Left
さよふけてなどかなくらむほととぎすたびねのやどをかすひとやなき
| sayo fukete nado ka nakuramu hototogisu tabine no yado o kasu hito ya naki | Brief night breaks, so Why does he cry so? The cuckoo A lodging on his journey Has no one to lend him! |
49
Right (Win)
なつのいけによるべさだめぬうきくさのみづよりほかにゆくかたもなし
| natsu no ike ni yorube sadamenu ukikusa no mizu yori hoka ni yuku kata mo nashi | Upon the pond in summer No destination has The waterweed, so Other than the water It has no place to go… |
Okikaze
50
Left (Win)
われききてひとにはつげむほととぎすおもふもしるくまづここになけ
| ware kikite hito ni wa tsugeku hototogisu omou shiruku mazu koko ni nake | I listen, and To folk will tell, O, cuckoo, so Where I am lost in thoughts of you, Sing here first! |
Mitsune
47
Right
かたをかのあしたのはらをとよむまでやまほととぎすいまぞなくなる
| kataoka no ashita no hara o toyomu made yamahototogisu ima zo nakunaru | Until in Kataoka The plain of Ashita Does resound The mountain cuckoos Are singing now! |
48
When ‘Until in Kataoka / The plain of Ashita / Does resound’ had been recited, His Majesty laughed, saying, ‘It would be impossible for it to resound,’ so the final part of the poem was not recited and it lost.
Left (Tie)
むらさきにあふみづなれやかきつばたそこのいろさへかはらざるらむ
| murasaki ni au mizu nare ya kakitsubata soko no iro sae kawararuramu | Violet Suits the water here! Irises The hues beneath Seem to have changed. |
Mitsune
45
Right
ほととぎすこゑのみするはふくかぜのおとはのやまになけばなりけり
| hototogisu koe nomi suru wa fuku kaze no otowa no yama ni nakeba narikeri | A cuckoo’s Call alone upon The gusting wind; Wingbeats sound on Otowa Mountain Where he does sing. |
46
Left (Tie)
やまざとにしるひともがなほととぎすなきぬときかばつげもくるがに
| yamazato ni shiru hito mogana hototogisu nakinu to kikaba tsuge mo kuru gani | At a mountain retreat, I would I had a friend, O, cuckoo, That on hearing your call, He would tell me so… |
Okikaze
43
Right
なつきぬとひとしもつげぬわがやどにやまほととぎすはやくなくなり
| natsu kinu to hito shimo tsugenu wa ga yado ni yamahototogisu hayaku nakunari | Summer has come—that Folk do tell; At my home A mountain cuckoo Gives an early call. |
44
Summer
Five poems on the Fourth Month
Left (Win)
みやまいでてまづはつこゑはほととぎすよぶかくまたむわがやどになけ
| miyama idete mazu hatsukoe wa hototogisu yobu kaku matamu wa ga yado ni nake | Emerging from the mountains deep, Early, your first call, Cuckoo— Where I would be waiting all night long At my house, o, sing out! |
Masakata[i]
41
Right
けふよりはなつのころもになりぬれどきるひとさへはかはらざりけり
| kyō yori wa natsu no koromo ni narinuredo kiru hito sae wa kawarazarikeri | From today Summer garb We have put on, yet The folk who wear it Have not changed at all. |
Mitsune
42
‘The Right is uninteresting,’ so it lost.
[i] Minamoto no Masakata 源雅固 (dates unknown). A son of Minamoto no Sada’ari 源定有 (dates unknown), one of the sons of Emperor Montoku (827-858; r. 850-858).
Left (Tie)
はなみつつをしむかひなくけふくれてほかのはるとやあすはなりなむ
| hana mitsutsu oshimu kainaku kyō kurete hoka no haru to ya asu wa narinamu | Ever do I gaze upon the blossom, in Vain regret, for Today will end and A different spring will Greet me on the morrow! |
Mitsune
39
Right
けふのみとはるをおもはぬときだにもたつことやすきはなのかげかは
| kyō nomi to haru o omowanu toki dani mo tatsu koto ya suki hana no kage ka wa | “Only today is left Of spring”—I’ll not think that for Even at such a time, Is it easy to part from The blossoms’ shade? |
Mitsune
40[i]
‘Both of these are charming,’—they tied.
[i] This poem is included as the final spring poem in Kokinshū (II: 134), attributed to Mitsune, and with the headnote, ‘A poem on the end of spring from the Poetry Contest held by Former Emperor Uda’.
Left
さくらばなちりぬるかぜのなごりにはみづなきそらになみぞたちける
| sakurabana chirinuru kaze no nagori ni wa mizu naki sora ni nami zo tachikeru | The cherry blossom Scattering wind as A keepsake in The waterless skies Has roused the waves. |
Tsurayuki
37
Right
みなそこにはるやくるらんみよしののよしののかはにかはづなくなり
| minasoko ni haru ya kururan miyoshino no yoshino no kawa ni kawazu nakunari | To the water’s depths Has the spring arrived, it seems, for In fair Yoshino From the Yoshino River The frogs are singing. |
Tsurayuki
38
The Right won. His Majesty remarked, ‘There is a Royal poem here, so how could it lose?’
Left (Tie)
ふくかぜにとまりもあへずちるときはやへやまぶきのはなもかひなし
| fuku kaze ni tomari mo aezu chiru toki wa yaeyamabuki no hana mo kainashi | The gusting wind Does never cease, so Scattering time has come upon The eightfold kerria Blooms—so little good they are! |
Okikaze
35
Right
をしめどもたちもとまらずゆくはるをなこしのやまのせきもとめなむ
| oshimedomo tachi mo tomarazu yuku haru o nakoshi no yama no seki mo tomenamu | How I regret it, yet Cannot halt the departure of Parting spring— O, that Nakoshi Mountain’s Barrier would hold it! |
Tsurayuki
36
Left (Tie)
かけてのみみつつぞしのぶむらさきにいくしほそめしふぢのはなぞも
| kakete nomi mitsutsu zo shinobu murasaki ni iku shiosomeshi fuji no hana zo mo | Hanging there do I Ever gaze with wonder on Their violet hues— How many dippings dyed The wisteria blossom so? |
Mitsune
33
Right
みなそこにしづめるはなのかげみればはるのふかくもなりにけるかな
| minasoko ni shizumeru hana no kage mireba haru no fukaku mo narinikeru kana | When in the water’s depths Sunken blossoms’ Shapes I see, How deep the springtime Has become! |
Korenori
34
Left (Tie)
はるふかきいろこそなけれやまぶきのはなにこころをまづぞそめつる
| haru fukaki iro koso nakere yamabuki no hana ni kokoro o mazu zo sometsuru | In the depths of spring, Their hues, indeed, are lacking: The kerria Blooms have my heart Dyed first! |
Mitsune
31
Right
かぜふけばおもほゆるかなすみのえのきしのふぢなみいまやさくらむ
| kaze fukeba omohoyuru kana suminoe no kishi no fujinami ima ya sakuramu | When the wind blows—that Is when I wonder if at Suminoe’s Shore the wisteria waves Are blooming now? |
Prince Kaneyuki
32