A further poem:
時雨のみふる山里の木の下はをる人からやもり過ぬらん
| shigure nomi furu yamazato no ko no shita wa oru hito kara ya morisuginuran | Showers simply Fall upon a mountain retreat Beneath the trees; Has someone gone astray there To make them seem so endlessly thick? |
When he received these, His Majesty was not of a mind to respond. I have heard that he read the poems then showed them to someone, saying, `What is this about？I don’t understand!’, so it is said they had no effect.
The End of Autumn
Left
あきやまはからくれなゐになりにけりいくしほしぐれふりてそめけむ
| akiyama wa karakurenai ni narinikeri iku shioshigure furitesomekemu | The autumn mountains To Cathay scarlet Have turned; How many dippings with drizzle Have fallen to dye them so? |
15
Right (Win)
さほやまのははそのもみぢうすけれどあきはふかくもなりにけるかな
| saoyama no hahaso no momiji usukeredo aki wa fukaku mo narinikeru kana | On Sao Mountain The oak trees autumn leaves Are pale in hue, yet Most deep has autumn Become! |
Korenori
16
The Beginning of Autumn
Left (Win—in a certain book Tie)
しぐれにもあめにもあらぬはつぎりのたつにもそらはさしくもりけり
| shigure ni mo ame ni mo aranu hatsugiri no tatsu ni mo sora wa sashikumorikeri | Neither a shower Nor rain, The first mists Simply rise into the skies And cover all with cloud. |
11
Right
としごとにあふとはすれどたなばたのぬるよのかずぞすくなかりける
| toshi goto ni au to suredo tanabata no nuru yo no kazu zo sukunakarikeru | Every year She meets him, yet The Weaver Maid’s Nights of passion Are few indeed. |
Mitsune
12
These are poems which His Majesty had everyone in attendance compose on the day.
わがやどをみなへしひとのすぎゆかばあきのくさばはしぐれざらまし
| wa ga yado o mina heshi hito no sugiyukaba aki no kusaba wa shigurezaramashi | Should my house By all the passing folk Be passed by, then Would not the autumn grasses Scatter showers? |
Minamoto no Tsuruna
29
をしめどもえだにとまらぬもみぢばをみなへしおきてあきののちみむ
| oshimedomo eda ni tomaranu momijiba o mina heshi okite aki no nochi mimu | I regret it, yet On the branches have not lingered Scarlet leaves— I will press them, every one, To gaze on after autumn’s passing. |
Muneyuki
30
From the Poetry Contest held by the Empress Dowager during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.
神無月しぐれふるらしさほ山のまさきのかづら色まさり行く
| kaminazuki shigure fururashi saoyama no masaki no kazura iro masarikeri | In the Godless Month Showers fall, it seems, for On Sao Mountain The evergreen arrowroot’s Hues are fine, indeed. |
Anonymous
Autumn
Round Seven
Left
秋山はからくれなゐに成りにけりいくしほしぐれふりてそめけん
| akiyama wa karakurenai ni narinikeri iku shio shigure furite someken | The autumn mountains To Cathay scarlet Have turned; How many dippings with drizzle Have fallen to dye them so? |
13[1]
Right (Win)
秋きぬとめにはさやかにみえねども風の音にぞおどろかれぬる
| aki kinu to me ni wa sayaka ni mienedomo kaze no oto ni zo odorokarenuru | That autumn has come With my eyes, clearly, I cannot see, yet The sound of the wind Has startled me. |
Fujiwara no Toshiyuki 14[2]
[1] Shokugosenshū VII: 429
[2] This poem was particularly highly evaluated and so is included in numerous other anthologies (Kokin rokujō I: 125), exemplary collections (Shinsen waka 2) and senka awase – contests assembled from prior poems (Shunzei sanjū roku nin uta’awase 61; Jidai fudō uta’awase 49).