Among the courtiers in service to His Majesty, former Emperor Uda, it was possible to pick out those who had some sensitivity and those who did not, so in a certain year, when the kōshin rite came around on the 7th day of the Seventh Month, those gentlemen who were thought to have this sensitivity spent the day composing poems on the topic of ‘feelings after meeting at Tanabata’ which were divided into teams and matched.
Left
としごとにこりずやあるらんたなばたのあひてこひしきわかれのみする
toshigoto ni korizu ya aruran tanabata no aite koishiki wakare nomi suru
Every single year Does she never learn, I wonder? The Weaver Maid Meets and then with love Does simply part.
1
Right (Win)
おもひやる心のそらにしらるればたなばたつめのわかれかなしな
omoiyaru kokoro no sora ni shirarureba tanabatatsume no wakare kanashiki
Yearning fills The heavens of her heart— How well she knows it, for The Weaver Maid’s Parting is so sad.
When Minamoto no Sane left her, saying that he was going to take a hot spring cure in Tsukushi, she composed this at Yamazaki, regretting their parting.
いのちだに心にかなふ物ならばなにか別のかなしからまし
inoti wo dani kokoro ni kanaFu mono naraba nani ka wakare no kanasikaramasi
If life at least As we wished Would go Why, then, should parting Seem so sad?
When Lord Tachibana no Tamenaka left to become Governor of Michinoku, this was presented from pantry of the Grand Empress Dowager, without any mention of who had sent it.
東路のはるけき道を行かへりいつかとくべき下紐の関
adumadi no
Farukeki miti wo
yukikaFeri
ituka tokubeki
sitaFimo no seki
On Eastern paths
So distant
Will you go, and then return
When, indeed, will you undo
The barrier of Shitahimo – my under-belt again?