Round Nine: Quiet thoughts at Tanabata
Left
八重葎しげる軒ばをかき分けて星合の空をながめつるかな
yae mugura shigeru nokiba o kakiwakete hoshiai no sora o nagametsuru kana | Eightfold thickets Grow lushly beneath my eaves; Pulling them apart upon The sky of trysting stars Will I turn my gaze! |
Taira no Sadatsugu[1]
17
Right
七夕のあふよの程は思ひやる心さへこそ空にすみけれ
tanabata no au yo no hodo wa omoiyaru kokoro sae koso sora ni sumikere | Tanabata is A night for meeting—throughout it I am filled with longing: Even my very heart Does dwell among the skies. |
Fujiwara no Kaneyuki[2]
18
[1] Taira no Sadatsugu 平貞継. The identity of this individual is unclear. This poem is his sole appearance in a poetry contest.
[2] 藤原兼行
At a time when he produced a Hundred Poem Sequence, His Majesty composed this as a poem on orange blossoms.
五月雨にはなたちばなのかをる夜は月すむ秋もさもあらばあれ
samidare ni hanatachibana no kaoru yo wa tsuki sumu aki mo sa mo araba are | Early summer showers fall, and Orange blossom Scents the night; The clear, bright moon of autumn Hardly seems to match it… |
Emperor Sutoku
Seafolk 泉郎
夜とともにもしほたれつつすまのあまの心づからや袖ぬらすらん
yo to tomo ni moshio taretsutsu suma no ama no kokorozukara ya sode nurasuran | Every night Wringing brine from seaweed Do the seafolk at Suma From their own hearts Drench their sleeves, I wonder? |
Daishin
Wang Zhaojun 王昭君
かきながすみくづになれるいきのををむすびとどむる世こそつらけれ
kakinagasu mikuzu ni nareru iki no o o musubitodomuru yo koso tsurakere | Swept away as Flotsam is my sorry Thread of life, Tied tight about This, oh so cruel world! |
Akinaka
Cathay Folk 唐人
から国の人にとひてや我がごとく世にすみつかぬたぐひあるやと
karaguni no hito ni toite ya wa ga gotoku yo ni sumitsukanu tagui aru ya to | Does the land of Cathay have Folk I could ask? ‘Is there one like me Dissatisfied with living in this world There, perchance?’ |
Daishin
Felicitations 賀
君が代はうれしきたびにきる杖のつもれる数を知る人ぞなき
kimi ga yo wa ureshiki tabi ni kiru tsue no tsumoreru kazu o shiru hito zo naki | For my Lord’s reign This is such a joyous time – Staves of celebration cut In numbers piled so high that None can count them. |
Akinaka
Waterweed 萍
かきやればたぎちながるるうき草も世をはやくして過ぎぬべらなり
kakiyareba tagichi nagaruru ukikusa mo yo o hayakushite suginuberanari | Dragged this way and that, by Rapidly flowing races, For a waterweed, too, The world so swiftly Must pass by. |
Toshiyori
Katsura 桂
あまの原いつ時雨れして秋の夜の月のかつらもあかくなるらん
ama no hara itsu shigureshite aki no yo no tsuki no katsura mo akakunaruran | Upon the plain of Heaven When will drizzle fall? For On an autumn night The silver trees upon the moon Do seem to shine more bright! |
Akinaka
Temples 寺
有為の世はけふかあすかのかねの音をあはれいつまできかんとすらん
ui no yo wa kyō ka asu ka no kane no oto o aware itsu made kikan to suran | In this mundane world Today and tomorrow, too, The bell tolls on – How long will its melancholy I continue to hear? |
Kanemasa
Ancient Estates 故郷
よとともにまさりがほなき身にしあれば古郷人に見えまうきかな
yo to tomo ni masarigaonaki mi ni shi areba furusatobito ni miemauki kana | As the world goes by Diminished prospects Have been my lot, so She, who dwells in that ancient estate, Is hard to meet, indeed! |
Tadafusa
'Simply moving and elegant'