Category Archives: Poetry Competitions

Kanpyō no ōntoki chūgū uta’awase 12

Round Twelve

Left

冬の夜の月はとほくやわたりけんかげみしみづのまづしこほれば

fuyu no yo no
tsuki wa tōku ya
watariken
kage mishi mizu no
mazu shi kōreba
On a winter’s night
Does the moon distantly
Pass by? For
The waters where I saw its face
Are the first to freeze…

22

Right

ながれくるみづこほりぬる冬さへやなほうき草のあとはさだめぬ

nagarekuru
mizu kōrinuru
fuyu sae ya
nao ukikusa no
ato wa sadamenu
Flowing down
The waters have frozen
With the winter, so will
The drifting waterweed still
Leave little trace?

23

Kanpyō no ōntoki chūgū uta’awase 11

Winter

Round Eleven

Left

霜のうへにふる初雪の朝氷とけむほどこそひさしかりけれ

shimo no ue ni
furu hatsuyuki no
asagōri
tokemu hodo koso
hisashikarikere
Upon the frosts
Falls first snow, turning
Icy in the morning;
The time when it will melt is
Far away, indeed.

20[1]

Right (Win)

いつのまにふりつもりけんみよしのの山のかひよりくづれ落つる雪

itsu no ma ni
furitsumoriken
miyoshino no
yama no kai yori
kuzure’otsuru yuki
All of a sudden
Has it fallen and piled high
In fair Yoshino
The mountain passes are
Blocked by fallen snow.

21


[1] Kokin rokujō I: 696

Kanpyō no ōntoki chūgū uta’awase 10

Round Ten

Left

千鳥啼くさほの川霧たちぬなり嶺の紅葉の色まさりけり

chidori naku
sao no kawagiri
tachinu nari
mine no momiji no
iro masarikeri
Plovers cry, as
The mists from the Sao River
Have risen;
On the peaks the scarlet leaves’
Hues are fine, indeed.

19

Right

This poem is missing from the surviving texts of the competition.

Kanpyō no ōntoki chūgū uta’awase 9

Round Nine

Left

川ぎりのふもとをこめて立ちぬれば空にぞ秋の山はみえける

kawagiri no
fumoto o komete
tachinureba
sora ni zo aki no
yama wa miekeru
The river mists
Around the foothills
Have risen, so
‘Tis in the skies that autumn
On the mountains is revealed.

Fukayabu
17

Right

年毎の紅葉ばながす立田川みなとや秋のとまりなるらん

toshigoto no
momijiba nagasu
tatsutagawa
minato ya aki no
tomari naruran
Every single year
Scarlet leaves wash down
The Tatsuta River;
Is it at the mouth that autumn
Might find its port?

18

Kanpyō no ōntoki chūgū uta’awase 8

Round Eight

Left

秋風の吹来る声はやまながらなみ立ちかへるおとぞきこゆる

akikaze no
fukikuru koe wa
yama nagara
nami tachikaeru
oto zo kikoyuru
The autumn breeze’s
Cry comes gusting;
And in the mountains,
The sound of waves washing back and forth
Comes to my ears.

15

Right

すみの江の松を秋風吹くからにこゑうちそふる沖つ白なみ

suminoe no
matsu o akikaze
fuku kara ni
koe uchisouru
oki tsu shiranami
At Suminoe
The pines by the autumn breeze
Are blown, so
The sound lies atop
The whitecaps in the offing.

16

Kanpyō no ōntoki chūgū uta’awase 7

Autumn

Round Seven

Left

秋山はからくれなゐに成りにけりいくしほしぐれふりてそめけん

akiyama wa
karakurenai ni
narinikeri
iku shio shigure
furite someken
The autumn mountains
To Cathay scarlet
Have turned;
How many dippings with drizzle
Have fallen to dye them so?

13[1]

Right (Win)

秋きぬとめにはさやかにみえねども風の音にぞおどろかれぬる

aki kinu to
me ni wa sayaka ni
mienedomo
kaze no oto ni zo
odorokarenuru
That autumn has come
With my eyes, clearly,
I cannot see, yet
The sound of the wind
Has startled me.

Fujiwara no Toshiyuki 14[2]


[1] Shokugosenshū VII: 429

[2] This poem was particularly highly evaluated and so is included in numerous other anthologies (Kokin rokujō I: 125), exemplary collections (Shinsen waka 2) and senka awase – contests assembled from prior poems (Shunzei sanjū roku nin uta’awase 61; Jidai fudō uta’awase 49).

Kanpyō no ōntoki chūgū uta’awase 6

Round Six

Left

夏山のみねのこずゑのたかければなく郭公こゑかはるかな

natsuyama no
mine no kozue no
takakereba
naku hototogisu
koe kawaru kana
The summer mountain
Peaks have treetops
So high, that
The crying cuckoo’s
Calls stand for them.

11

Right (Win)

おほあらきのもりの下草茂りあひてふかくも夏のなりにけるかな

ōaraki no
mori no shitagusa
moriaite
fukaku mo natsu no
narinikeru kana
In Ōaraki
Forest the undergrowth
Has grown so thick, that
Deep summer is
Surely here!

Mitsune
12

Kanpyō no ōntoki chūgū uta’awase 5

Round Five

Left (Win)

なつの夜のふすかとすればほととぎす鳴く一声に明くるしののめ

natsu no yo no
fusu ka to sureba
hototogisu
naku hitogoe ni
akuru shinonome
On summer nights,
I’m wondering whether to go to bed, when
A cuckoo’s
Single call
Brightens the dawn.

Ki no Tsurayuki
9

Right

郭公をちかへりなけうなゐこがうちたれがみの五月雨の空

hototogisu
ochikaerinake
unaiko ga
uchitaregami no
samidare no sora
A cuckoo
Calls again and again;
A child’s shoulder-brushing
Hair dangling down:
A summer shower fills the skies.

Ōshikōchi no Mitsune 10[1]


[1] Shūishū II: 116: For a poetry contest at Sadafun’s house.

Kanpyō no ōntoki chūgū uta’awase 4

Summer

Round Four

Left

匂ふよりここちあだなる花ゆゑにのどけきはるの風もうらみじ

niou yori
kokochi adanaru
hana yue ni
nodokeki haru no
kaze mo uramiji
From their fragrance
Fickle feelings
Do these blossoms have, so
Peaceful spring’s
Breezes I would likely not resent.

7

Right (Win)

夏の夜のぬるほどもなく明けぬればあしたのまをぞかこちよせつる

natsu no yo no
nuru hodo mo naku
akenureba
ashita no ma o zo
kakochiyosetsuru
On a summer night
I’ve lacked time to sleep, and
Dawn has come, so
I’ll do it on the morrow—
That is my excuse!

8

Kanpyō no ōntoki chūgū uta’awase 3

Round Three

Left

氷とくはるたちくらしみよしののよしののたきのこゑまさるなり

kōri toku
haru tachikurashi
miyoshino no
yoshino no taki no
koe masarunari
Ice melting
Spring has come on scene, it seems;
In fair Yoshino,
Yoshino Falls’
Roar is fine, indeed!

5

Right (Win)

はなの色はかすみにこめてみえずともかをだにぬすめ春の山風

hana no iro wa
kasumi ni komete
miezu tomo
ka o dani nusume
haru no yamakaze
The blossoms’ hues
Have blended with the haze, so
I see them not, yet
Their very scent is plundered by
Spring’s breezes from the mountains.

6