Topic unknown.
陸奥のしのぶもぢずり誰ゆへにみだれむと思我ならなくに
| mitinoku no sinobu modizuri tare yuFe ni midaremu to omoFu ware naranaku ni | Distant Michinoku’s Tangled fern-patterned garb: For whose sake might it be, that Secret passion leaves me so distraught? For it is not mine, I know, so… |
The Kawara Minister of the Left
Sent to a lady’s house attached to a frond of fern which had taken on autumn colours.
わが恋もいまは色にやいでなまし軒のしのぶも紅葉しにけり
| wa ga koi mo ima wa iro ni ya idenamashi noki no shinobu mo momijishinikeri | Does my love, too, Now with such passionate hues Reveal itself, I wonder? Secretly beneath my eaves the ferns Have turned scarlet. |
The Hanazono Minister of the Left
There was a man who had been secretly conversing with a woman who had a husband. When their relationship cooled, seeing that he had little time for her, the woman sent this to him.
我宿の軒のしのぶにことよせてやがても茂るわすれ草かな
| wa ga yado no noki no sinobu ni koto yosete yagate mo sigeru wasuregusa kana |
At my dwelling Ferns grow beneath the eaves Is your excuse; And in the end all that grows lush is The grass of your forgetfulness! |
Anonymous
On hearing the spring rain fall when having nothing to do.
つくづくと春のながめのさびしきはしのぶにつたふのきの玉水
| tsukuzuku to haru no nagame no sabishiki wa shinobu ni tsutau noki no tamamizu |
Ceaselessly Spring’s long rains fill my gaze With sorrow: A tale told to the ferns By droplets from the eaves… |
Major Archbishop Gyōkei (1101-1165)
大僧正行慶
Left.
思ひこそ千島の奥を隔てねどえぞ通はさぬ壺の碑
| omoi koso chishima no oku o hedatenedo ezo kayowasanu tsubo no ishibumi |
My love Has not the Thousand Islands Barring it, yet The barbarians cannot pass The Stone at Tsubo – nor can I write to you! |
Kenshō
871
Right (Win).
思ひやる心幾重の峰越えて信夫の奧を尋ね入るらん
| omoiyaru kokoro ikue no mine koete shinobu no oku o tazuneiruran |
Dwelling on you, My heart numberless Peaks will cross To the depths of Shinobu, Perhaps to visit someone hidden there? |
Ietaka
872
As the previous round.
In judgement: the Left’s ‘Thousand Islands’ (chishima) is a familiar expression from the past, but I do not recall it being used in poetry. I am familiar with the Right’s ‘depths of Shinobu’ (shinobu no oku), so that is better. Again, the Right wins.
Left (Win).
洩らすなよ雲ゐる嶺の初時雨木の葉は下に色變るとも
| morasunayo kumoiru mine no hatsu shigure ko no ha wa shita ni iro kawarutomo |
O, let it not leak out! Though the cloud-capped peaks’ First shower of rain, On the leaves’ underside Has left a change of hue… |
613
Right.
閨のうちは涙の雨に朽ち果てゝしのぶは茂る妻にぞ有ける
| neya no uchi wa namida no ame ni kuchihatete shinobu wa shigeru tsuma ni zo arikeru |
Within my bedchamber A rain of tears Has rotted all, so The weeping ferns secretly grow thick Around the edges… |
The Provisional Master of the Empress’ Household Office.
614
The Gentlemen of the Right state: the Left’s poem has no defects worth criticising. The Gentlemen of the Left state: the initial and final sections of the Right’s poem lack connection with each other. Does the poem have a conception of hiddenness?
Shunzei’s judgement: The conception and configuration of the Left’s ‘cloud-capped peaks’ first shower of rain’ (kumoiru mine no hatsu shigure) seems charming [kokoro sugata okashiku mie]. On that basis, it should win.