Maidenflowers
Left
なびくとや人はみるらんをみなへしおもふかたにぞかぜもふきける
| nabiku to ya hito wa miruran ominaeshi omou kata ni zo kaze mo fukikeru | ‘Are they trailing?’ Folk wonder at the sight of The maidenflowers, and As they thought The wind, too, was blowing… |
7
Right
おほかたののべなるよりはをみなへしねやのつまにてみるはまされり
| ōkata no nobe naru yori wa ominaeshi neya no tsuma nite miru wa masareri | So wide are The plains, but I’d rather A maidenflower— My wife in the bedchamber: Seeing her is better far! |
8
をみなへしなどかあきしもにほふらむはなのこころをひともしれとか
| ominaeshi nadoka aki shimo ni niouramu hana no kokoro o hito mo shire to ka | O, maidenflower, Why is it that, of all, in autumn You would glow so bright? Of a fickle flower’s heart Folk to inform, perhaps… |
47
てをとらばひとやとがめむをみなへしにほへるのべにやどやからまし
| te o toraba hito ya togamemu ominaeshi nioeru nobe ni yado ya karamashi | Should I put my hands on you, By folk would I be despised, O, maidenflower, so In the meadow where you shine Would I borrow lodging… |
48
いまよりはなでておほさむをみなへしときあるあきにあふとおもへば
| ima yori wa nadete ōsamu ominaeshi toki aru aki ni au to omoeba | From this point on With gentle caresses will I raise This maidenflower, That an auspicious autumn She would meet—I thought… |
Nochikata
31
あきぎりにゆくへやまどふをみなへしはかなくのべにひとりほのめく
| akigiri ni yukue ya madou ominaeshi hakanaku nobe ni hitori honomeku | In the autumn mists Has she lost her way? A maidenflower Fleetingly in the meadows Did I faintly glimpse alone… |
Susugu
32
Left Final Round
をみなへしこのあきまでぞまさるべきつゆをもぬきてたまにまどはせ
| ominaeshi kono aki made zo masarubeki tsuyu o mo nukite tama ni madowase | The maidenflowers This autumn Have been fine, indeed— Strung with dewdrops As pearls let you be! |
His Majesty
21[1]
Right
きみによりのべをはなれしをみなへしおなじこころにあきをとどめよ
| kimi ni yori nobe o hanareshi ominaeshi onaji kokoro ni aki o todomeyo | For My Lord Have you left your meadows, O, maidenflower, Wishing as we, Autumn—hold here! |
Her Majesty, the Empress
22[2]
The flowers of the Right were inferior, but the poems of the Right won.
[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 528
[2] Shinsen man’yōshū 548
Left
あさぎりとのべにむれたるをみなへしあきをすぐさずいひもとめなん
| asagiri to nobe ni muretaru ominaeshi aki o sugusazu ii mo tomenan | Amid the morning mists Upon the meadow clusters A maidenflower I’ll not let autumn pass by Without a word to hold her here. |
9
Right
あきかぜのふきそめしよりをみなへしいろふかくのみみゆるのべかな
| akikaze no fukisomeshi yori ominaeshi iro fukaku nomi miyuru nobe kana | Since the autumn wind First began to blow, The maidenflowers’ Hues have simply deepened, Glimpsed upon the meadows! |
10
For a folding screen for the residence of Minister of the Right Tsunesuke.
野辺見ればわかなつみけりむべしこそかきねの草もはるめきにけれ
| nobe mireba wakana tumikeri mube si koso kakine no kusa mo Farumekinikeri | When I gaze upon the meadows, and Have picked fresh herbs Indeed, indeed The grasses along my brushwood fence Have grown most springlike! |
Tsurayuki
Left
雪ふりて年のくれゆく時にこそ終にもみぢぬ松も見えけれ
| yuki furite toshi no kurenuru toki ni koso tsui ni momijinu matsu mo miekere | Snow falls and The year reaches its evening, It is at this time that Truly, evergreen The pine tree seems. |
123[1]
Right
我が宿は雪ふる野辺に道もなしいづこはかとか人のとめこむ
| wa ga yado wa yuki furu nobe ni michi mo nashi izuko wa ka to ka hito no tomekomu | My home lies Upon the snow-covered plain With no path to it; ‘Where might it lie?’ ask Folk come a’searching. |
124
[1] Kokinshū VI: 340/Kokin rokujō I: 244
Left
をみなへし匂へる野辺にやどりせばあやなくあだの名をやたちなん
| ominaeshi nioeru nobe ni yadoriseba ayanaku ada no na o ya tachinan | A maidenflower Shines in the meadows, and Should I find lodging there, Carelessly, would fickle Rumour arise? |
Ono no Yoshiki
88
Right
秋風にさそはれ来つる雁がねの雲ゐはるかにけふぞ聞ゆる
| akikaze ni sasowarekitsuru kari ga ne no kumoi haruka ni kyō zo kikoyuru | On the autumn breeze Has come, inviting, A goose’s cry From among the distant clouds Today I hear it. |
89
Left
梅がかを袖にうつしてとどめては春はすぐともかたみならまし
| mume ga ka o sode ni utushite todometeba haru wa sugutomo katami naramashi | If only the plums’ scent Would shift to my sleeves and Stay there, then Even when spring is past and gone A keepsake would it be… |
35[1]
Right
行く春の跡だにありと見ましかば野べのまにまにとめましものを
| yuku haru no ato dani ari to mimashikaba nobe no manimani tomemashi mono o | Departing spring’s Very tracks I would I saw, so Simply in the meadows Would I remain! |
36
[1] Kokinshū I: 46/Shinsen man’yōshū 21