Haze
大かたに春のきぬれば春霞よもの山辺にたちみちにけり
ōkata ni haru no kinureba harugasumi yomo no yamabe ni tachimichinikeri | All around Has spring arrived, so Vernal hazes Here and there upon the mountainsides Have risen to cover all. |
Left (Win)
さくらちるこのしたかぜはさむからでそらにしられぬゆきぞふりける
sakura chiru ko no shitakaze wa samukarade sora ni shirarenu yuki zo furikeru | The cherry scattering Breeze beneath the trees Lacks chill— Unaware from within the skies The snow is falling. |
Tsurayuki
13[i]
Right
わがこころはるのやまべにあくがれてながながしひをけふもくらしつ
wa ga kokoro haru no yamabe ni akugarete naganagashi hi o kyō mo kurashitsu | My heart to The mountainside in springtime Is drawn— The long, long day Today, too, has reached its dusk. |
Mitsune
14[ii]
The Left wins. ‘The Right has “long, long” which is a disagreeable word. It was hissed through pursed lips with drooping shoulders,’ and so it lost.
[i] This poem is included in Shūishū (I: 64), with the headnote, ‘From Former Emperor Uda’s Poetry Contest’.
[ii] This poem is included in Shinkokinshū (I: 81), attributed to Tsurayuki with the headnote ‘A poem from Former Emperor Uda’s Poetry Contest’.
Left
いそのかみふるのやまべのさくらばなこぞみしはなのいろやのこれる
isonokami furu no yamabe no sakurabana kozo mishi hana no iro ya nokoreru | In Isonokami At Furu, on the mountainside is Cherry blossom— The flowers I did see last year: Are their hues lingering on? |
Suekata[i]
7
Right
ほどもなくちりなむものをさくらばなここらひささもまたせつるかな
hodo mo naku chirinamu mono o sakurabana kokora hisasa mo matasetsuru kana | Before a moment’s gone Seem to scatter The cherry blossoms, after Everyone forever Having made to wait! |
Ise
8
The Left only shows affection for the past year, and lacks a conception of the current one—a loss.
[i] Suekata 季方.The identity of this poet is unclear. Hagitani (1963, 174) suggests he could have been the son of any one of a number of nobles: Prince Koga 興我王 (dates unknown); Fujiwara no Toshiyuki 藤原敏行 (?-901/07); Fujiwara no Sugane 藤原菅根 (856-908); or the younger brother of Taira no Atsuyuki 平篤行 (?-910).
をみなへしやまののくさとふりしかどさかゆくときもありけるものを
ominaeshi yamano no kusa to furishikado sakayuku toki mo arikeru mono o | The maidenflowers With the mountain meadow grasses Have grown old, yet A time to flourish Did they have once… |
45[1]
をみなへしさけるやまべのあきかぜはふくゆふかげをたれかかたらむ
ominaeshi sakeru yamabe no akikaze wa fuku yūkage o tare ka kataramu | A maidenflower Blooming in a mountain meadow, with The autumn wind’s Evening gusts revealed, but Who is there to tell the tale? |
46
[1] This poem is almost identical to poem 4 in Uda-in ominaeshi uta’awase.
をせきやまみちふみまがひなかぞらにへむやそのあきのしらぬやまべに
osekiyama michi fumimagai nakazora ni hemu ya sono aki no shiranu yamabe ni | On Oseki Mountain I wander lost upon the paths; All uncertain Will I pass the days of autumn in Unknown mountain meadows? |
27[1]
をりもちてみしはなゆゑになごりなくてまさへまがひしみつきにけり
orimochite mishi hana yue ni nagori naku tema sae magai shimitsukinikeri | A bunch picked in hand, I gazed at the flowers, and thus Utterly Lost track of time, Completely captivated. |
28
[1] A variant of this poem occurs in Uda-in ominaeshi uta’awase (9).
Left
夏の日を天雲しばしかくさなむぬるほどもなく明くる夜にせん
natsu no hi o amagumo shibashi kakusanamu nuru hodo mo naku akuru yo ni sen | The summer sun is Briefly by heaven’s clouds Concealed! No time to sleep in The bright night they’ve made! |
68
Right
郭公なきつる夏の山辺にはくつていださぬ人やすむらむ
hototogisu nakitsuru natsu no yamabe ni wa kutsute idasanu hito ya sumuramu | A cuckoo Singing in summer On the mountainside: Does a man who will not reveal The price of shoes live there? |
69
Left
霞立つ春の山辺にさくら花あかず散るとやうぐひすの鳴く
kasumi tatsu haru no yamabe ni sakurabana akazu chiru to ya uguisu no naku | Hazes rise from The springtime moutainside, where With cherry blossoms’ Scattering unsated, perhaps, The warbler sings. |
25[1]
Right
あまの原春はことにも見ゆるかな雲のたてるも色こかりけり
ama no hara haru wa koto ni mo miyuru kana kumo no tateru mo iro kokarikeri | Upon the Plain of Heaven The spring is especially Revealed! The clouds stand tall in Vibrant hues. |
26
[1] Shinkokinshū II: 109/Shinsen man’yōshū 31
From the Poetry Contest held by the Dowager Empress during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.
霞立つ春の山辺にさくら花あかず散るとやうぐひすの鳴く
kasumi tatsu haru no yamabe ni sakurabana akazu chiru to ya uguisu no naku | Hazes rise from The springtime moutainside, where With cherry blossoms’ Scattering unsated, perhaps, The warbler sings. |
Anonymous
Round Two
Left
年のうちに春はきにけりひととせをこぞとやいはん今年とやいはん
toshi no uchi ni haru wa kinikeri hito tose o kozo to ya iwan kotoshi to ya iwan | Within the year Spring has come once more, so A single year: Should I say ‘tis last year, or Should I say ‘tis this one? |
Ariwara no Motokata
3[1]
Right (Win)
みよしのの山べにさけるさくら花雪かとのみぞあやまたれける
miyoshino no yamabe ni sakeru sakurabana yuki ka to nomi zo ayamatarekeru | In fair Yoshino In the mountains, the flowering Cherry blossoms: Simply for snow I did mistake them! |
Ki no Tomonori
4[2]
[1] Kokin rokujō I: 1
[2] Kokinshū I: 60