Around the last day of the Fifth Month, when she had been lying awake all night, filled with gloomy thoughts.
限りあればこよひにつきぬさみだれも身をしるあめはいつかをやまん
kagiri areba koyoi ni tsukinu samidare mo mi o shiru ame wa itsuka o yaman | All things have an end, so This night’s endless Showers— The rainfall of my misery— O, when might they cease to fall? |
Lady Aki, in service to the Empress Ikuhōmon’in
郁芳門院安芸
When he held a poetry match at his house.
雲ゐより照りやまさると水清み浦にてもみん秋のよの月
kumoi yori teri ya masaru to mizu kiyomi ura nite mo min aki no yo no tsuki | From the clouds Does it shine most bright? In the clear waters By the shore I see The moon this autumn night. |
Taira no Sadafun
Regretting the Day of the Rat
Left
むねのひををしもぬかねばみだれおつるなみだのたまにかつぞけちつる
mune no hi o o shimo nukaneba midare’otsuru namida no tama ni katsu zo kechitsuru | The fire within my breast Will not thread upon a string, but My disorderly dripping Gemstone tears will Yet extinguish it. |
Tsurayuki
23
Right (Win)
くらきよにともすほたるのむねのひををしもとけたるたまかとぞ見る
kuraki yo ni tomosu hotaru no mune no hi o o shimo toketaru tama ka zo zo miru | On a night so dark, The kindled fireflies of The fire within my breast; Loosened from their string As scattered gemstones they appear. |
Tadamine
24
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
The grasses’ fragrance.
床夏の露うちはらふ宵ごとに草のかうつるわがたもとかな
tokonatsu no tsuyu uchiharau yoigoto ni kusa no kōtsuru wa ga tamoto kana | From the pinks The dewdrops I do brush Every single night, so The grasses’ fragrance has Shifted to my sleeves! |
Saemon
Composed on morning haze for the Poetry Contest at the Residence of the Kyōgoku Regent.
春の夜のおぼろ月夜やこれならむかすみにくもるありあけのそら
haru no yo no oborozukiyo ya kore naramu kasumi ni kumoru ariake no sora | Is a spring night’s Misty moon This I see? Haze is clouding The dawning sky. |
Tango, in service to Empress Gishūmon’in
Topic unknown.
いもやすくねられざりけり春の夜は花のちるのみ夢に見えつつ
i mo yasuku nerarezarikeri haru no yo wa hana no chiru nomi yume ni mietsutsu | Easy sleep Has eluded me— On a spring night The scattering of blossoms, alone, Does ever fill my dreams… |
Ōshikōchi no Mitsune
Topic unknown.
ねられぬをしひてわがぬる春の夜の夢をうつつになすよしもがな
nerarenu o shiFite wa ga nuru Faru no yo no yume o ututu ni nasu yosi mogana | Unable to sleep I force myself to bed; A spring night’s Dream into reality Might thus be turned! |
Anonymous
Round 8
Left
花の色はかすみのひまにほのみえて山のはにほふ春の暁
hana no iro wa kasumi no hima ni honomiete yama no ha niou haru no akebono | The blossoms’ hues Between the shifting haze I briefly glimpse, and The mountains’ edges glow With the dawn in springtime. |
325
Right
あだし夜の花にとききてゆく雁の名残もいとど有明のそら
adashiyo no hana ni toki kite yuku kari no nagori mo itdodo ariake no sora | To fleeting night’s Blossoms has the time come, and The departing geese leave A keepsake more brief In the skies at dawn. |
326
This round, again, it seems difficult to distinguish between the the two poems.
Former Emperor Gosukō (1372-1456)
後崇光院
The Night of the Fifteenth of the Eighth Month
月影はおなじひかりの秋のよをわきて見ゆるは心なりけり
tukikage Fa onadi Fikari no aki no yo wo wakite miyuru Fa kokoro narikeri | The moonlight is The same brightness On an autumn night, but Considering, what sees it Is the heart. |
Anonymous
'Simply moving and elegant'