Round Sixteen
Left
ひとたびもこひしとおもふに恋しきは心ぞそらにくだくべらなる
| hitotabi mo koishi to omou ni koishiki wa kokoro zo sora ni kudakuberanaru | Briefly Did I love you, I feel, then My fondness with My heart into the skies Was surely shattered. |
30
Right
人を思ふ心はわれにあらねばや身のまどふだにしられざるらん
| hito o omou kokoro wa ware ni araneba ya mi no madou dani shirazaruran | A loving Heart do I Have not? For Even confused feelings I do not seem to feel… |
31
忍ぶれど物思ふ人はうき雲の空に恋する名をのみぞたつ
| shinoburedo mono’omou hito wa ukigumo no sora ni koisuru na o nomi zo tatsu | I kept it secret, yet She, who is the focus of my thoughts, is As a drifting cloud Within the sky, and of my love Rumours, alone, do rise toward her. |
Middle Captain Morotoki, Fourth Rank
19
恋すともいかでか空に名はたたじ忍ぶる程は袖につつまで
| koisu to mo ikade ka sora ni na wa tataji shinoburu hodo wa sode ni tsutsumade | You love, so How is it that the skies Could remain untouched by rumours? Your secret You’ve not kept wrapped within your sleeves… |
Lady Aki, in service to the Empress Dowager
20
Left
あすは又けふをばこぞといひすててをしみしものとおもひだにせじ
| asu wa mata kyō o ba kozo to iisutete oshimishi mono to omoi dani seji | Tomorrow, once again Will be as today I’ll say easily and All those things that I regretted- I’ll not even think of them! |
Lord Sueyoshi
2080
Right
ふゆのそらわびつつけふになりにけりあとなきにはのゆきとみながら
| fuyu no sora wabitsutsu kyō ni narinikeri ato naki niwa no yuki to minagara | The winter sky is Ever a source of grief-today Has just turned out that way, While my gardens trackless Snow fills my gaze. |
Ienaga
2081
Judgement: I wonder how the central ‘I’ll say easily’ leads in to the concluding section. The Right’s poem is a little better, I’d say.
When people were commanded to compose a seventeen poem sequence.
冬の空日影みじかき比なればいとどほどなく暮るる年かな
| fuyu no sora hikage mijikaki koro nareba itodo hodo naku kururu toshi kana | The winter sky’s Sunlight hours are Brief, so Shortly, very shortly The year will reach its evening. |
Dharma Seal Kakkan
逢ふ事やこよひこよひとかよふまに空忘れして月日へにけり
| au koto ya koyoi koyoi to kayou ma ni sora wasureshite tsukihi henikeri | I wonder will we meet Tonight, maybe tonight, I think, and While I’m on my way, Forgetful of the skies, Days and months have passed me by. |
Kuninobu, the Minamoto Middle Counsellor
5
In reply.
あや莚をとなるまでも恋ひずしてまだきに床を忘るべしやは
| ayamushiro oto naru made mo koizushite madaki ni toko o wasurubeshi ya wa | My patterned blanket Lies far away, and yet Lacking love How swiftly my bed Might you be able to forget? |
Daishin, in service to His Former Majesty
6
Summer
Left
夏くればかみにあふひの草つみてかざしにいのるひとにばかりぞ
| natsu kureba kami ni aoi no kusa tsumite kazashi ni inoru hito ni bakari zo | When the summer comes For the God, hollyhocks Are plucked, and for a Prayer placed in the hair of All folk, every one! |
7
夏草も茂りにければ駿河なる田子のうらなへ今やひくらん
| natsu kusa mo shigerinikereba suruga naru tago no ura nae ima ya hikuran | The summer grasses, too, Have grown lush, so As Suruga’s Tago Bay, Do they now extend their charm? |
8
夏虫のやどるにまつは色ならで春秋空にうつろひやする
| natsumushi no yadoru ni matsu wa iro narade haru aki sora ni utsuroi ya suru | The summer insects Lodge upon the pines Unchanging hues; Is it the spring and autumn skies Which fade away? |
9
Right
卯花の咲く夏の夜はやみなれどかきねにやどる月かとぞみる
| u no hana no saku natsu no yo wa yami naredo kakine ni yadoru tsuki ka to zo miru | The deutzia flowers Bloom upon a summer night ‘Tis dark, yet Lodged upon my brushwood fence I wonder if I see the moon? |
10
五月きぬことかたらはむほととぎす君にあふちの花も咲きけり
| satsuki kinu koto katarawamu hototogisu kimi ni auchi no hana mo sakikeri | That the Fifth Month has come Is announced by The cuckoo: For you, the chinaberry Blossoms, too, have bloomed. |
11
空蝉のからにはあらで置く露の身をあらたむる心なるべし
| utsusemi no kara ni wa arade oku tsuyu no mi o aratamuru kokoro narubeshi | A cicada’s shed Shell I am not, for The dripping dew Does refresh my flesh, or So my heart seems to feel. |
12
From among the poems he composed daily in Bun’ei 7 [1270].
冬の雨の名残のきりはあけ過ぎてくもらぬ空にのこる月かげ
| fuyu no ame no nagori no kiri wa akesugite kumoranu sora ni nokoru tsukikage | The winter rain’s Remnants of mist Have cleared away, and In the cloudless sky Lingers moonlight. |
Minister of Popular Affairs, Lord Tame’ie
Composed gazing at the moon.
あまの原そらさへさえや渡るらん氷と見ゆる冬の夜の月
| ama no Fara sora saFe sae ya wataruran koFori to miyuru Fuyu no yo no tuki | The plain of Heaven, The sky, so coldly Does it seem to cross, Ice, it does appear, The moon upon a winter’s night. |
Egyō
かりのみとうはのそらなるなみだこそあきのたもとのつゆとおくらめ
| kari nomi to uwa no sora naru namida koso aki no tamoto no tsuyu to okurame | The geese simply from The skies above Do drop their tears; It is in autumn that my sleeves Seem to gather dewdrops. |
49
山がはのたきつせしばしよどまなむあきのもみぢのいろとめて見む
| yamagawa no takitsuse shibashi yodomanamu aki no momiji no iro tomete mimu | The mountain river’s Rapids seem briefly Stilled; Autumn’s scarlet leaves’ Hues have halted it, I see. |
50
ひとしれぬなみだやそらにくもりつつあきのしぐれとふりまさるらむ[1]
| hito shirenu namida ya sora ni kumoritsutsu aki no shigure to furimasaruramu | Unknown to all With tears the skies Are ever clouded; The autumn drizzle Seems to fall the harder. |
47
あきくれば山とよむまでなくしかに我おとらめやひとりぬるよは
| aki kureba yama toyomu made naku shika ni ware otorame ya hitori nuru yo wa | When the autumn comes The mountains echo with The belling stags; Will they lose to me These nights I sleep alone? |
48
[1] This poem appears in Fubokushō (5546), where it is attributed to [Ariwara no] Motokata.