Round Forty-Nine

Left

ゆふさればほたるよりけにもゆれども光みねばや人のつれなき

yū sareba hotaru yori ke ni moyuredomo hikari mineba ya hito no tsurenaki

With the fall of evening, The fireflies’ are as nothing beside My burning, yet I cast no light, so Will my love stay chill?

Ki no Tomonori
97[i]

Right

たづねつる花も我が身もおとろへてのちの春ともえこそちぎらね

tazunetsuru hana mo wa ga mi mo otoroete nochi no haru to mo e koso chigirane

Paying a visit on The blossom, I, too, Am fading fast; That we will meet in springs to come Is not a promise I can make…

Monk Ryōzen
98[ii]

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[i] KKS XII: 562: A poem composed at a competition held by Her Majesty, the Empress Dowager during the reign of the Kampyō emperor.

[ii] SKKS II: 153: When he went to the Unrin’in to view the cherry blossom, it was all scattered with but a single branch left.