Left (Tie)
たれによりおもひくだくるこころぞはしらぬぞひとのつらさなりける
| tare ni yori omoi’kudakuru kokoro zo wa shiranu zo hito no tsurasa narikeru | For who is it that Love should distraught make My heart? That she realises not reveals Her cruelty! |
Mitsune
53
Right
はづかしのもりのはつかにみしものをなどしたくさのしげきこひなる
| hazukashi no mori no hatsuka ni mishi mono o nado shitakusa no shigeki koi naru | Shyly in Hazukashi Forest, briefly Did I glimpse her, so Why as undergrowth So lush has my love grown? |
Mitsune
54
Evergreens
ちりかはる心なけれどみやまぎのときはは秋もしられざりけり
| chirikawaru kokoro nakeredo miyamagi no tokiwa wa aki mo shirarezarikeri | A flighty Heart, has it not, yet Deep within the mountains, that the trees Are evergreen, even the autumn Seems not to know… |
19
Gentian
した草の花をみつればむらさきに秋さへふかくなりにけるかな
| shitagusa no hana o mitsureba murasaki ni aki sae fukaku narinikeru kana | When in the undergrowth Flowers I do see, their Violet in Autum much deeper Has become! |
20
Round Six
Left
夏山のみねのこずゑのたかければなく郭公こゑかはるかな
| natsuyama no mine no kozue no takakereba naku hototogisu koe kawaru kana | The summer mountain Peaks have treetops So high, that The crying cuckoo’s Calls stand for them. |
11
Right (Win)
おほあらきのもりの下草茂りあひてふかくも夏のなりにけるかな
| ōaraki no mori no shitagusa moriaite fukaku mo natsu no narinikeru kana | In Ōaraki Forest the undergrowth Has grown so thick, that Deep summer is Surely here! |
Mitsune
12
人しれぬ袖ぞ露けき逢ふことはかれのみまさる山のした草
| hito shirenu sode zo tsuyukeki au koto wa kare nomi masaru yama no shitagusa | Unknown to all My sleeves are drenched with dew; For our meetings Excel only in being withered As the scrub grass on the mountainside. |
[Nakako,] The Suō Handmaid
29
In reply.
おく山の下かげ草はかれやする軒ばにのみはおのれなりつつ
| oku yama no shitakagegusa wa kare ya suru nokiba ni nomi wa onore naritsutsu | Deep within the mountains, have The grasses growing in the trees’ dark shade Really withered away? Simply beneath your eaves, Is where I ever am… |
The Consultant Middle Captain
30
Left (Win)
今はさはあはれと思へ菅の根の長き心の程は見つらん
| ima wa sa wa aware to omoe suga no ne no nagaki kokoro no hodo wa mitsuran |
Now, indeed, let you Think fondly of me! The grasses’ roots run Long, my heart’s Love will you see… |
Lord Suetsune
1023
Right
世とゝもにかはくまもなき我袖や潮干もわかぬ浪の下草
| yo to tomo ni kawaku ma mo naki wa ga sode ya shioi mo wakanu nami no shitagusa |
With the passing time, Not a moment dry Are my sleeves; Low tide does not reveal The seaweed beneath the waves… |
Lord Takanobu
1024
The Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults to indicate. The Left state: the Right’s poem is clichéd.
In judgement: the Right, in addition to being clichéd, can say no more than that love means wet sleeves. The Left’s ‘grasses’ roots’ (suga no ne) is certainly better.
Composed on the conception of Love, when he held a poetry contest at his residence while he was a Middle Captain.
我が恋は海女の刈る藻に乱れつつかわく時なき浪の下草
| wa ga koFi Fa ama no karu mo ni midaretutu kaFaku toki naki nami no sitagusa |
My love is As seaweed reaped by fisher-girls, Ever tangled, and Not a moment dry Have the weeds beneath the waves… |
Supernumerary Middle Councillor [Fujiwara no] Toshitada
権中納言俊忠
Left.
夏草のなかを露けみかき分けて刈る人なしにしげる野辺かな
| natu kusa no naka o tuyukemi kakiwakete karu Fito nasi ni sigeru nobe kana |
The summer grasses Midst is dew-drenched; Forging through, With no one to reap them This meadow is lush, indeed! |
Tadami
Right.
夏ふかくなりぞしにけるおほあらきの杜の下草なべて人かる
| natu Fukaku nari zo sinikeru oFoaraki no mori no sitagusa nabete Fito karu |
Deep within the summer It is now: At Ōaraki In the sacred groves, the undergrowth Is arrayed for men to reap it! |
Kanemori