Left
さかざらむものならなくにさくらばなおもかげにのみまだきみゆらむ
sakazaramu
mono naranaku ni
sakurabana
nao mo kage ni nomi
madaki miyuramu | Wishing not to bloom
Will not remain
The cherry blossom, but
Even so their shape alone
Swiftly, I would wish to see! |
Mitsune
3
Right
やまざくらさきぬるときはつねよりもみねのしらくもたちまさりけり
yamazakura
sakinuru toki wa
tsune yori mo
mine no shirakumo
tachimasarikeri | When the mountain cherry
Has bloomed,
Earlier than usual
Clouds of white around the peak
Do rise spectacularly! |
Tsurayuki
4[i]
The Left uses ‘wish’[ii] twice; the Right places the mountain cherries at a distance—that make the round a tie.
[i] This poem is included in Gosenshū (I: 118), with the headnote, ‘A poem from Former Emperor Uda’s Poetry Contest’.
[ii] Uda is objecting to Mitsune’s double usage of the auxiliary verb -ramu in his judgement here.
Marlberry
Left
あさごとにきりはふれどもあしひきのやまたち花はいろもかはらず
asa goto ni
kiri wa furedomo
ashihiki no
yamatachibana wa
iro mo kawarazu | With every morning
The mist rolls down, yet on
The leg-wearying
Mountains, the marlberry’s
Hues remain unchanged. |
13
Right
みねだにやすみうくならんあしひきのやまたち花のみやまゐをせる
mine dani ya
sumi’ukunaran
ashihiki no
yamatachibana no
miyamai o seru | Does even the peak
Seem so hard to dwell upon?
The leg-wearying
Mountain marlberry has
Turned the hidden spring a darker hue. |
14
Among the poems he presented to the Hiyoshi Shrine.
みるままにかねのねとほくなりにけり雲もかさなる峰の古寺
miru mama ni
kane no ne tōku
narinikeri
kumo mo kazanaru
mine no furutera | As I gaze upon it
The bell’s toll distant
Does become;
Clouds lie upon
The ancient temple on the mountain’s peak. |
Supernumerary Middle Counsellor Masayo
Topic unknown.
はれそむるみねのあさぎりひまみえて山の端わたるかりの一つら
haresomuru
mine no asagiri
hima miete
yama no ha wataru
kari no hitotsura | Beginning to clear
Are the morning mists from round the peak
And through the gaps appear
Crossing the mountains’ edge
A single line of geese. |
Fujiwara no Yorikiyo
をとこやまみねふみわけてなくしかはへじとやおもふしひてあきには
otokoyama
mine fumiwakete
naku shika wa
heji to ya omou
shiite aki ni wa | Upon Otoko Mountain’s
Peak treads
A belling stag:
I wonder, does he not wish
To have to endure the autumn? |
41
をぐらやまみねのもみぢばなにをいとにへてかおりけむしるやしらずや
ogurayama
mine no momijiba
nani o ito ni
hete ka orikemu
shiru ya shirazu ya | On Ogura Mountain’s
Peak, the scarlet leaves
Somehow, as warp threads
Crossing, woven seem—
Who knows that? No one, I expect! |
42
A poem from Hitachi.
つくばねの峰のもみぢ葉落ちつもり知るも知らぬもなべてかなしも
tukubane no
mine no momidiba
otitumori
siru mo siranu mo
nabete kanasi mo | On Tsukuba Mountain’s
High peak, the scarlet leaves
Have fallen, piled high
Knowing it, or knowing not
All is sad, just the same. |
Anonymous
Autumn
Left
秋の夜の有明にみれど久堅の月のかつらはうつろはぬかな
aki no yo no
ariake ni miredo
hisakata no
tsuki no katsura wa
utsurouwanu kana | An autumn night’s
Dawn I see, yet
The eternal
Moon’s silver trees
Show no sign of fading! |
13
秋萩の花咲く比の白露は下ばのためとわきて置くべし
aki hagi no
hana saku koro no
shiratsuyu wa
shitaba no tame to
wakite okubeshi | In autumn, the bush clover
Flowers bloom—just then
Silver dewdrops
For the under-leaves
Do fall, marking every one. |
14
秋風はいなばもそよとふきつめりかりみる程と成りやしぬらん
akikaze wa
inaba mo soyo to
fukitsumeri
kari miru hodo to
nari ya shinuran | The autumn breeze
Seems to rustle the rice stalks
As it blows;
Seeing if ‘tis time to reap them—
Is that what it is, I wonder? |
15
Right
銀河とわたる舟は花薄ほにいづるほどぞかげもみゆべき
ama no kawa
towataru fune wa
hanasusuki
ho ni izuru hodo zo
kage mo miyubeki | Across the River of Heaven
A boat goes ferrying:
When the silver grass
Ears burst into bloom,
Can its shape be seen. |
16
女郎花さがの花をば色ながら秋をさかりといはれずもがな
ominaeshi
saga no hana oba
iro nagara
aki o sakari to
iwarezu mogana | Maidenflowers:
Blossoms from Saga
Reveal their hues, and
In autumn are most fine—that
Goes without saying! |
17
小男鹿の朝たつ霧にうりふ山嶺の梢は色こかりけり
saoshika no
asa tatsu kiri ni
urifuyama
mine no kozue wa
iro kokarikeri | Stags
Within the rising morning mist on
Urifu Moutain, where
The treetops on the peak
Have taken darker hues. |
18
From a poetry contest at Sadafun’s house.
みねはもえふもとはこほるふじ川のわれもうき世を住みぞわづらふ
mine Fa moe
Fumoto Fa koForu
FuzigaFa no
ware mo ukiyo wo
sumi zo waduraFu | At the peak it burns and
At the foot does freeze:
The Fuji River, just as
I, too, in this cruel world
Live and suffer. |
Fukayabu
This is the sole surviving poem from ‘Sadafumi’s Poetry Contest‘.
The Kasuga Festival (春日祭)
二月のはつさるなれや春日山みねよどむまでいただきまつる
kisaragi no
hatsusaru nare ya
kasugayama
mine yodomu made
itadakimatsuru | The second month’s
First monkey – so be it!
On Kasuga Mountain
Until the very peak does sway
Shall we celebrate! |
Toshiyori
Brushwood
位山みねの椎しばとしふともうつろふ色はあらじとそおもふ
kuraiyama
mine no shiishiba
toshi futomo
utsurou iro wa
araji to zo omou | On Kurai Mountain,
The brushwood on the peak:
Though the years do pass
Of fading hues
There is no sign, I feel! |
Daishin, Lady-in-Waiting from the Rokujō Palace
六条院女房大進
'Simply moving and elegant'