Composed when he had gone to the residence of Narisuke, the Chief Priest of Kamo, when drunk, was sorrowing that he had yet to be promoted.
もみぢするかつらのなかにすみよしのまつのみひとりみどりなるかな
| momidisuru katura no naka ni sumiyosi no matu no mi Fitori midori naru kana | Among the scarlet-leaved Katsura, Sumiyoshi’s Solitary pinecone Is green! |
Kunimoto, the Governor of Tsu
Showers at one’s lodgings on a journey
Round One
Left
しぐれするもみぢのにしきゆかしきにあけてをたたむふたむらのやま
| shiguresuru momiji no nishiki yukashiki ni akete o tatamu futamura no yama | Under the showers The scarlet leaves’ brocade I long to see, so With the dawn let’s set forth To Mount Futamura! |
Jakunen
51
Right (Win)
みやこにもおもひやすらむくさまくらうちしぐれたるよはのねざめを
| miyako ni mo omoiyasuramu kusamakura uchishiguretaru yowa no nezame o | Even in the capital Might you think of me? On a grassy pillow With a shower Awoken at midnight… |
Suke
52
The Left poem’s ‘With the dawn let’s set forth / To Mount Futamura’ sounds charming, but as we can see from Lord Kanesuke’s poem ‘Futami Bay / Let’s see with the dawn’, it is quite pedestrian. Then there is the expression ‘long to see’—this really isn’t appropriate diction for poetry. I will admit that it appears from time to time in imperial anthologies, and so it is certainly permissible depending upon the style of the poem, though. There’s also the term ‘long to know’—one really shouldn’t use diction in a poetry match which doesn’t express the poet’s true feelings. As for the Right’s poem, it’s also quite pedestrian to say that showers fall on one’s way on a journey, but don’t necessarily fall in the capital, but saying that folk there might think of you waking on your journey, well, why wouldn’t they do that? The conception of the poem is pleasant, and I make it the winner.
Composed after I had had various people compose on the autumn oak leaves on Mount Sao in a shower.
さほやまのははそのもみぢちぢの色にうつろふ秋は時雨ふりにけり
| saoyama no hahaso no momiji chiji no iro ni ustsurou aki wa shigure furinikeri | Upon Mount Sao The oaks’ autumn leaves are A multitude of hues Shifting in the autumn, for The showers fall. |
Round Eleven
Left
おぼつかないづれうらごの山ならんみなくれなゐにみゆる紅葉ば
| obotsukana izure urago no yama naran mina kurenai ni miyuru momijiba | How strange it is— Where is Urago Mountain, I wonder? When all the same scarlet Seem the autumn leaves… |
Kiyosuke
93
Right (Win)
大ゐ河きしのもみぢのちるをりは浪にたたするにしきとぞみる
| ōigawa kishi no momiji no chiru ori wa nami ni tatasuru nishiki to zo miru | At the River Ōi, When the scarlet leaves upon the bank Come to fall, Cut out by the waves, Does their brocade appear! |
Mikawa
94
When I listen to the Left I wonder what on earth it’s actually about—the end seems redolent of love. The Right doesn’t seem to have any particular faults, so it should win.
