Round Eight
Fresh Bracken
Left
さわらびのもえいづる春の夕ぐれは霞のうへに煙立ちけり
| sawarabi no moe’izuru haru no yūgure wa kasumi no ue ni keburi tachikeri | Fresh bracken Budding on a spring Evening: Above the haze, Smoke a’rising. |
Koshikibu
15
Right
いつしかともえにけるかなさわらびの野辺はいかなるおもひなるらん
| itsu shika to moenikeru kana sawarabi no nobe wa ikanaru omoi naruran | So swiftly Has it budded! Fresh bracken In the meadows—what sort of Feelings might it bring? |
Shikibu
16
Left (Tie)
いつもかくさびしきものかつの国のあし屋の里の秋の夕暮
| itsumo kaku sabishiki mono ka tsu no kuni no ashiya no sato no aki no yūgure | Are they always such Lonely things? In the land of Tsu, Reed-roofed villages On an autumn evening… |
Ietaka
497
Right
千代までや松をばともにおもふらんなほすゑ遠き君がよはひを
| chiyo made ya matsu oba tomo ni omouran nao suedōki kimi ga yowai o | Until a thousand ages pass Will you be together with the pine I wonder, for Even further into the future Stretches your age… |
Kunaikyō
498
旅ごろもうらがなしかるゆふぐれのすそのの露に秋風ぞ吹く
| tabigoromo uraganashikaru yūgure no susono no tsuyu ni akikaze zo fuku | In my traveller’s garb and Sick at heart Of an evening, as Across the meadows on the slopes dewdrops Drift upon the autumn wind! [i] |
575
[i] See: 旅ごろもうらがなしさにあかしかね草の枕は夢もむすばず tabigoromo / uraganashisa ni / akashikane / kusa no makura wa / yume mo musabazu ‘In my traveller’s garb / My heart-sickness / I cannot lift, for / My grassy pillow / Brings no dreams, at all…’ Hikaru Genji (Genji monogatari 223); and: たびごろもうらがなしかるあさぢふによはのしぐれよいかにせよとぞ tabigoromo / uraganashikaru / asajū ni / yowa no shigure yo / ika ni seyo to zo ‘In my traveller’s garb and / Sad at heart among / The clumps of cogon grass, / O, midnight shower, / Tell me, what I am I to do?’ Jakuchō (Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 54)
Left
きみをわれおきてしゆけばあさつゆのきえかへりてもあはむとぞおもふ
| kimi o ware okiteshi yukeba asatsuyu no kiekaerite mo awamu to zo omou | With you, my love, I Having risen and departed With the morning dew, Vanishing away, only To meet once more, I feel. |
28
Right
あさぼらけあかぬわかれをわびつつもゆふぐれをこそなぐさめにすれ
| asaborake akanu wakare o wabitsutsu mo yūgure o koso nagusame ni sure | At the pale edge of dawn, Unsatisfied, parting Leaves me ever desolate— The evening is sure to be My consolation! |
29
Round Thirty
Left (Tie)
玉をぬく真野の糸萩かたよりにおのれみだるる秋の夕暮
| tama o nuku mano no itohagi katayori ni onore midaruru aki no yūgure | Strung with gems The bush-clover twigs at Mano All align together In their own tangles On an autumn evening. |
Shō
59
Right
待ちわたる時や来ぬらん白露の玉しく庭の秋はぎの花
| machiwataru toki ya konuran shiratsuyu no tama shiku niwa no akihagi no hana | Has that long-awaited Time arrived, perhaps? When silver dewdrop Pearls will spread o’er the grounds From the autumn bush clover blooms… |
Nagatsuna
60
The poems of Left and Right have different diction, but the same configuration.
Round Twenty-Eight
Left
故郷の萩の下葉も色づきぬ露のみふかき秋のうらみに
| furusato no hagi no shitaba mo irozukinu tsuyu nomi fukaki aki no urami ni | In this old, familiar place The bush clover’s underleaves, too, Have changed their hue— Only the dew is deep As autumn’s misery…[1] |
Dōchin
55
Right (Win)
白露の玉ぬきみだる萩が枝に涙かずそふ秋の夕暮
| shiratsuyu no tama nukimidaru hagi ga e ni namida kazusou aki no yūgure | Silver dewdrop Pearls are strung in tangles on The bush clover’s branches— Innumerable tears added On an autumn evening… |
Dharma Master Nyokan
56
Left and Right both have a refined style, yet the Right has a better tone and sounds elegant. Thus, it wins.
[1] An allusive variation on: 比日之 暁露丹 吾屋前之 芽子乃下葉者 色付尓家里 kono koro no / akatoki tsuyu ni / wa ga yado no / hagi no shitaba wa / irozukinikeri ‘Around thus time near / Dawn, the dewfall on / My dwelling’s / Bush clover underleaves / Has changed their hue!’ Anonymous (MYS X: 2182)
