Left
くれぬべきあきををしめばをぐら山みねのもみぢもいろづきにけり
kurenubeki aki o oshimeba ogurayama mine no momiji mo irozukinikeri | Pass into dusk must Autumn, so I regret when On Ogura Mountain The scarlet leaves on the peak Have taken on deeper hues! |
33
Right
をしめども秋はとまらず女郎花野べにおくれてかれぬばかりを
oshimedomo aki wa tomarazu ominaeshi nobe ni okurete karenu bakari o | I regret it, yet Autumn will not linger; O, maidenflower, Within the meadows tarry and Simply do not wither away… |
34
Bracken.
さわらびのもえいづる春に成りぬればのべのかすみもたなびきにけり
sawarabi no moe’izuru ame ni narinureba nobe no kasumi mo tanabikinikeri | The bracken Bursts into bud when rain Does fall, and Across the meadows The haze is drifting. |
On seeing snow at the beginning of spring.
春たたばわかなつまむとしめおきしのべともみえず雪のふれれば
haru tataba wakana tsumamu to shime’okishi nobe to mo miezu yuki no furereba | If spring comes then Going to pick fresh herbs Is what I did expect, but The meadows are beyond my sight In the falling snow… |
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
のべごとにたちかくれつつをみなへしふくあきかぜのみえずもあらなむ
nobe goto ni tachikakuretsutsu ominaeshi fuku akikaze no miezu mo aranamu | In every meadow Ever hiding and appearing are Maidenflowers— O, that the gusting autumn wind Would not appear! |
Ise
51
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
'Simply moving and elegant'