Round Ninety

Left

うきながらきえせぬ物は身なりけりうらやましきは水のあわかな

ukinagara kiesenu mono wa mi narikeri urayamashiki wa mizu no awa kana

How cruel it is that What remains here yet Is me— How I envy The foam upon the waters!

179[1]

Right

我が恋はいまは色にや出でなましのきのしのぶも紅葉しにけり

wa ga koi wa ima wa iro ni ya idenamashi noki no shinobu mo momijishinikeri

Does my love Now with such passionate hues Reveal itself, I wonder? Secretly beneath my eaves the ferns, too, Have turned scarlet.

180[2]

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[1] Shūishū XX: 1313: When her grandchild passed away.

[2] A minor variant on: Sent to a lady’s house attached to a frond of fern which had taken on autumn colours. わが恋もいまは色にやいでなまし軒のしのぶも紅葉しにけり ‘Does my love, too, / Now with such passionate hues / Reveal itself, I wonder? / Secretly beneath my eaves the ferns, too, / Have turned scarlet.’ The Hanazono Minister of the Left (Shinkokinshū XI: 1027).