ‘gaze’. The initial and concluding section of the Right’s poem sound fine—it should win.
Topic unknown.
ゆらのとをわたるふな人かぢをたえ行へもしらぬ恋のみちかな
yura no to o wataru funabito kaji o tae yukue mo shiranu koi no michi kana | In the Yura strait A ferryman a’crossing Rudderless I know not whither bound am I On this path of love! |
Sone no Yoshitada
Sent to the house of a lady whom another man was visiting regularly.
われならぬ人に心をつくば山したにかよはむ道だにやなき
ware naranu hito ni kokoro o tsukubayama shita ni kayowamu michi dani ya naki | ‘Tis not I, but Another man your heart Holds close—Tsukuba Mountain Has secret paths to go back and forth, But is there none for me? |
Lord Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobu
During the period when Izumi Shiku had accompanied Yasumasa to Tango, when there was a poetry match in the capital and Handmaid Koshikibu was selected as one of the poets, Lord Sadayori came to her chamber at the palace and went on at her, asking, ‘How are your poems coming along? Will you be sending them to your mother in Tango? Has your messenger not returned yet?’ and really seemed very unsettled about everything, so she composed this as a playful way of preventing him from going himself.
おほえ山いくのの道のとほければまだふみもみずあまのはしだて
oFoeyama ikuno no miti no toFokereba mada Fumi mo miezu ama no Fasidate | In Ōeyama The path to Ikuno Lies far away, so I’ve not set foot upon it, or had a letter from Ama-no-Hashidate! |
Handmaid Koshikibu
Topic unknown.
をしかふす夏のの草の道をなみしげき恋ぢにまどふ比かな
oshika fusu natsuno no kusa no michi o nami shigeki koiji ni madou koro kana | Stags lie Within the summer meadow grasses— All the paths are lost in Lush paths of love where I wander lost these days! |
Sakanoue no Korenori
Evening blossom on a mountain path.
道とほみけふこえくれば山ざくら花のやどりを我にかさなん
michi tōmi kyō koekureba yamazakura hana no yadori o ware ni kasanan | Along distant roads Today I come travelling, so O, mountain cherries, Among your blossom shelter Won’t you lend me? |
A question and response poem.
物不念 道行去毛 青山乎 振放見者 茵花 香未通女 桜花 盛未通女 汝乎曽母 吾丹依云 吾 毛曽 汝丹依云 荒山毛 人師依者 余所 留跡序云 汝心勤
物思はず 道行く行くも 青山を 振り放け見れば つつじ花 にほえ娘子 桜花 栄え娘子 汝れをぞも 我れに寄すといふ 我れをもぞ 汝れに寄すといふ 荒山も 人し寄すれば 寄そるとぞいふ 汝が心ゆめ
mono’omowazu michi yukuyuku mo aoyama o furisakemireba tsutsujibana nioe otome sakurabana hae otome nare o somo ware ni yosu to iu ware o mo nare ni yosu to iu arayama mo hito shi yosureba yosuru to zo iu na ga kokoroyume | Unburdened by gloomy thoughts Along the path I went on and on, To the green-growing mountain, When in the distance I saw An azalea Fair bright maiden, A cherry blossom Glorious maiden: O, you, truly Give your heart to me; And I, too, Will give my heart to you; Upon the wild mountain Folk give their hearts To one another, so Never will I abandon you! |