Left
我のみやあはれとおもはむきりぎりす鳴く夕かげのやまとなでしこ
ware nomi ya aware to omowan kirigirisu naku yūkage no yamato nadeshiko | Is it only I Who loves it so? Crickets Chirping in the evening shadows On the wild pinks. |
Sosei
80[1]
Right
秋の野の草はいととはみえなくにおく白露の玉とつらなる
aki no no no kusa wa ito to wa mienaku ni oku shiratsuyu no tama to tsuranaru | In the autumn meadows The grasses, threads Do not appear to be, yet The fallen silver dewdrop Gems are strung upon them. |
Tsurayuki
81
[1] Kokinshū IV: 244
Left
なつの夜の露なとどめそ蓮葉のまことの玉と成りしはてずは
natsu no yo no tsuyu na todome so hasu no ha no makoto no tama to narishihatezu wa | On a summer night, Tarry not, o, dewdrops, for On the lotus leaves True jewels, I would not you cease to become… |
55
Right
夏山にこひしき人や入りにけむ声ふりたてて鳴く郭公
natsuyama ni koishiki hito ya irinikemu koe furitatete naku hototogisu | Into the summer mountains Has my darling Gone, I wonder? Spilling out your song, O, calling cuckoo! |
Ki no Akimine
56[1]
[1] Kokinshū III: 158/Shinsen man’yōshū 71/Kokin rokujō VI: 4447
玉だれのこ末のまどほしみてしより君に心をかけぬ日ぞなき
tamadare no kozue no madō shimiteshi yori kimi ni kokoro o kakenu hi zo naki | Strung with jewels, The distant treetops Have frozen and since then Upon you my heart Is hung without fail, every day. |
Chamberlain Ietoki
47
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Empress Dowager during the reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.
秋のよのあまてる月の光にはおく白露を玉とこそ見れ
aki no yo no ama teru tsuki no hikari ni wa oku shiratsuyu o tama to koso mire | On an autumn night The heaven-shining moon’s Light upon The fallen silver dewdrops Truly, makes them seem as jewels. |
Anonymous
Spring
Round 1
Left
やま風にとくる氷のひまごとにうち出づる浪や春の初花
yamakaze ni tokuru kōri no hima goto ni uchi’izuru nami ya haru no hatsuhana | With the mountain breeze The melting ice from Every crack Bursts out in waves, perhaps These are the first blooms of spring? |
Minamoto no Maszumi
1[1]
Right (Win)
春霞たつひの風のいとなれや滝のをとけて玉とみだるる
harugasumi tatsu hi no kaze no ito nare ya taki no o tokete tama to midaruru | The haze of spring Arises with the breeze this day, so Will its streamers with The melting waterfall’s threaded Jewels become confused? |
2
[1] Kokin rokujo I: 5
さをしかのしがらみふする秋はぎはたまなす露ぞつつみたりける
saoshika no shigarami fusuru akihagi wa tama nasu tsuyu zo tsutsumitarikeru | Ah, the stag, Entangled, tripped On the autumn bush clover; Dewdrops turned gemlets Have wrapped him all around. |
21
かみなみのみむろの山をわけゆけばにしきたちきる心ちこそすれ
kaminami no mimuro no yama o wakeyukeba nishiki tachikiru kokochi koso sure | Deities dwell Upon Mount Mimuro, where I forge my way, Cutting and sewing the brocade of leaves, I feel! |
22
久方の天照る月のにごりなく君が御代をばともにとぞ思ふ
hisakata no ama teru tsuki no nigorinaku kimi ga miyo oba tomo ni to zo omou | The eternal Heaven-shining moon is So clear that My Lord’s reign Lives together with it in my thoughts! |
9
宵よひに秋の草葉におく露の玉にぬかむととれば消えつつ[1]
yoiyoi ni aki no kusaba ni oku tsuyu no tama ni nukamu to toreba kietsutsu | Night after night Upon the blades of autumn grass Fall dewdrops; I would thread those jewels, but At a touch, ever do they vanish away… |
10
[1] This poem is also Shinsenzaishū 316, where it is attributed to Ōshikōchi no Mitsune.
Wang Zhaojun 王昭君
道すがらなぐさむやとてひくことのをごとに玉をぬくなみだかな
michi sugara nagusamu ya tote hiku koto no ogoto ni tama o nuku namida kana | On the road and Thinking it might console me Plucking upon My lute, where gemstone Teardrops were strung! |
Daishin
Wang Zhaojun 王昭君
おとろふるひなの別のかなしさにきずなき玉の身をぞうらむる
otorouru hina no wakare no kanshisa ni kizunaki tama no mi o zo uramuru | A fading Fledging’s parting is So sad – A flawless gemstone Life only to be despised! |
Higo
Waterfalls 滝
山たかみおちくる滝のしらいとをむすぶしづくに玉ぞこぼるる
yama takami ochikuru taki no shira’ito o musubu shizuku ni tama zo koboruru | From the mountain’s heights Comes tumbling a cataract of White threads, Twined from droplets, Their gemlets overflowing. |
Higo
'Simply moving and elegant'