Left

春がすみあみにはりこめ花ちらばうつろひぬべし鶯とめよ

harugasumi ami ni harikome hana chiraba utsuroinubeshi uguisu tomeyo

The spring haze Spreads its net to catch The blossom—should they scatter, And then, for sure, decline, O, warbler, tarry a while!

15[1]

Right

春雨の色はこくしもみえなくに野辺のみどりをいかでそむらん

harusame no iro wa koku shimo mienaku ni nobe no midori o ikade somuran

The spring rain’s Hue great depths Does not seem to have, but How are the meadows with green So deeply dyed?

16[2]

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[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 9; Fubokushō II: 464: ‘Haze’

[2] A minor variant of the poem, with a headnote associating it with this contest, and attributed to Ki no Tomonori, appears in Shokusenzaishū (I: 62): 春雨の色はこしともみえなくに野べのみどりをいかでそむらん harusame no / iro wa koshi tomo / mienaku ni / nobe no midori o / ikade somuran ‘The spring rain’s / Hue no great depths / Does seem to have, but / How are the meadows with green / So deeply dyed?’