Round Sixty

Left

あり明のつれなくみえし別より暁ばかりうき物はなし

ariake no turenaku mieshi wakare yori akatsuki bakari uki mono wa nashi

At the dawning How cruel it seemed To part, but The fading moon Cared not at all.

119[i]

Right

おもひ草葉末にむすぶしら露のたまたまきては手にもたまらず

omoigusa hazue ni musubu shiratsuyu no tamatama kite wa te ni mo tamarazu

My passion, to the dayflower’s Leaf-tips clings A silver dewdrop Gem—unexpectedly arriving, It will not fall into my hand…

120[ii]

---

[i] KKS XIII: 625: Topic unknown.

[ii] KYS VII: 416: Composed on the conception of coming unexpectedly, but being unable to meet, when people were composing ten love poem sequences at the residence of Lord Toshitada.

Round Fifty-Nine

Left

夢よりもはかなき物は夏の夜のあかつきがたの別なりけり

yume yori mo hakanaki mono wa natsu no yo no akatsukigata no wakare narikeri

Far more than dreams, How fleeting, and piteous, is A summer night’s Dawn Parting.

170[i]

Right

うかりける人をはつせの山おろしよはげしかれとはいのらぬものを

ukarikeru hito o hatsuse no yama’oroshi yo hageshikare to wa inoranu mono o

A heartless Woman is as Hatsuse’s Mountain winds, Raging in the night, they say, and As unmoved by prayer…

118[ii]

---

[i] GSS IV: 170: Topic unknown.

[ii] SZS XII: 708: Composed on the conception of love that is unrequited despite one’s prayers, when composing ten poems on love at the residence of Supernumerary Middle Councillor Toshitada.

Round Fifty-Eight

Left

春たつといふばかりにやみよしのの山もかすみて今朝はみゆらん

haru tatsu to iu bakari ni ya miyoshino no yama mo kasumite kesa wa miyuran

Spring is here They simply say, but Is fair Yoshino Mountain, too, all hazed In view this morning, I wonder?

Mibu no Tadamine
115[i]

Right

山ざくらさきそめしより久かたの雲井にみゆるたきのしらいと

yamazakura sakisomeshi yori hisakata no kumoi ni miyuru taki no shira’ito

Since the mountain cherries Have begun to bloom, The eternal Clouds seem Threaded with a waterfall of white.

Lord Minamoto no Toshiyori
116[ii]

---

[i] SIS I: 1: Composed at the poetry match at Taira no Sadafun’s house.

[ii] KYS I: 50 (2) / KYS I: 45 (3): Composed at the Poetry Match held at the Residence of the Uji Former Grand Minister.

Round Fifty-Seven

Left

伊勢の海にしほやくあまの藤衣なるとはすれどあはぬ君かな

ise no umi ni shio yaku ama no fujigoromo naru to wa suredo awanu kimi kana

By the sea at Ise, Brine-burning, the fisher-folks’ Violet garb Is a familiar sight-as are you, yet I have not met you, have I?

113[i]

Right

見し人のけぶりとなりし夕よりなもむつましきしほがまのうら

mishi hito no keburi to narishi yūbe yori na mo mutsumashiki shiogama no ura

Him, I saw, Turn into smoke, and Since that evening, The name fills me with fond thoughts: The bay at Shiogama.

114[ii]

---

[i] GSS XI: 744: Sent to a woman whom he had grown accustomed to seeing who served in the same place.

[ii] A minor variant on a poem in Shinkokinshū (VIII: 820), replacing one particle, ni, with to, which does not significantly impact on the poem’s meaning: When she was grieving over the transience of the world, she composed this on Shiogama, when looking at some paintings of named places in Michinoku.

Round Fifty-Six

Left

すみよしの松を秋かぜ吹くからにこゑうちそふる興つしらなみ

sumiyoshi no matsu o akikaze fuku kara ni koe uchisouru oki tsu shiranami

When through Sumiyoshi’s Pines the autumn wind Does blow, Draped are they by the roar of Whitecaps in the offing.

111[i]

Right

なきよわるまがきの虫もとめがたき秋の別やかなしかるらん

naki yowaru magaki no mushi mo tomegataki aki no wakare ya kanashikaruramu

Faintly crying, The insects in the cage, too, Do they find it difficult to halt The parting Autumn And feel this sadness?

112[ii]

---

[i] A minor variation on a poem from Shūishū (XVII: 1112) with a variant initial line, using the place name Sumiyoshi, rather than Suminoe: For a folding screen at the residence of Major Captain of the Right Sadakuni.

[ii] SZS VII: 478: A person who was going far away came to see her and left with the dawn; it was the last day of the Ninth Month and the insects were crying movingly, so she composed:

Round Fifty-Five

Left

いづくとも春のひかりはわかなくにまだみよしのの山は雪ふる

izuku tomo haru no hikari wa wakanaku ni mada miyoshino no yama wa yuki furu

Everywhere should fall The light of spring Without exception, yet Still in fair Yoshino’s Mountains snow is falling.

Ōshikōchi no Mitsune
109[i]

Right

みよしのは春のけしきにかすめどもむすぼほれたる雪の下草

miyoshino wa haru no keshiki ni kasumedomo musubōretaru yuki no shitakusa

Fair Yoshino is With Spring’s seeming Hazed, yet there is Solid Snow around the undergrowth.

Murasaki Shikibu
110[ii]

---

[i] A minor variant on a poem from Gosenshū (I: 19), differing only by one syllable in the initial line, but whose meaning is otherwise identical: From among twenty poems he presented to a certain Chamberlain, wishing His Majesty to see them, during the same reign when he was serving in the Banqueting Section of the Royal Table Office and grieving that he was falling into obscurity.

[ii] GSIS I: 10: Composed when she was requested for a Spring poem by some courtiers during the reign of Retired Emperor Ichijō.

Round Fifty-Four

Left

よしの河岩なみたかく行く水のはやくぞ人をおもひそめてし

yoshinogawa iwa nami takaku yuku mizu no hayaku zo hito o omoisometeshi

At Yoshino River Waves crash high above the rocks; The rushing water Swift as your Lodging within my thoughts.

107[i]

Right

おもへどもいはでの山に年をへてくちやはてなん谷のむもれ木

omoedomo iwade no yama ni toshi o hete kuchi ya hate nan tani no mumoregi

I think on you, yet Stay silent as the Iwade Moutains Through the passing years Might my love rot away, as A drowned tree within the valley?

108[ii]

---

[i] KKS XI: 471: Topic unknown.

[ii] SZS XI: 651: Composed as a love poem, when he presented a hundred poem sequence.

Round Fifty-Three

Left

むすぶ手のしづくににごる山の井のあかでも人にわかれぬるかな

musubu te no sizuku ni nigoru yama no i no akade mo hito ni wakarenuru kana

From cupped hands Droplets cloud The mountain spring- It’s not enough-as from you Am I parted.

105[i]

Right

あふと見てうつつのかひはなけれどもはかなき夢ぞいのちなりける

au to mite utsutsu no kai wa nakeredomo hakanaki yume zo inochi narikeru

Glimpsing a meeting Upon this reality has no effect At all, yet A brief dream Is my whole life.

106[ii]

---

[i] KKS VIII: 404: Composed on parting from someone with whom he had spoken by a rocky spring on the way through the Shiga mountains.

[ii] KYS VII: 354 (2)/KYS VII: 371 (3): Composed when people were instructed to compose love poems at the residence of Lord Akisue.

Round Fifty-Two

Left

しら露もしぐれもいたくもる山はした葉のこらず色づきにけり

shiratsuyu mo shigure mo itaku moruyama wa shitaba nokorazu irozukinikeri

The white dewfall and Showers, too, have completely Drenched Moruyama: Every single under-leaf Has coloured.

Ki no Tsurayuki
103[i]

Right

かづらきやたかまの山のさくら花雲井のよそにみてや過ぎなん

kazuragi ya takama no yama no sakurabana kumoi no yoso ni mite ya suginan

In Kazuragi On the peak of Takama are Cherry blossoms: Being beyond the clouds Should I overlook them?

Master of the Left Capital Office Akisuke
104[ii]

---

[i] KKS V: 260: Composed in the region of Moruyama.

[ii] SZS I: 56: As a poem on blossom, when he presented a hundred poem sequence to Former Emperor Sutoku.

Round Fifty-One

Left

したにのみおもへばくるし玉のをのたえてみだれん人なとがめそ

shita ni nomi omoeba kurushi tama no o no taete midaren hito na togame so

Simply beneath the surface Lies my passion, so ‘tis painful— My jewelled thread of life Might snap in tangles and Let no one blame me for it![i]

101[ii]

Right

いまはとてねなましものをしぐれつる空ともみえずすめる月かな

ima wa tote nenamashi mono o shiguretsuru sora tomo miezu sumeru tsuki kana

Now, I think, I would to bed, yet The showers that Filled the skies have vanished, and The moon shines so clear!

102[iii]

---

[i] A minor variant of this poem, which replaces omeba (feel [passion, so’] with koureba (‘feel love, so’) occurs in Kokinshū (XIII: 677).

[ii] KKRJ V: 3215: Jewelled threads

[iii] SKKS VI: 600: On the conception of the moon in winter after the rain.