Composed on the conception of love at a famous location
とよ国の菊のながはま夢にだにまだみぬ人に恋ひやわたらん
| toyokuni no kiku no nagahama yume ni dani mada minu hito ni koi ya wataran | In the land of Toyo, in the western isle, Lies the long beach of Kiku, I hear— Even in my dreams Have I yet to see her, but Will my love for her go on and on? |
454
Left – Bellflower
ゆめのみもかよへどあらぬありきぢかうつつにいかでみるよしもがな
| yume nomi mo kayoedo aranu arikiji ka utsutsu ni ikade miru yoshi mogana | Simply in my dreams Do I go back and forth, yet have no Lover’s path to walk, so In the waking world, somehow, I wish I had a way to see her! |
21
This poem is an acrostic with ‘bellflower’ (kichikau) contained in arikiji ka utsutsu. Old Japanese was written without indicating voicing, so chi and ji would have been identical at the time.
Right – Missing
Round Eleven
Left
ねざめしてうきよをおもひあはすればまどろむゆめにかはらざりけり
| nezameshite uki yo o omoi awasureba madoromu yume ni kawarazarikeri | When I awake, with This cruel world my thoughts Occupying, The dream that filled my doze Differed not at all… |
Hyōenokami
121
Right (Win)
すみのえのうきにおひたるしをれあしをなみひきたてよかみのめぐみに
| suminoe no uki ni oitaru shiore’ashi o nami hikitateyo kami no megumi ni | In Suminoe’s Muddy waters grows, Languishing, a reed: O, waves, lift it upright! To receive the deity’s blessing… |
Lord Michichika
122
The poem of the Left appears to have an elegant sequence, saying, ‘This cruel world my thoughts / Occupying’, but the speaker does not appear to be particularly thinking of themselves—they are simply reflecting on the transience of this world and that’s how it is. The poem of the Right begins with ‘In Suminoe’ and then has ‘Muddy waters grows’, linking the particular shore with the content. The Right should win.
Round Three
Left
まきのやのしぐれのおとにゆめさめてみやここひしきねにぞぬれぬる
| maki no ya no shigure no oto ni yume samete miyako koishiki ne ni zo nurenuru | Beneath a roof of cypress boards The sound of showers Wakes me from my dreams, and Longing for the capital I drench myself with weeping. |
Chūnagon
55
Right (Win)
たびねするのぢのしばやにおとづれてすぐるはよはのしぐれなりけり
| tabinesuru noji no shibaya ni otozurete suguru wa yowa no shigure narikeri | Sleeping on my travels Cross the plains in a brushwood hut A sound comes calling, Passing by at midnight— A shower. |
Sokaku
56
The style of the Left’s poem is elegant but, in addition to feeling that there may well be cypress roofs in places other than the capital, the final line is insufficient, I think. The Right’s poem has nothing remarkable about it, but it sounds pleasant. I make it the winner.
When the Minamoto Minister had visited her, but then lately had not come to call, she caught a faint glimpse of him through a hole in the wall of her chamber, and sent him this.
まどろまぬかべにも人を見つるかなまさしからなん春の夜の夢
| madoromanu kabe ni mo Fito wo mituru kana masasikaranan Faru no yo no yume | Unable to sleep, Through my wall him I did glimpse! O, how I wish were true My dream this brief spring night… |
Suruga
She had this written as a reply when Middle Counsellor Taira no Korenaka sent her a letter for the first time in a long while.
夢とのみ思ひなりにし世中を何いまさらにおどろかすらん
| yume to nomi omoinarinishi yo no naka o nani imasara ni odorokasuran | Simply as a dream Had I come to think Of us, so Why now of all times Should I be so intrigued? |
The Daughter of Takashina no Narinaka
