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.
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
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
The winter moon.
木の葉なき梢のかぜは音さびて村雲たかき有明のかげ
ko no ha naki kozue no kaze wa oto sabite muragumo takaki ariake no kage In the leafless Treetops the wind’s Sound is lonely, indeed, while Above the high, crowding clouds is The light at dawn.
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.
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
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
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
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
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 cuckooJust 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!’
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