Original

わかなつむとしはへぬれどかすがのののもりはけふやはるをしるらむ

wakana tsumu toshi wa henuredo kasugano no nomori wa kyō ya haru o shiruramu

Plucking fresh herbs do The years pass by, yet On Kasuga Plain, The wardens today Must truly know ‘tis spring. [1]

Mitsune
19

Left (Tie)

けふ見てぞわれはしりぬるはなはなほかすがののべのものにぞありける

kyō mite zo ware wa shirinuru hana wa nao kasuga no nobe no mono ni zo arikeru

Today did I see, and Understood it well, that Blossom, truly, Upon the meadows of Kasuga Is best of all.

20

Right

ありへてもかすがののもりはるにあふはとしもわかなもつめるしるしか

arihete mo kasuga no nomori haru ni au wa toshi mo wakana mo tsumeru shirushi ka

Over passing ages, For the wardens of Kasuga, Encountering the springtime, The years and the fresh herbs, both, Have garnered as a sign, perhaps.

21

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[1] A variant of this poem occurs in Shokugosenshū: In the twenty-first year of the same era, on a day when the Kyōgoku Lady of the Bedchamber visited the shrine at Kasuga, he composed this in place of the official from the province of Yamato. としごとにわかなつみつつかすが野ののもりもけふやはるをしるらん toshi goto ni / wakana tsumitsutsu / kasugano no / nomori mo kyō ya / haru o shiruran ‘Every single year / Ever plucking fresh herbs / On Kasuga Plain / The wardens, too, today / Must truly know ‘tis spring.’Mitsune (XVI: 1032/1029)