On seeing sweet flags, when rain was falling in the Fifth Month.
袖ぬれてけふふくやどのあやめ草いづれの沼に誰か引きけむ
sode nurete kyō fuku yado no ayamegusa izure no numa ni tare ka hikikemu My sleeves drenched, and Today the house is decked with Sweet flags; Where is the marsh, and Who was it might have picked them?
Round Eleven
Tanabata
Left (Win)
七夕はたえぬ契りをうれしともこよひばかりやおもひしるらん
tanabata wa taenu chigiri o ureshi tomo koyoi bakari ya omoishiruran The Weaver Maid’s Unending vow is A source of joy, yet Is it only on this night That she truly feels it?
Shun’e 21
Right
天の河わたるこよひや七夕は中中袖をぬらさざるらん
ama no kawa wataru koyoi ya tanabata wa nakanaka sode o nurasazaruran The River of Heaven Does she cross tonight, so The Weaver Maid Truly, her sleeves Dampens not, I think!
Yorisuke 22
Plum
Round Three
Left (Tie)
あしがきのおくゆかしくもみゆるかな誰がすむ宿の梅の立えぞ
ashigaki no oku yukashiku mo miyuru kana ta ga sumu yado no ume no tachie zo A fence of reeds and Within, how charming They appear! Who is it dwells at this house of Beckoning branches of plum?
Lord Kiyosuke 5
Right
ひばりあがる春の日ぐらし袖たれてかきねの梅の花みるわれは
hibari agaru haru no higurashi sode tarete kakine no ume no hana miru ware wa Skylarks soar In springtime all day long, Dangling my sleeves, upon The plum inside the lattice fence, At the blossom gaze I…
Kenshō 6
The Left is in cliched style, while the final line of the Right is interrupted—a tie, I think.
Topic unknown.
武蔵野は袖ひつばかりわけしかどわか紫はたづねわびにき
musasino Fa sode Fitu bakari wakesikado wakamurasaki Fa tadune wabiniki Across Musashi plain, Enough to soak my sleeves Did I forge my way, yet My young gromwell Sadly I found not.
Anonymous
Created with Soan.
Shioni
うけとむるそでをしをに てつらぬかばなみだのたまのかずは見てまし
uketomuru sode o shi o ni te tsuranukaba namida no tama no kazu wa mitemashi Resting On my sleeves—should they a cord To string them be, then My gemstone tears Number would you clearly see…
Ise
Created with Soan.
わがやどの八重のやまぶき露をおもみうちはらふ袖のそほちぬるかな
wa ga yado no yae no yamabuki tsuyu o omomi uchiharau sode no sōchinuru kana At my home The eightfold kerria is Weighed down with dew; Brushing it away, my sleeves Are completely soaked!
Created with Soan.
Kerria on a riverbank.
山吹のはなのしづくに袖ぬれてむかしおぼゆる玉川のさと
yamabuki no hana no shizuku ni sode nurete mukashi oboyuru tamagawa no sato From the kerria Blossom droplets Have drenched my sleeves, as I remember days long gone At the estate of Tamagawa.
Created with Soan.
Composed to accompany a picture on a folding screen of a traveller at the Bay of Tako, picking wisteria blooms.
たこのうらの岸の藤なみ立ちかへりをらではゆかじ袖はぬるとも
tako no ura no kishi no fujinami tachikaeri orade wa yukaji sode wa nuru tomo At the Bay of Tako Upon the shore wisteria waves Break, returning Never would I go without picking them Though it wet my sleeves.
Created with Soan.
Round 5
Left (Win)
朝日影まだ出でやらぬ足引の山はかすみの色ぞうつろふ
asahi kage mada ideyaranu ashihiki no yama wa kasumi no iro zo utsurou The morning sunlight Has yet to fall upon The leg-wearying Mountains, yet the haze’s Hues are shifting.
Takasuke, Gentleman-in-Waiting 9
Right
山姫のかすみのそでも紅に光そへたる朝日影かな
yamahime no kasumi no sode mo kurenai ni hikari soetaru asahi kage kana The mountain princess has Her sleeves of haze turned Scarlet Draped with light by The morning sunshine!
Shimotsuke 10
The Left’s poem has no faults worth pointing out; the poem of the Right’s ‘morning sunlight draping scarlet light across the sleeves of haze’ is overly gorgeous, I think, while the Left seems perfectly beautiful, so it should win.
On the conception of forgotten love.
袖の露もあらぬ色にぞ消えかへるうつればかはるなげきせしまに
sode no tsuyu mo aranu iro ni zo kiekaeru utsureba kawaru nagekiseshi ma ni The dewdrops on my sleeves now Lack any hue at all Fading once more, Revealing the change To my lengthy sorrow…[1]
The Senior Retired Emperor
Created with Soan .
[1] An allusive variation on: KKS II: 113 ; and Genji monogatari 463 .
Posts navigation
'Simply moving and elegant'