This is a poem which was written on a poetry slip and attached to the diorama when it was presented to the young prince,[i] on the day following the match.

なでしこのはなさきそむる夏の野にけふひぐらしのこゑかきこゆる

nadeshiko no hana sakisomuru natsu no no ni kyō higurashi no koe ka kikoyuru

The pinks In bloom have begun to be On the summer plains From today the sunset crickets’ Cries do I hear?

7[ii]

In reply from His Highness, the prince.[iii]

ひぐらしのなくもことわりなでしこのかひあるなつの野べとみゆれば

higurashi no naku mo kotowari nadeshiko no kai aru natsu no nobe to miyureba

That the sunset crickets Should cry makes sense, for The pinks bring A point to the summer Meadows, or so it seems to me…

8

A further reply from within the Hall of Cool Purity.

みやぎのにけふさきそむるなでしこはならはぬいろに人やみるらむ

miyagino ni kyō sakisomuru nadeshiko wa narawanu iro ni hito ya miruramu

On Miyagi Plain Today has begun to bloom A pink— Its extraordinary hue I wonder, will folk see?

9[iv]

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[i] A reference to Imperial Prince Norihira  憲平, the future Emperor Reizei 冷泉 (950-1011; r. 967-969).

[ii] Anonymous (Fubokushō IX: 3461); (Nakatsukasa-shū 120)

[iii] Given that Norihira would have been only six years old when this match was held, it is most likely that this reply was penned in his stead by his mother, Fujiwara no Yasuko (Anshi) 藤原安子 (927-964).

[iv] This poem is included in Fubokushō (IX: 3469) attributed to the ‘Seiryōden Junior Consort’ (Seiryōden nyōgo 清涼殿女御), with the headnote ‘Poetry Match held by Junior Consort Yoshiko (Hōshi) in the Fifth Month, Tenryaku 10’. It is now generally believed that the Fubokushō attribution is erroneous, and this was, instead, composed by Emperor Murakami.