When she was asked to send something to the house of a man.
はる日さす藤のうら葉のうらとけて君し思はば我もたのまん
| Faru Fi sasu Fudi no uraba utitokete kimi si omoFaba ware mo tanoman |
Spring sun shines on The wisteria’s underleaves; If kindly You do think of me, then I, too, will grant my trust. |
Anonymous
A spring poem, presented in a hundred poem sequence during the reign of former Emperor Sutoku.
若菜摘む袖とぞ見ゆるかすがのゝとぶひのゝべの雪のむらぎえ
| wakana tsumu sode to zo miyuru kasugano no tobu hi no nobe no yuki no muragie |
Plucking fresh herbs, Sleeves do I seem to see On the plain at Kasuga, Where the sun dances in the fields On the patchy snow… |
Former Consultant Norinaga
うち乱れすめるみ空の遊ぶ糸に天の川瀬のみつを日かはや
| uchimidare sumeru misora no asobu ito ama no kawase no mitsu o hi ka wa ya |
Confusing The clear skies is The heat-haze: The rapids of the river of heaven Roused by the sun, perhaps? |
Minamoto no Akinaka (1058-1138)
源顕仲
Composed on evening haze.
なごの海の霞のまよりながむれば入る日をあらふ沖つ白波
| nago no umi no kasumi no ma yori nagamureba iru hi o arau oki tsu shiranami |
At the sea at Nago Between the hazy gaps I gaze: Bathed by the setting sun Are the whitecaps in the offing. |
The Gotokudaiji Minister of the Left
後徳大寺左大臣
[Fujiwara no Sanesada 藤原実定]
Left.
雲かゝり重なる山を越えもせず隔てまさるは明くる日の影
| kumo kakari kasanaru yama o koe mo sezu hedate masaru wa akuru hi no kage |
Trailed with cloud, The layered mountains I have not gone beyond, but What stands between us most is The light of the brightening sun. |
Lord Sada’ie.
801
Right (Win).
いさ命思ひは夜半に盡き果てぬ夕も待たじ秋の曙
| isa inochi omoi wa yowa ni tsukihatenu yūbe mo mataji aki no akebono |
I know not what’s to become of my life! All my thoughts of love in the hours of night Are quite exhausted, and I cannot wait for evening On this autumn dawn… |
Nobusada.
802
The Right state: from ‘Trailed with cloud’ (kumo kakari) to ‘The light of the brightening sun’ (akuru hi no kage), all is entirely unacceptable, is it not? The Left state: we wonder about the acceptability of ‘I know not what’s to become of my life’ (isa inochi).
In judgement: the Right have said that the Left’s poem is unacceptable from beginning to end, but can one really go so far as to say that? Furthermore, the Left query whether ‘I know not what’s to become of my life’, but I wonder whether I can recall this phrase being that bad. However, one is accustomed to saying that ‘this spring dawn’ (haru no akebono) is elegant, and although ‘this autumn dawn’ (aki no akebono) is a modern expression, the faults of the Left’s poem are particularly problematic, so the Right should win.
Left (Tie).
斧の柄をかくてや人はくたしけん山路おぼゆる春の空かな
| ono no e o kakute ya hito wa kutashiken yamaji oboyuru haru no sora kana |
‘His axe haft: Is this how he Let it rot away?’ I wonder on the mountain paths Under the springtime skies. |
131
Right (Tie).
春の日は灘の塩屋のあま人もいとまありてやくらしわぶらん
| haru no hi wa nada no shioya no amabito mo itoma arite ya kurashiwaburan |
In the springtime sun At Nada, the salt-making Fisher-folk, too, Have time to spare, and Live with it heavy on their hands… |
132
Both teams say they can find nothing to criticise in the other’s poem.
Shunzei agrees, saying, ‘You gentlemen have already stated that there is no reason to fault either poem. The round must be a tie.’