Left
さかざらむものならなくにさくらばなおもかげにのみまだきみゆらむ
sakazaramu
mono naranaku ni
sakurabana
nao mo kage ni nomi
madaki miyuramu | Wishing not to bloom
Will not remain
The cherry blossom, but
Even so their shape alone
Swiftly, I would wish to see! |
Mitsune
3
Right
やまざくらさきぬるときはつねよりもみねのしらくもたちまさりけり
yamazakura
sakinuru toki wa
tsune yori mo
mine no shirakumo
tachimasarikeri | When the mountain cherry
Has bloomed,
Earlier than usual
Clouds of white around the peak
Do rise spectacularly! |
Tsurayuki
4[i]
The Left uses ‘wish’[ii] twice; the Right places the mountain cherries at a distance—that make the round a tie.
[i] This poem is included in Gosenshū (I: 118), with the headnote, ‘A poem from Former Emperor Uda’s Poetry Contest’.
[ii] Uda is objecting to Mitsune’s double usage of the auxiliary verb -ramu in his judgement here.
Marlberry
Left
あさごとにきりはふれどもあしひきのやまたち花はいろもかはらず
asa goto ni
kiri wa furedomo
ashihiki no
yamatachibana wa
iro mo kawarazu | With every morning
The mist rolls down, yet on
The leg-wearying
Mountains, the marlberry’s
Hues remain unchanged. |
13
Right
みねだにやすみうくならんあしひきのやまたち花のみやまゐをせる
mine dani ya
sumi’ukunaran
ashihiki no
yamatachibana no
miyamai o seru | Does even the peak
Seem so hard to dwell upon?
The leg-wearying
Mountain marlberry has
Turned the hidden spring a darker hue. |
14
The Day of the Rat (ne no hi 子日)
Left
ほのぼのとみねのひのまづさしつればむすばぬはるのゆきぞとけける
honobono to
mine no hi no mazu
sashitsureba
musubanu haru no
yuki zo tokekeru | Faintly,
Upon the peaks the sun first
Shines, then
Not fully frozen, the spring
Snow melts. |
Tsurayuki
1
Right (Win)
かたこひをするがのふじのやまよりもむねのひのまづもえまさるかな
katakoi o
suruga no fuji no
yama yori mo
mune no hi no mazu
moemasaru kana | In love and unrequited,
More than Suruga’s Fuji
Mountain does
The fire in my breast, first
Burn all the greater! |
Tomonori
2
Sent to the place where a lady, who was going somewhere far away, was preparing for departure.
思ひやる心ばかりはさはらじを何へだつらん峰の白雲
omoFiyaru
kokoro bakari Fa
saFaradi o
nani Fedaturan
mine no sirakumo | The longing for you
In my heart alone
Should be no hindrance, but
Why do you seem distant as
The white clouds round the peaks? |
Tachibana no Naomoto
橘直幹
Among the poems he presented to the Hiyoshi Shrine.
みるままにかねのねとほくなりにけり雲もかさなる峰の古寺
miru mama ni
kane no ne tōku
narinikeri
kumo mo kazanaru
mine no furutera | As I gaze upon it
The bell’s toll distant
Does become;
Clouds lie upon
The ancient temple on the mountain’s peak. |
Supernumerary Middle Counsellor Masayo
Topic unknown.
はれそむるみねのあさぎりひまみえて山の端わたるかりの一つら
haresomuru
mine no asagiri
hima miete
yama no ha wataru
kari no hitotsura | Beginning to clear
Are the morning mists from round the peak
And through the gaps appear
Crossing the mountains’ edge
A single line of geese. |
Fujiwara no Yorikiyo
をとこやまみねふみわけてなくしかはへじとやおもふしひてあきには
otokoyama
mine fumiwakete
naku shika wa
heji to ya omou
shiite aki ni wa | Upon Otoko Mountain’s
Peak treads
A belling stag:
I wonder, does he not wish
To have to endure the autumn? |
41
をぐらやまみねのもみぢばなにをいとにへてかおりけむしるやしらずや
ogurayama
mine no momijiba
nani o ito ni
hete ka orikemu
shiru ya shirazu ya | On Ogura Mountain’s
Peak, the scarlet leaves
Somehow, as warp threads
Crossing, woven seem—
Who knows that? No one, I expect! |
42
From the Poetry Contest in Fifteen Hundred Rounds.
ima wa tote
haru no ariake ni
chiru hana ya
tsuki ni mo oshiki
mine no shirakumo | Is now the time—that
In the spring dawn
With the blossom scattering
The moon, too, regrets leaving
The white clouds round the peaks? |
Sanuki from the Nijō Palace
二条院讃岐
Left
足引の山のかけはし冬くればこほりのうへをよきぞかねつる
ashihiki no
yama no kakehashi
fuyu kureba
kōri no ue o
yoki zo kanetsuru | To the leg-wearying
Mountain plankways,
When the winter comes
The ice atop them
Is difficult to avoid! |
147
Right
ふゆくれば雪ふりつもる高きみね立つ白雲に見えまがふかな
fuyu kureba
yuki furitsumoru
takaki mine
tatsu shirakumo ni
miemagau kana | When the winter comes
The snow fallen, piled high upon
The lofty peaks
With the rising clouds so white
Is easy to confuse! |
148
Left
ほりておきし池は鏡とこほれども影にもみえぬ年ぞ経にける
horiteokishi
ike wa kagami to
kōredomo
kage ni mo mienu
toshi zo henikeru | All dug out
The pond into a mirror
Has frozen, yet
Reflected, I cannot see
The year gone by! |
127
Right
降る雪のつもれる峰は白雲のたちもさわがずをるかとぞみる
furu yuki no
tsumoreru mine wa
shirayuki no
tachi mo sawagazu
oru ka to zo miru | The falling snow
Has drifted upon the peaks
Whiteness
Arrives without a rustle
Making me wonder if it’s there at all… |
128
'Simply moving and elegant'
