夜の程に紅葉しにけりたつた山峰の薄霧いろいろに見ゆ
yoru no hodo ni
momijishinikeri
tatsutayama
mine no usugiri
iroiro ni miyu
In the space of just one night
Have the leaves turned scarlet;
On Tatsuta Mountain
The faint mists around the peak
Have taken on their hues.
Cloistered Prince Kakushō
覚性法親王
たちわたる峯の霞はもろともに志賀の 山越するにやあるらむ
tachiwataru
mine no kasumi wa
morotomo ni
shiga no yamagoe
suru ni ya aruramu
Rising all around
Do the hazes on the peak
All together
Along the path across the Shiga Mountains
Find their way, I wonder?
Composed when he held a poetry competition at his house.
よもすがら富士の高嶺に雲きえて清見が関にすめる月かな
yomosugara
Fudi no takane ni
kumo kiete
kiyomi ga seki ni
sumeru tuki kana
All through this night
From the mighty peak of Fuji
Have the clouds cleared, and
Above the barrier of Kiyomi
Brightly shines the moon.
Akisuke, Master of the Left Capital Office
左京大夫顕輔
Composed for the Poetry Competition held at the Residence of the Former Uji Grand Minister in Chōgen 8 [1035].
君が世は白雲かかる筑波嶺の峰のつづきの海となるまで
kimi ga yo Fa
sirakumo kakaru
tukubane no
mine no tuduki no
umi to naru made
My Lord’s reign:
White clouds cling
To the peak of Tsukuba;
Until those very heights
Shall sink into the sea!
Nōin
Left (Win).
忘れじの契を頼む別かな空行く月の末を數へて
wasureji no
chigiri o tanomu
wakare kana
sora yuku tsuki no
sue o kazoete
Not to forget
I promised – trust that
On our parting.
The moon’s transit through the sky
Is the number of our meeting.
A Servant Girl
719
Right.
風吹かば峰に別れん雲をだにありし名殘の形見とも見よ
kaze fukaba
mine ni wakaren
kumo o dani
arishi nagori no
katami to mo miyo
If the wind should blow,
Parting from the peak,
Even the clouds
My memories
Seem to represent!
Ietaka
720
The Gentlemen of the Right state: the Left’s poem is most moving. The Right’s poem, the Gentlemen of the Left state, is fine.
Shunzei’s judgement: the Left’s poem has one counting to the end of the moon’s transits through the sky, while the Right has clouds parting from a mountain peak being the poet’s thoughts given form. Both poems are elegant in configuration and diction, but the Right’s ‘even the clouds’ (kumo ni dani ) does not fit with the ending. The Left maintains its connections from beginning to end. Thus, I make it the winner.
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'Simply moving and elegant'