Poems from a pinks match held by the ladies and gentlemen in service to the Lady of the Bedchamber who was the daughter of the Captain of the Outer Palace Guards, Left Division, on the 29th day of the Fifth Month, Tenryaku 10.[i] Lady Nakatsukasa was on the Left; Kanemori was on the Right.
Left
なでしこのはなのかげみるかはなみはいづれのかたにこころよすらん
| nadeshiko no hana no kage miru kawanami wa izure no kata ni kokoro yosuran | A pink’s Blooming shape a’seeing, The waves upon the river Whither will Take her heart, I wonder? |
Nakatsukasa
1[ii]
Right
ももしきにしめゆひそむるなでしこのはなとしみればこさぞまされる
| momoshiki ni shimeyuisomuru nadeshiko no hana to shi mireba kosa zo masareru | When, within the hundredfold palace So carefully being raised A pink In bloom I see, It’s depth of hue is fine, indeed! |
Kanemori
2[iii]
[i] 9 July 956
[ii] Nakatsukasa-shū 119)
[iii] Some texts of this match have an alternate wording for this poem: ももしきにしめゆひしよりなでしこのはなとしみればこく見ゆるかな momoshiki ni / shimeyuishi yori / nadeshiko no / hana to shi mireba / koku miyuru kana ‘When, within the hundredfold palace / So carefully raised / A pink / In bloom I see, / How deep its hue appears!’