Round Twenty-Two

Left

花にあかぬなげきはいつもせしかども今日のこよひににるときはなし

hana ni akanu nageki wa itsumo seshikadomo kyō no koyoi ni niru toki wa nashi

Blossoms without end Ever were a grief Indeed, yet, This day’s night Is like none other.

Lord Ariwara no Narihira
43[i]

Right

ふるさとのもとあらのこはぎさきしよりよなよな庭の月ぞうつろふ

furusato no motoara no kohagi sakishi yori yonayona niwa no tsuki zo utsurou

At my ancient home Since the sparse bush clover Bloomed, Night after night upon the garden Shines the moon![ii]

The Gokyōgoku Regent and Former Palace Minister
44[iii]

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[i] SKKS II: 105: Topic unknown.

[ii] An allusive variation on KKS XIV: 694.

[iii] SKKS IV: 393: On flowering grasses before the moon, when he presented a Fifty Poem Sequence.

Round Twenty-One

Left

あまのすむうらこぐふねのかぢをなみ世をうみわたる我ぞかなしき

ama no sumu ura kogu fune no kaji o nami yo o umi wataru ware zo kanashiki

The fisherfolk live Within the bay, rowing boats; Without oars They are all at sea-how cruel the world Where I am sunk in sadness.

41[i]

Right

ふじのねのけぶりもなほぞたちのぼるうへなき物はおもひなりけり

fuji no ne no keburi mo nao zo tachinoboru ue naki mono wa omoinarikeri

From the peak of Fuji The smoke yet Rises up, but Nothing tops The fires of my passion.[ii]

42[iii]

---

[i] GSS XV: 1090/1091: When she was sunk in gloomy thought, having no regular man.

[ii] An allusive variation on SIS XIV: 891.

[iii] SKKS XII: 1132: For the Poetry Contest in One Hundred Rounds, held at the Residence of the Regent and Palace Minister.

Round Twenty

いろみえでうつろふ物は世中の人のこころの花にぞありける

iro miede ururou mono wa yo no naka no hito no kokoro no hana ni zo arikeru

Visible colours (Invisible passions) Fade from This world’s Human hearts And flowers.

39[i]

Right

松のとをおしあけ方の山かぜに雲もかからぬ月を見るかな

matsu no to o oshiakegata no yamakaze ni kumo mo kakaranu tsuki o miru kana

Upon my pinewood door Pushes at the break of dawn A breeze from off the mountains, so Unencumbered by the clouds Do I see the moon!

40[ii]

---

[i] KKS XV: 797: Topic unknown.

[ii] Shinchokusenshū IV: 267: On the moon at a mountain retreat, for a Fifty Poem Sequence at the residence of the Lay Priest Prince of the Second Order.

Round Nineteen

Left

はなのいろはうつりにけりないたづらにわが身世にふるながめせしまに

hana no iro wa utsurinikeri na itazura ni wa ga mi yo ni furu nagame seshi ma ni

The colour of this flower Has already faded away, While in idle thoughts My life goes by, As I watch the long rains fall.

Ono no Komachi

37[i]

Right

したもみぢかつちるやまの夕しぐれぬれてや鹿のひとりなくらん

shita momiji katsu chiru yama no yūshigure nurete ya shika no hitori nakuran

The lowest scarlet leaves All over the mountain are scattered In the evening drizzle— Is it from the damp that the stag Bells all alone?[ii]

Ietaka, Senior Third Rank

38[iii]

---

[i] KKS II: 113: Topic unknown.

[ii] An allusive variation on KYS IV: 258.

[iii] SKKS V: 437: On a stag at evening, when the gentlemen had been composing poems at the Poetry Office.

Round Eighteen

Left

すゑの露もとのしづくやよの中のおくれさきだつためしなるらん

sue no tsuyu moto no shizuku ya yo no naka no okure sakidatsu tameshi naruran

The dewfall on the tips, or The droplets on the roots: for This world of ours, where We die, go on ahead, I wonder, are they a model?

35[i]

Right

ねがはくはしばしやみぢにやすらひてかかげやせましのりのともし火

negawaku wa shibashi yamiji ni yasuraite kakage ya semashi nori no tomoshibi

I have but one request: That from these tracks of darkness for a while I might escape– O, I would raise high The lantern of the Law.

36[ii]

---

[i] SKKS VIII: 757: Topic unknown.

[ii] SKKS XX: 1931/1932: Amongst some poems of reminiscences.

Round Seventeen

Left

みな人は花のころもになりぬなりこけのたもとよかわきだにせよ

minahito wa hana no koromo ni narinu nari koke no tamoto yo kawaki dani seyo

All the other folk, In robes of flowering hues Are dressed. But, oh, these mossy sleeves of mine, Let them at least dry out.

33[i]

Right

おほけなくうきよのたみにおほふかなわがたつそまにすみぞめの袖

ōkenaku uki yo no tami ni ōu kana wa ga tatsu soma ni sumizome no sode

Imprudently Upon the common folk of this cruel world I lay them— In the cell where I now dwell: Ink-dyed sleeves…

34[ii]

---

[i] KKS XVI: 847: During the reign of the Fukakusa Emperor, being Head Chamberlain, Henjō served His Majesty day and night and, after the death of His Majesty, abandoned this world and went to Mount Hiei to become a monk. The following year, when everyone had put off their mourning clothes, and he had heard of their pleasure over promotions and suchlike, he composed this.

[ii] SZS XVII: 1137/1134: Topic unknown.

Round Sixteen

Left

磯上ふるのやまべのさくらばなうゑけんときをしる人ぞなき

iso no kami furu no yamabe no sakurabana uekemu toki o shiru hito zo naki

In Iso no Kami Around ancient Furu Mountain Are cherry blossoms: When they were planted, No man knows.

Archbishop Henjō
31[i]

Right

そむれどもちらぬたもとに時雨きて猶いろふかき神な月かな

somuredomo chiranu tamoto ni shigure kite nao iro fukaki kaminazuki kana

Begun, yet Not scattered, still to my sleeves A shower has come, and How much darker is their hue In the Godless Month!

Former Major Archbishop Jien
32[ii]

---

[i] GSS 49: Composed going to Mt Furu in Yamato.

[ii] Shūgyokushū 5793

Round Fifteen

Left

さがの山みゆきたえにしせりかはのちよのふるみちあとはありけり

saga no yama miyuki taenishi seri kawa no chiyo no furu michi ato wa arikeri

His Majesty, Saga’s mountain Excursion is long done, yet By the River Seri For a thousand generations will the ancient ways Leave their mark.

29[i]

Right

世中よみちこそなけれおもひいるやまのおくにもしかぞなくなる

yo no naka yo michi koso nakere omoi’iru yama no oku ni mo shika zo naku naru

O, the world of men! There’s no escape, indeed, I feel! In the mountains’ heart A stag calls out.

30[ii]

---

[i] GSS XV: 1075: On the day the Emperor [Kōkō (830-887; r. 884-887)] in the Ninna period (885-889), following the example set in the reign of the Emperor Saga (786-842; r. 809-823), made an excursion to the River Seri.

[ii] SZS XVII: 1151: When he composed a hundred poem sequence of reminiscences, he composed this as a poem on deer.

Round Fourteen

Left

わくらばにとふ人あらばすまのうらにもしほたれつつわぶとこたへよ

wakuraba ni tou hito araba suma no ura ni moshio taretsutsu wabu to kotaeyo

If of me Folk should come enquiring, then as On the beach at Suma The seaweed ever drips, I suffer—answer that!

27[i]

Right

たちかへりまたもきてみむ松島やをじまのとまやなみにあらすな

tachi kaeri mata mo kite min matsushima ya ojima no tomaya nami ni arasu na

Rising, falling, leaving, departing To come once again to see In Matsushima, Ojima where my hut— I would not have the waves wash it away.[ii]

28[iii]

---

[i] KKS XVIII: 962: During the reign of the Tamura Emperor, when he was confined to Suma in the province of Tsu for certain reasons, he sent this to someone in the capital.

[ii] An allusive variation on GSIS XIV: 827.

[iii] SKKS X: 933: A travel poem for a fifty poem sequence composed for Cloistered Prince Shukaku.

Round Thirteen

Left

たちわかれいなばの山の峰におふるまつとしきかば今かへりこむ

tachi wakare inaba no yama no mine ni ouru matsu to shi kikaba ima kaerikomu

Left and departed— If I go, to the mounts of Inaba Where on the peaks, the aged Pines; hearing you did so I would return at once.

Middle Counsellor Yukihira
25[i]

Right

としくれしなみだのつららとけにけりこけの袖にも春やたつらん

toshi kureshi namida no tsurara tokenikeri koke no sode ni mo haru ya tatsuran

The year is done— Frozen tears Have melted; Even to moss-covered sleeves Does spring come, I wonder?

Master of the Dowager Empress’ Household Office Toshinari
26[ii]

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[i] KKS VIII: 365 Topic unknown.

[ii] SKKS XVI: 1436/1435 On the conception of the beginning of spring, when he composed a hundred poem sequence at the house of the Lay Priest and Former Regent and Grand Minister.