Composed on the conception of summer love, when the Regent and Palace Minister held a poetry contest at his residence.

おもひあれば袖にほたるをつつみてもいはばや物をとふ人はなし

omoi areba sode ni hotaru o tsutsumite mo iwaba ya mono o tou hito wa nashi

I am filled with passion’s fire, but Even should my sleeves fireflies Wrap up, ‘What do you ponder on?’— There’s no one to enquire of me…[1]

Monk Jakuren

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[1] An allusive variation on Gosenshū IV: 209; and a poem which Kenshō cites in his judgement of the poems in Round 1310 of Sengohyakuban uta’awase 千五百番歌合 (‘Poetry Contest in 1500 Rounds’): あめふればのきのたま水つぶつぶといはばやものを心ゆくまで ame fureba / noki no tamamizu / tsubutsubu to / iwaba ya mono o / kokoro yuku made ‘The rain falls and / Jewelled droplets from my eaves / Drip one by one: / Should I ponder on that / Until my heart is eased?’