Tag Archives: akihagi

Tsurayuki uta'awase

Tsurayuki uta’awase 09

20th February 2026 Thomas Leave a comment

Love

Left

秋萩におく白露の消えかへり人をこひしとおもふころかな

akihagi ni
oku shiratsuyu no
kiekaeri
hito o koishi to
omou koro kana

In autumn upon the bush clover
Fall silver dewdrops,
Vanishing away, with
Her I loved—
My feelings in those days!

17[i]

Right

寒き夜はさごろも雁の声きけばかへすがへすぞ人はこひしき

samuki yo wa
sagoromo kari no
koe kikeba
kaesugaesu zo
hito wa koishiki

On a night so chill,
In a scanty robe, when the goose
Cries I hear,
Again and yet again
Do I long for her…

[i] This poem is included in Shinshūishū (XII: 1011), with the headnote, ‘From the poetry match at Tsurayuki’s house’. A variant of it also appears in some Mandaishū (XV: 2458) texts; in others the version provided is as in the contest: From the poetry match held when Tsuryuki was in Suo province. 秋萩におく白露の澄みかへり人をこひしとおもふころかな aki hagi ni / oku shiratsuyu no / sumikaeri / hito o koishi to / omou koro kana ‘In autumn upon the bush-clover / Fall silver dewdrops / Ever clear / Her I loved— / My feelings in those days’.

Entō ōn'uta'awase

Entō ōn’uta’awase 32

30th January 2026 Thomas Leave a comment

Round Thirty-Two

Left (Tie)

上葉ふく朝の原の秋風におのれうつろふ萩の下露

uwaba fuku
ashita no hara no
akikaze ni
onore utsurou
hagi no shitazuyu

Blowing upon the upper leaves
Over Ashita Plain,
The autumn breeze touches,
Fading all of itself
The dripping dew upon the bush clover.

Tomoshige
63

Right

今よりはたが涙とか成りぬらん下葉色づく秋萩の露

ima yori wa
ta ga namida to ka
narinuran
shitaba irozuku
akihagi no tsuyu

From now on
Whose tears might
They become?
Colouring the underleaves
Are dewdrops upon the autumn bush clover…[1]

Dharma Master Zenshin
64

Left and Right are in the same style. The Right’s poem wonders ‘whose are these tears’ and has a person’s tears as the dew upon the grass, which is something one often hears. Using dew on the grass as a person’s tears is a bit vague, yet it’s not going so far as to be a definite fault. These should tie.

[1] An allusive variation on: Topic unknown. あきはぎのしたば色づく今よりやひとりある人のいねがてにする akihagi no / shitaba irozuku / ima yori ya / hitori aru hito no / inegatenisuru ‘The autumn bush clover’s / Underleaves are colouring / From this point on, / For one all alone / Will sleep be harder to find?’ Anonymous (KKS IV: 220)

Entō ōn'uta'awase

Entō ōn’uta’awase 30

29th January 2026 Thomas Leave a comment

Round Thirty

Left (Tie)

玉をぬく真野の糸萩かたよりにおのれみだるる秋の夕暮

tama o nuku
mano no itohagi
katayori ni
onore midaruru
aki no yūgure

Strung with gems
The bush-clover twigs at Mano
All align together
In their own tangles
On an autumn evening.

Shō
59

Right

待ちわたる時や来ぬらん白露の玉しく庭の秋はぎの花

machiwataru
toki ya konuran
shiratsuyu no
tama shiku niwa no
akihagi no hana

Has that long-awaited
Time arrived, perhaps?
When silver dewdrop
Pearls will spread o’er the grounds
From the autumn bush clover blooms…

Nagatsuna
60

The poems of Left and Right have different diction, but the same configuration.

Entō ōn'uta'awase

Entō ōn’uta’awase 29

29th January 2026 Thomas Leave a comment

Round Twenty-Nine

Left (Win)

宮城のの木下風や過ぎぬらん露におくるる秋萩の花

miyagino no
ko no shitakaze ya
suginuran
tsuyu ni okururu
akihagi no hana

On Miyagi Plain has
The breeze beneath the trees
Passed by? For
Missing the dewfall are
The autumn bush clover blooms…

Takasuke
57

Right

物おもふやどの物とてながむれば露にをれふす庭の萩原

mono’omou
yado no mono tote
nagamureba
tsuyu ni orefusu
niwa no hagiwara

Sunk in gloomy thought is
The one who dwells here, I feel,
When I gaze upon,
Broken and tangled among the dewdrops,
The bush clover grove in the grounds…

Shimotsuke
58

The Left poem’s ‘Missing the dewfall are the autumn bush clover’ sounds pleasant. The Right poem has no faults either, yet the Left should win.

Entō ōn'uta'awase

Entō ōn’uta’awase 26

29th January 2026 Thomas Leave a comment

Round Twenty-Six

Left

秋萩の露もよすがのさがり葉も風吹きたつる色ぞ身にしむ

akihagi no
tsuyu mo yosuga no
sagariba mo
kaze fukitatsuru
iro zo mi ni shimu

On the autumn bush clover
Dewdrops rest upon
The dangling leaves,
Whipped up by the wind,
Their hues sharply sink into my flesh.

The Former Minister of the Centre
51

Right (Win)

さだめなき風を待つ間もうつろひぬもとあらの萩にむすぶ白露

sadamenaki
kaze o matsu ma mo
utsuroinu
motoara no hagi ni
musubu shiratsuyu

While the unsettled
Breeze they do await,
Faded from
The sparse bush clover have
The clinging dewdrops.[1]

Kozaishō
52

The Left poem’s ‘rest upon the dangling leaves, whipped up by the wind’ seems a novel style, and yet, even though everything about dangling leaves is contained in the Ancient and Modern, it does not sound particularly evocative. The Right lacks even a small fault and appears gorgeous, so it should win.

[1] An allusive variation on: Topic unknown. 宮木野のもとあらの小萩つゆをおもみ風をまつごと君をこそまつ miyagino no / motoara no kohagi / tsuyu o omomi / kaze o matsu goto / kimi o koso matsu ‘On Miyagi Plain / The sparse bush clover / Weighed down with dewdrops / Awaits the wind, just as / I do wait for you…’ Anonymous (KKS XIV: 694)

Entō ōn'uta'awase

Entō ōn’uta’awase 25

28th January 2026 Thomas Leave a comment

Round Twenty-Five

Dew on Bush Clover

Left

下葉には色なる玉やくだくらむ風の吹きしく萩の上の露

shitaba ni wa
iro naru tama ya
kudakuramu
kaze no fukishiku
hagi no ue no tsuyu

From the underleaves
Hues have the gemlets taken
In their shattering?
Spread by the gusting wind
Are the dewdrops on the bush clover…

A Court Lady
49

Right (Win)

又やみむ又や見ざらん白露の玉おきしける秋萩の花

mata ya mimu
mata ya mizaran
shiratsuyu no
tama okishikeru
akihagi no hana

Will I see again, or
Will I not
Silver dewdrop
Pearls spread upon
The autumn bush clover blooms?

Ietaka
50

The Left’s poem does not seem to have a particularly superlative style. The Right’s poem, saying ‘will I see again, or will I not silver dewdrops’ is particularly charming and moving. Thus, it wins.