散りのこるきしの山吹春ふかみこの一枝をあはれといはなん
chirinokoru kishi no yamabuki haru fukami kono hito eda o aware to iwanan | A scattered remnant of Kerria from the bank In the depths of spring, that This single stem arouses Pity, I would have you say. |

I had asked that Master of Discipline Kōkaku be accorded the honour of the role of reader at the ceremony for the recitation of the Vimalakīrti nirdeśa Sutra, and when he was constantly passed over, had complained to the Hosshōji Lay Priest and former Palace Minister; even though he mentioned ‘Shimeji plain’, the following year Kōkaku was once more passed over, so I composed this and sent it to him.
契りおきしさせもが露をいのちにてあはれことしの秋もいぬめり
tigiri okisi sasemo ga tuyu wo inoti nite aFare kotosi no aki mo inumeri | A promise dropped, as Dewfall on the mugwort— Such is life, so Miserable, this year’s Autumn must arrive. |
Fujiwara no Mototoshi
Composed on seeing cherry blossom unexpectedly at Ōmine.
もろともにあはれとおもへ山ざくらはなよりほかにしる人もなし
morotomo ni aFare to omoFe yamazakura Fana yori Foka ni siru Fito mo nasi | Won’t you as well Feel kind, O, mountain cherry? For other than your blossom, I have no acquaintances here at all… |
Archbishop Gyōson
Topic unknown.
かなしさもあはれもたぐひおほかるを人にふるさぬことの葉もがな
kanashisa mo aware mo tagui ōkaru o hito ni furusanu koto no ha mogana | Sorrow and Sadness, such terms Are many, but If only folk had never used before The words I’d say to you! |
Kentoku-kō
When a woman he had been conversing with turned cold, after he was unable to meet her.
あはれともいふべき人はおもほえで身のいたづらになりぬべきかな
aFare to mo iFubeki Fito Fa omoFoede mi no itadura ni narinubeki kana | ‘That’s sad…’— Someone to say it: There’s none I can recall, so My death, That’s how it will be![i] |
The Ichijō Regent
[i] Also Ogura hyakunin isshu 45.
Gazing at the blossom, on a night when the moon was particularly charming.
あたら夜の月と花とをおなじくはあはれしれらむ人にみせばや
atarayo no tuki to Fana to wo onaziku Fa aFare sireramu Fito ni miseba ya | This fresh night’s Moon and blossom, too, Are both same: If only to one whose feelings are profound I could show them… |
Minamoto no Sane’akira
Karukaya
Left
しらつゆにいろかはりゆくかるかやのほにいでてあきをあはれとぞ思ふ
shiratsuyu ni iro kawariyuku karukaya no ho ni idete aki o aware to zo omou | With silver dewfall The hues do change Of the pampas grass— Fronds emerge and autumn’s Sorrow I keenly feel. |
5
Right
よそめにはこともやすらにかるかやをなど秋風のふきみだるらん
yosome ni wa koto mo yasura ni karukaya o nado akikaze no fukimidaruran | When glanced at So peaceful is The pampas grass, so Why might the autumn wind Blow it to such confusion? |
6
Left (Win)
あはれにぞ鳴あかすなる蛬われのみしぼる袖かと思ふに
aware ni zo nakiakasunaru kirigirisu ware nomi shiboru sode ka to omou ni |
How sad it is – Crying with the dawn is The cricket, though I alone am wringing Out my sleeves, I feel. |
Lord Suetsune
1075
Right
露深きあはれを思へきりぎりす枕の下の秋の夕暮
tsuyu fukaki aware o omoe kirigirisu makura no shita no aki no yūgure |
Deep in dew and Sad, I wish you were, O, cricket, Beneath my pillow On this autumn evening… |
Nobusada
1076
The Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults we can mention. The Gentlemen of the Left state: our feelings are the same as those of the Right
In judgement: both Left and Right are on ‘crickets’ (kirigirisu) and their configuration and diction sound equally elegantly beautiful. I feel that the Right, with ‘deep in dew and sad, I wish you were’ (tsuyu fukaki aware o omoe), is somewhat lacking in the conception of the poet’s own love, but the Left, with ‘I alone am wringing out my sleeves, I feel’ (ware nomi shiboru sode ka to omou ni), has an excellent conception of love, so I must state that the Left is the winner.