郭公きけどもあかずたちばなの花ちる里の五月雨のころ
hototogisu kikedomo akazu tachibana no hana chiru sato no samidare no koro | The cuckoo I hear, yet am never sated, when Orange Blossom scatters round my estate In the summer rain… |

Round Seventeen
Cuckoos
Left (Tie)
さのみやは心あるべき時鳥ね覚の空に一声もがな
sanomi ya wa kokoro arubeki hototogisu nezame no sora ni hitogoe mogana | Not much of The heart can you know, O, cuckoo, but On waking from the sky I would hear a single call. |
A Court Lady
33
Right
やはた山むかひの里の郭公しのびしかたの声もかはらず
yawatayama mukai no sato no hototogisu shinobishi kata no koe mo kawarazu | By Yawata Mountain, At the estate of Mukai, A cuckoo, Fondly remembers someone With a changeless song! |
Lord Ietaka
34
The Left’s poem would seem to fail to reflect the essential meaning of the topic of cuckoos by having it not yet being heard, and thus its overall technique seems dreadful. The Right’s poem also lacks any superlative elements, they must tie.
A folk song about the village of Asahi in Ōmi Province, performed at the eastern celebration of the Great Thanksgiving Service in Chōwa 5 [1016].
あかねさす朝日のさとのひかげぐさ豊明のかざしなるべし
akane sasu asahi no sato no hikagegusa toyo no akari no kazashi narubeshi | Shining madder red Morning sun rises over Asahi village, Sunlight upon the ground pines, for The banquets, ever lit, A fine hair decoration! |
Sukechika, Master of Service
祭主輔親
Round Two
Left (Tie)
大はらやをしほの里の朝霞ゆききになれし春ぞ忘れぬ
ōhara ya oshio no sato no asagasumi yukiki ni nareshi haru zo wasurenu | In Ōhara At Oshio estate among The morning haze Accustomed to go back and forth, Never will I forget that springtime! |
The Former Minister of the Centre
3
Right
浦人のしほやく里のあさ霞春の物とやわかでみるらん
urabito no shio yaku sato no asagasumi haru no mono to ya wakade miruran | Folk dwelling by the bay Roasting salt in their village: The morning haze From a scene in spring ‘tis Hard to distinguish, is it not?[1] |
Kozaishō
4
The Left’s poem composes ‘Oshio estate among the morning haze accustomed to go back and forth’ and, in addition to seeming to have some feeling in it, displays fine configuration and diction, while the Right’s poem ‘From as scene in spring ‘tis hard to distinguish, is it not?’ recollects Narihira’s poem ‘a scene from spring: ever-falling rain to gaze upon all day’ and has a gentle air about it, so both are difficult to distinguish from each other. I make this a tie.
[1] An allusive variation on KKS XIII: 616.
Composed on the conception of the beginning of spring, when she presented a hundred poem sequence.
雪ふかきいはのかけみち跡たゆるよしののさとも春はきにけり
yuki Fukaki iFa no kakemiti ato tayuru yosino no sato mo Faru Fa kinikeri | Where snow lay deep Across the rocks, upon the path of boards, Footprints are fading— At the Yoshino estate Spring has arrived! |
Taikenmon’in no Horikawa
Composed on the conception of falling leaves.
たつた山ふもとの里はとほけれどあらしのつてにもみぢをぞみる
tatutayama Fumoto no sato Fa toFokeredo arasi no tute ni momidi wo zo miru | Tatsuta Mountain From this estate in the foothills Lies far away, yet The storm wind’s actions mean I see scarlet leaves! |
Hōribe no Narinaka