Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 33

Left

夏の夜のまつばもそよと吹く風はいづれか雨の声にかはれる

natsu no yo no
matsuba mo soyo to
fuku kaze wa
izure ka ame no
koe ni kawareru
On a summer night
The pine needles rustling
With the gusting wind
At some point to raindrops’
Sound has changed.

64

Right

夜やくらき道やまどへる郭公我が宿をしもすぎがてにする

yo ya kuraki
michi ya madoeru
hototogisu
wa ga yado o shimo
sugigateni naku
Is it night’s darkness?
Or, have you lost your way,
Oh, cuckoo?
By my house
You cannot pass, it seems, and so you sing.

65[1]


[1] Kokinshū III: 154, attributed to Ki no Tomonori.

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 32

Left

This poem is missing from extant copies of the text of the contest.

Right

夏虫にあらぬ我が身のつれもなき人をおもひにもゆる比かな

natsumushi ni
aranu wa ga mi no
tsure mo naki
hito o omoi ni
moyuru koro kana
A summer insect
I am not, but
That heartless
Girl, with passion
Has these days set me burning!

63[1]


[1] Shinchokusenshū XII: 708

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 31

Left

なつの夜は水やまされる天の河ながるる月のかげもとどめぬ

natsu no yo wa
mizu ya masareru
ama no kawa
nagaruru tsuki no
kage mo todomenu
On a summer night
Is it that the waters are so fine
Of the River of Heaven?
Drifting, the moon’s
Face, too, tarries not.

61[1]

Right

去年の夏鳴きふるしてし郭公それかあらぬかこゑのかはらぬ

kozo no natsu
nakifurusiteshi
hototogisu
sore ka aranu ka
koe no kawaranu
Last summer
Did you sing as if there’d be no other,
O, cuckoo;
Is it you, or another,
For your song is quite unchanged.

62[2]


[1] A minor variant of this poem, with a headnote identifying it as being from this contest, is included in Shokugosenshū (IV: 214): 夏の夜は水まさればやあまのがはながるる月のかげもとどめぬ natsu no yo wa / mizu masareba ya / ama no kawa / nagaruru tsuki no / kage mo todomenu ‘On a summer night / Perhaps, because the waters are so fine / Of the River of Heaven? / Drifting, the moon’s / Face, too, tarries not.’

[2] Kokinshū III: 159/Shinsen man’yōshū 63

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 30

Left

夏の日を暮らし侘びぬる蝉のまにわがなきそふるこゑはきこゆや[1]

natsu no hi o
kurashiwabinuru
semi no ma ni
wa ga nakisouru
koe wa kikoyu ya
The summer sun
They know not how to endure,
So with the cicadas
My sobbing
Voice do you hear?

59

Right

恨みつつとどむる人のなければや山時鳥うかれでてなく

uramitsutsu
todomuru hito no
nakereba ya
yama hototogisu
ukaredete naku
How I constantly despise
The one who’s staying here
If he were gone, would
The mountain cuckoo
Have aimlessly left his home to sing?

60


[1] The phrase semi no (‘the cicadas’) is missing from the text of the contest, but has been suggested by later scholarship.

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 29

Left

吹く風の我が宿にくる夏の夜は月の影こそすずしかりけれ

fuku kaze no
wa ga yado ni kuru
natsu no yo wa
tsuki no kage koso
suzushikarikere
The gusting breeze
Comes to my house
Upon a summer night
Making the moonlight
Feel cool, indeed!

57

Right

ゆふされば蛍よりけにもゆるとも光みえねば人ぞつれなき

yū sareba
hotaru yori ke ni
moyuredomo
hikari mineba ya
hito no tsurenaki
With the fall of evening,
The fireflies’ are as nothing beside
My burning, yet
I cast no light, so
Will my love stay chill?

Tomonori

58[1]


[1] Kokinshū XII: 562/Shinsen man’yōshū 69/Kokin rokujō VI: 4013

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 28

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

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 27

Left

草しげみ下葉かれ行く夏の日もわくとしわけば袖やひちなん

kusa shigemi
shitaba kareyuku
natsu no hi mo
waku to shi wakeba
sode ya hichinan
The grass is thick, with
Underleaves withering
In the summer sun, but
When I try to forge on through,
Will my sleeves seem soaked?

53

Right

五月雨に物思ひをればほととぎす夜ぶかく鳴きていづち行くらん

samidare ni
mono’omoi oreba
hototogisu
yo fukaku nakite
izuchi yukuramu
When in the drizzling rain,
I’m sunk in gloomy thoughts,
A cuckoo
Sings in night’s depths:
And where might it be going?

Tomonori

54[1]


[1] Kokinshū III: 153/Shinsen man’yōshū 47/Kokin rokujō VI: 4441

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 26

Left

夏の風我が袂にしつつまればおもはむ人のつとにしてまし

natsu no kaze
wa ga tamoto ni shi
tsutsumareba
omowamu hito no
tsuto ni shitemashi
The summer breeze
Within my sleeves
Has become entangled, so
For the one I’m longing for
I would take it as a gift.

51

Right

なつ草のしげき思ひは蚊遣火の下にのみこそもえ渡りけれ

natsukusa no
shigeki omoi wa
kayaribi no
shita ni nomi koso
moewatarikere
As summer grasses
Lush my fires of passion: as
Mosquito smudges,
Beneath they simply
Burn everywhere.

52[1]


[1] Shinchokusenshū XII: 709/Shinsen man’yōshū 79

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 25

Left

古郷をおもひやれども郭公こぞのごとくになれぞなくなる[1]

furusato o
omoiyaredomo
hototogisu
kozo no gotoku ni
nare zo nakunaru
My ancient home
Lingers fondly in my thoughts, yet
The cuckoo
Just as last year
Sings as he was accustomed to do!

49

Right

夏の夜の霜やおけるとみるまでに荒れたる宿を照す月かげ

natsu no yo no
shimo ya okeru to
miru made ni
aretaru yado o
terasu tsukikage
Upon a summer night
That frost has fallen
It does appear at
A ruined dwelling where
The moonlight shines.

50[2]


[1] The concluding two lines of this poem are missing from the contest’s text, but have been supplied by later scholarship.

[2] Kokin rokujō I: 286/A minor variant of this poem is included in Mandaishū (III: 730), with the headnote ‘A poem from the Poetry Contest in One Hundred Rounds held by the Tōin Empress’ なつのよもしもやおけると見るまでにあれたるやどをてらすつきかな natsu no yo no / shimo ya okeru to / miru made ni / aretaru yado o / terasu tsuki kana ‘Upon a summer night / That frost has fallen / It does appear at / A ruined dwelling where / The moon does shine!’