In the summer, he sent this to his daughter, the Fifth Imperial Princess, attached to some lingering yellowed oak leaves.
時ならでははその紅葉ちりにけりいかにこのもとさびしかるらん
| toki narade FaFaso no momidi tirinikeri ika ni ko no moto sabisikaruran | ‘Tis not the season, but The oaks’ leaves have yellowed and Scattered; Beneath the trunks How lonely it must be… |
His Majesty, the Tenryaku Emperor
Original
さほやまのははそのいろはうすけれどあきはふかくもなりにけるかな
| saoyama no hahaso no iro wa usukeredo aki wa fukaku mo narinikeru kana | On Mount Sao The oaks’ hues are Frail, yet Autumn ever deeper Grows! |
Sakanoue no Korenori
15
Left (Win)
さほやまのみねのもみぢばいろいろにたつあさぎりぞそらにしるらむ
| saoyama no mine no momijiba iroiro ni tatsu asagiri zo sora ni shiruramu | On Mount Sao The autumn leaves upon the peak Have many hues— The rising morning mists mean That ‘tis surely known up in the skies. |
16
Right
うすきこきいろのかぎりぞさほやまはあきはつるまであさきとなみそ
| usuki koki iro no kagiri zo saoyama wa aki hatsuru made asaki to na mi so | Both deep and pale Hues are fair extreme! But on Mount Sao Until the end of autumn Frail I would not have them be! |
17
Original
さほやまのははそのもみぢちりぬべみよるさへみよとてらすつきかげ
| saoyama no hahaso no momiji chirinubemi yoru sae miyo to terasu tsukikage | Upon Sao Mountain The oaks’ autumn leaves Must have scattered, for Even at night behold! The shining moonlight… |
12
Left (Win)
ひさかたのつきなかりせばさほやまのもみぢはよるのにしきならまし
| hisakata no tsuki nakariseba saoyama no momiji wa yoru no nishiki naramashi | Were the eternal Moon to cease to be, then Sao Mountain’s Autumn leaves for night’s Brocade would I wish! |
13
Right
つきかげのさやけくみゆるさほやまのもみぢをかぜにまかせずもがな
| tsukikage no sayakeku miyuru saoyama no momiji o kaze ni makasezu mogana | In the moonlight, So clear, I see Sao Mountain’s Autumn leaves—to the wind I would entrust them not! |
14
Scarlet Leaves and Daytime
Round Three
Left
朝霧のはれ行くままにもみぢ葉はあかねさしてぞ色まさりける
| asagiri no hareyuku mama ni momijiba wa akanesashite zo iro masarikeru | As the morning mists Are clearing away The autumn leaves Shine madder red, Their hue the best of all. |
Daishin
5
Right
月草の色どる比はかへれどもははそのもみぢこころにぞしむ
| tsukikusa no irodoru koro wa kaeredomo hahaso no momiji kokoro ni zo shimu | At times the moon-grass’ Fair hues Will shift, yet those of The oaks in autumn Pierce right to the heart! |
His Excellency Akinaka
6
The Left poem’s sequencing isn’t bad, but ‘shining madder red’ has, since ancient times, been used of the sun in poetry, while here it is simply ‘Shine madder red, / Their hue the best of all’. It gives the impression that there is some emotion missing. In a poem for this type of poetry match, I wonder if omitting a single element like this is a grave fault? Even so, I have no recollection of a poem being composed in this manner in any poetry match which people have used for reference from days gone by. In addition, the Right’s ‘At times the moon-grass’ / Fair hues / Will shift, yet’ and what follows shows little evidence of poetic cultivation, so in sum, it’s difficult to say anything here.
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. |
A poem for a folding screen on the occasion of a Junior Consort’s entrance to the palace in Kangi 1.
風そよぐならのを川の夕ぐれはみそぎぞ夏のしるしなりける
| kaze soyogu nara no ogawa no yūgure wa misogi zo natsu no shirushi narikeru | Whispers on the wind Through the oaks at Nara stream Of an evening: Lustrations, alone, of summer Are the sign.[i] |
Ietaka, Senior Third Rank
[i] An allusive variation on SKKS XV: 1376.
Left
相思ふ中には枝も交しけり君が梢はいやおちにして
| ai’omou naka ni wa eda mo kawashikeri kimi ga kozue wa iya’ochi ni shite |
Joined in love Branches meet and Twine together, they say, yet As the treetops, you fail to come Again, and yet again. |
Kenshō
1033
Right (Win)
人しれぬ心に君を楢柴のしばしもよそに思はずもがな
| hito shirenu kokoro ni kimi o narashiba no shibashi mo yoso ni omowasu mogana |
Unknown to all My heart to you Inclines among the oaks; For just a while, as a stranger I would you not think of me… |
Lord Takanobu
1034
The Gentlemen of the Right state: ‘again, and yet again’ (iya’ochi) does not sound pleasant. The Gentlemen of the Left state: the Right’s poem has no faults to mention.
In judgement: the Left’s poem, having the conception of intertwined branches is pleasant, but ‘treetops at my house’ (yado no kozue) would be normal, so I wonder about ‘as the treetops, you fail to come’ (kimi ga kozue)? In the Right’s poem, although ‘among the oaks; for just a while’ (narashiba no shibashi) is commonplace, it is still more elegant than ‘again and yet again’.
