Kerria
Left
はなをらでわれぞややまふきのはなるつゆをたまにてけたじとおもへば
hana orade ware zo ya yamau ki no ha naru tsuyu o tama nite ketaji to omoeba | Leave the blossom unplucked, and As it is, I will, that From the tree’s leaves The dewdrop gems Will not disappear, or so I wish… |
Sadafun
13
Right (Win)
いづこともわかずはるさめふりやまふきのはなべてももえにけるかな
izuko to mo wakazu harusame furiyamau ki no ha nabete mo moenikeru kana | Everywhere Without exception, springtime showers Have ceased to fall, so All the leaves upon the trees Have budded! |
14
A poem by Lord Ono no Oyu, Junior Assistant Governor-General of Dazai.
青丹吉 寧樂乃京師者 咲花乃 薫如 今盛有
あをによし奈良の都は咲く花のにほふがごとく今盛りなり
awoni yosi nara no miyako pa saku pana no nipopu ga gotoku ima masakari nari | Good blue-black clay— Nara, the capital, As the flowering blossom Glows, Is in full-bloom today. |
From the Poetry Contest in Fifteen Hundred Rounds.
ima wa tote haru no ariake ni chiru hana ya tsuki ni mo oshiki mine no shirakumo | Is now the time—that In the spring dawn With the blossom scattering The moon, too, regrets leaving The white clouds round the peaks? |
Sanuki from the Nijō Palace
二条院讃岐
Left
ふくみあへず消えなむ雪を冬の日の花と見ればや鳥のとむらん
fukumiaezu kienamu yuki o fuyu no hi no hana to mireba ya tori no touran | Unable enter in The vanishing snow On a winter’s day, Mistaking it for blossom, is that why The birds do seek it out? |
155
Right
This poem is missing from extant texts of the competition.
Left
白露ぞ霜となりける冬のよはあまの河さへ水こほりけり
shiratsuyu zo shimo to narikeru fuyu no yo wa ama no kawa sae mizu kōrikeri | Silver dewdrops Have turned to frost On this winter’s night Even the River of Heaven’s Waters have frozen. |
153
Right
冬の海に降りいる雪やそこにゐて春たつ浪の花とさくらん
fuyu no umi ni furi’iru yuki ya soko ni ite haru tatsu nami no hana to sakuran | Upon the sea in winter, Falling down, is the snow: Does it rest upon the bed and With the waves breaking in springtime Bloom into blossom? |
154
Left
月夜には花とぞ見ゆる竹のうへに降りしく雪を誰かはらはむ
tsukiyo ni wa hana to zo miyuru take no ue ni furishiku yuki o tare ka harawamu | On a moonlit night As blossom it appears, so From the bamboo The fallen, scattered, snow— Who would sweep it away? |
151
Right
しら雪を分けてわかるるかたみには袖に涙のこほるなりけり
shirayuki o wakete wakaruru katami ni wa sode ni namida no kōru narikeri | That through the snow so white I pressed on, forging, A keepsake is The tears upon my sleeves, All frozen. |
152
Left
雪のうちのみやまからこそおいはくれかしらのしろく成るをまづみよ
yuki no uchi no miyama kara koso oi wa kure kashira no shiroku naru o mazu miyo | Within the snows From the mountains deep, O, come, old age! My head to white Is turned—see that first! |
149
Right
松の上にかかれる雪はよそにして時まどはせる花とこそみれ
matsu no ue ni kakareru yuki wa yoso ni shite toki madowaseru hana to koso mire | Upon the pine trees Clings snow: From afar, The season has led astry The blossom, it does appear! |
150
Left
雪のみぞ枝にふりしき花もはもいにけむ方もみえずも有るかな
yuki nomi zo eda ni furishiki hana mo ha mo inikemu kata mo miezu mo aru kana | The snow is simply Fallen, scattered, on the branches; The blossom and the leaves, too: Where might they have gone? I cannot see! |
133
Right
白雪の八重ふりしける帰る山かへるがへるも老いにけるかな
shirayuki no yae furishikeru kaeru yama kaerugaeru mo oinikeru kana | White snow Falls eightfold on Mount Return— Returning and returning again Is the age I feel! |
Ariwara no Muneyana
134[1]
[1] Kokinshū XVII: 902/Shinsen man’yōshū 169/Kokin rokujō II: 1393
Left
霜がれの枝となわびそ白雪を花にやとひてみれどもあかず
shimogare no eda to na wabi so shirayuki o hana ni ya toite miredomo akazu | For the frost-burned Branches, grieve not, for White snows As blossom will visit them, and The sight will never sate. |
131
Right
嵐ふく山下里にふる雪はとくむめの花咲くかとぞ見る
arashi fuku yamashitazato ni furu yuki wa toku mume no hana saku ka to zo miru | The storm wind blows Upon the village ‘neath the mountains, where Fallen snow, Long since, had plum blossom Made seem to bloom? |
132
Left
神無月しぐれふるらしさほ山の正木のかづら色まさりゆく
kaminazuki shigure fururashi saoyama no masaki no kazura iro masarikeri | In the Godless Month Showers fall, it seems, for On Sao Mountain The evergreen arrowroot’s Hues are fine, indeed. |
125[1]
Right
冬くれば梅に雪こそ降りかかれいづれのえをか花とはをらむ
fuyu kureba mume ni yuki koso furikakare izure no e o ka hana to wa oramu | When the winter comes Upon the plum tree, truly, does snow Fall and cling; From which branch, I wonder Should I pick the blossom? |
126
[1] Shinkokinshū VI: 574
'Simply moving and elegant'