君にとし思ひかくれば鶯のはなのくしげもをしまざりけり
| kimi ni to si omoFikakureba uguFisu no hana no kusige mo wosimazarikeri | For my Lady did I fondly think, so The warbler’s Comb box of blossom I do not regret at all… |
Ise
It is said that she composed this poem and sent it, together with some budding scarlet plum blossom to the residence of the Kujō Lady of the Bedchamber when Her Highness held a little box match.
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Empress Dowager during the reign of the Kanpyō emperor.
吹風や春立ち来ぬと告げつらん枝にこもれる花咲きにけり
| Fuku kaze ya Faru tatikinu to tuketuran eda ni komoreru Fana sakinikeri | Is it the blowing breeze that Spring’s arrival does Announce? For once tightly closed upon the branch Blossom has bloomed. |
Anonymous
Round Eleven: The scent of blossom in the fields at dusk
Left
宮木野や尋ねてきつる藤ばかましるくもにほふゆふまぐれかな
| miyagino ya tazunetekitsuru fujibakama shiruku mo niou yū magure kana | To Miyagi Plain Have come visiting The asters? So startling their scent In the twilight dusk! |
Ōe no Masasuke, Student of Law[1]
21
Right
今よりはいそぎもゆかじ入日さす野山の花ぞ匂ひましける
| ima yori wa isogi mo yukaji irihi sasu noyama no hana zo nioimashikeru | More than this moment There seems no purpose in haste, as The setting sun shines The blossom in the mountain meadows Has a scent sublime. |
Lord Tadamoto
22
[1] Ōe no Masasuke 大江盛佐. The identity of this individual remains uncertain, as he does not appear in the genealogy of the Ōe family. There was, however, a Fujiwara no Masasuke 藤原盛佐, who was appointed to the position of Senior Secretary of the Echizen province on the 23rd day of the First Month Kōji 康治 1 [10.2.1142], some forty years after this contest was held. The title used for Masasuke here, Student of Law (myōbōshō 明法生) indicates that he was enrolled in the Law department of the imperial university (daigakuryō 大学寮) at the time, and so would have been a young man. It is possible that for a minor noble it could take decades to gain an appointment to a provincial administration, so it is possible that this is Fujiwara no Masasuke, but this remains speculation. In any case this is his sole poem in a poetry competition.
Fields
Left
いつしかもゆきてはやみむあきのののはなのしたひもとけはてぬらん
| itsu shika mo yukite wa yamimu aki no no no hana no shitahimo tokehatenuran | Swiftly Shall I halt my travels In an autumn meadow; A blossom’s underbelt Seems completely undone. |
Korenari
5
Right (Win)
かりにとやいもはまつらんあきのののはなみるほどはいへぢわすれぬ
| kari ni to ya imo wa matsuran aki no no no hana miru hodo wa ieji wasurenu | Is it but briefly that My sweetheart should wait? In an autumn meadow While gazing at the flowers The way home I have quite forgot! |
Nagayoshi
6
Composed on the conception of changing into summer clothes, when a Hundred Poem Sequence was presented to His Majesty, Emperor Horikawa.
夏ごろもはなのたもとにぬぎかへて春のかたみもとまらざりけり
| natsugoromo hana no tamoto ni nugikaete haru no katami mo tomarazarikeri | For summer garb Blossom-laden sleeves I remove, and with the change Those keepsakes of springtime Fail to linger on. |
Former Middle Counsellor Masafusa
A poem from a poetry competition held by Her Majesty, the Empress, during the Kanpyō period.
春の野に若菜つまむと来し物をちりかふ花に道はまどひぬ
| Faru no no ni wakana tumamu to koshi mono wo tirikaFu Fana ni miti Fa madoFinu | To the meadows in springtime Thinking to pick fresh herbs Did I come, but Amongst the scattered blossom Have I lost my way. |
Tsurayuki
Composed when it was said that a poetry competition was to be held at the residence of the Middle Captain Lady of the Bedchamber in the Ninna period.[1]
おしと思心は糸によられなん散る花ごとに貫きてとどめむ
| oshi to omoFu kokoro Fa ito ni yorarenan tiru Fana goto ni nukite todomemu | If regrets Within my heart should into threads Be spun, then Through every scattered blossom Would I sew to hold them here… |
Sosei
[1] It was taboo to record the personal names of noble women of high rank unless they were made empress. The Ninna 仁和 period began on the 11th day of the Third Month, 885, and lasted until the 30th day of the Fifth Month, 889. ‘Lady of the Bedchamber’ (miyasudokoro 御息所) was a title given to imperial consorts who had given birth to a prince, while ‘Middle Captain’ (chūjō 中将) was a military position in the palace guards. Contemporary readers would have been able to identify who the ‘Lady who had given birth to an imperial prince and whose father held the position of Middle Captain during the Ninna period’ was, but modern scholarship has not done so; nor have full records of this poetry competition survived.