Round Twenty-Seven

Left

あけぬとてかへるみちにはこきたれてあめもなみだもふりそほちつつ

akenu tote kaeru michi ni wa kokitarete ame mo namida mo furisōchitsutsu

‘Tis the break of day, and On the road back home Descending sheets of Rain, and my tears, too Soak me to the skin…

53[i]

Right

なにとなくきけば涙ぞこぼれけるこけのたもとにかよふ松かぜ

nani to naku kikeba namida zo koborekeru koke no tamoto ni kayou matsukaze

For some reason When I hear it, my tears Overflow Over my sleeves of moss Brushes the pine-touched wind.

54[ii]

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[i] KKS XIII: 639: A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Empress Dowager during the reign of the Kanpyō emperor. Also KKRJ V: 2732.

[ii] SKKS XVIII: 1795/94: On the wind in the pines, for the Poetry Match at the Kasuga Shrine.