Written on the edge of a folding screen by a painting of geese flying in the clouds, when His Majesty ordered a celebration for the Junior Principal Handmaid.
白雲の中にまがひてゆく雁もこゑはかくれぬ物にざりける
| shirakumo no naka ni magaite yuku kari mo koe wa kakurenu mono ni zarikeru | Within the clouds, so white, Entangled Goes a goose, Unable to conceal his cry With anything at all! |
Silver grass
Left (Tie)
はなすすきほにいづるをのはしらくものあさゐるとのみあやまたれけり
| hanasusuki ho ni izuru ono wa shirakumo no asa iru to nomi ayamatarekeri | Silver grass Fronds appear upon the plains For clouds of white Spreading through the morning, simply Have I mistaken them. |
Ariwara no Suetaka
15
Right
はなすすきほのくれがたのつゆけきはうきよのなかをそよとしればか
| hanasusuki ho no kuregata no tsuyukeki wa ukiyo no naka o soyo to shireba ka | The silver grass Fronds at twilight Are dew-drenched— That this cruel world Is so, I wonder if they know? |
Fujiwara no Aritoki
16
Round Twelve
Left (Tie)
しら雲を心なしともいひはてじ秋の月をばかくさざりけり
| shirakumo o kokoronashi to mo iihateji aki no tsuki oba kakusazarikeri | That clouds of white Lack sensitivity, Surely, one cannot say, for The autumn moon They have not hidden. |
Suketaka
71
Right
わきてしもをしまざらまし照る月の秋より後もくまなかりせば
| wakiteshi mo oshimazaramashi teru tsuki no aki yori nochi mo kumanakariseba | Not at all Would I regret The shining of the moon, if After autumn, too It were made unclouded… |
The Lay Priest Master
72
The Left sounds as if, in autumn in general clouds did not trail across the moon. It really does put me in mind of the preface to the Ancient and Modern collection, where it says that Kisen’s poetry is like ‘gazing at the moon in autumn when, just before dawn, it is covered with cloud’! As for the Right, it sounds as if whatever the season the moon is dark after autumn, but there are plenty of poems where you can ‘indeed see the moon in autumn’, and thus this is like blowing on someone’s hair to find a scab! These both seem of about the same quality.
Original
やへたてるみかさのやまのしらくもはみゆきさぶらふさくらなりけり
| yae tateru mikasa no yama no shirakumo wa miyuki saburau sakura narikeri | Standing eightfold high above Mikasa Mountain, The clouds of white, In service to the excursion Are cherries. |
7
Left (Win)
よそにてもきみしみつれば山ざくらこころやすくやいまはちるらむ
| yoso nite mo kimi shi mitsureba yamazakura kokoro yasuku ya ima wa chiruramu | Seen from afar, and Even by my Lady, do The mountain cherries Contentedly Seem to scatter now? |
8
Right
やへたてるくもゐに見えしさくらばなかへるたむけにけふやちるらん
| yae tateru kumoi ni mieshi sakurabana kaeru tamuke ni kyō ya chiruran | Standing eightfold high Among the clouds, I seemed to see Cherry blossoms, As a memento of our return Seeming to scatter today. |
9
Poems from a Chrysanthemum Match held by the Senior Courtier Gentlemen in the presence of His Majesty, 13th day of the Tenth Month, Engi 13.
Left
ちりはててはななきときのはななればうつろふいろのをしくもあるかな
| chirihatete hakanaki toki no hana nareba utsurou iro no oshiku mo aru kana | All scattered now, For such a brief time are These flowers here; The fading of their hues Is something I regret! |
Okikaze
1
しらくものうへにしうつるきくなればいたくをにほへはなとみるべく
| shirakumo no uenishi utsuru kiku nareba itaku o nioe hana to mirubeku | A white cloud, Planted is this gleaming Chrysanthemum, so Bright, indeed, shining Does the bloom look to be… |
Suetada
2
Round Sixteen
Left
桜さく吉野の山の山風にふもとをこめて花にほふらし
| sakura saku yoshino no yama no yamakaze ni fumoto o komete hana niourashi | Cherries bloom In the mountains of Yoshino, where The mountain breezes Make even the foothills Aglow with blossom. |
Tomoshige
31
Right (Win)
花の色はあまりにけりなつくばねのこのもかのもにかかる白雲
| hana no iro wa amarinikeri na tsukubane no kono mo kano mo ni kakaru shirakumo | The blossoms’ hues Have overflowed[1] The peak of Tsukuba— Near and far, both, Draped with clouds of white.[2] |
Dharma Master Zenshin
32
The Left’s poem has no faults worth mentioning and, furthermore, is not particularly remarkable. The Right’s poem refers to the peak of Tsukuba; while this is generally thought of as a mountain, it is not necessarily limited to mountains and there are, I think, a bunch of instances where it means a place with lots of trees; however, because here it also conveys the conception of mountains, from the use of pleasant poetic technique, the Right should win.
[1] Zenshin is clearly referencing Ono no Komachi’s famous: Topic unknown. 花の色はうつりにけりないたづらにわが身世にふるながめせしまに hana no iro wa / utsurinikeri na / itazura ni / wa ga mi yo ni furu / nagame seshi ma ni ‘The blossoms’ hues / Have already faded away, / While in idle thoughts / My life goes by, / As I watch the long rains fall.’ (KKS II: 113).
[2] An allusive variation on: Eastern poem: a poem from Hitachi. 筑波嶺のこのもかのもに影はあれど君がみかげにます陰はなし tsukuba ne no / kono mo kano mo ni / kage aredo / kimi ga mikage ni / masu kage wa nashi ‘On the peak of Tsukuba / Here and there / Lie shadows, yet / To your shadow, my love (my Lord) / They cannot compare!’ Anonymous (KKS XX: 1095).
Round Fourteen
Left (Win)
ちりちらず花より外の色ぞなきかさなる山の嶺の春風
| chiri chirazu hana yori hoka no iro zo naki kasanaru yama no mine no harukaze | Scattered, or not, Other than the blossoms’ Hues are there none Layered upon the mountain Peaks by the breeze in springtime.[1] |
Shō
27
Right
かづらきやたかまの山はうづもれて空に棚引く春のしら雲
| kazuragi ya takama no yama wa uzumorete sora ni tanabiku haru no shirakumo | In Kazuragi Takama Mountain Is buried by Trailing across the skies Clouds of white in springtime. |
Nagatsuna
28
The Left’s poem appears fine. The Right’s poem, having ‘Takama Mountain is buried’ is both pretentious and does not link to anything. The Left must win.
[1] An allusive variation on: On a folding screen for the Kamo Virgin, for the place showing people going along a mountain path. ちりちらずきかまほしきをふるさとの花見て帰る人もあはなん chiri chirazu / kikamahoshiki o / furusato no / hana mitekaeru / hito mo awanan ‘Are they scattered, or not, is / What I would ask, but / The ancient estate’s / Blossom having seen and returned— / Those folk I would have you meet.’ Ise (SIS I: 49)
