Round Five
Left (Win)
くらゐやまみねのさくらをかざしても人はものをやなほおもふらむ
| kuraiyama mine no sakura o kazashitemo hito wa mono o ya nao omouramu | Even should I Mount Kurai’s Cherry blossom from the peak Wear in my hair, As a man would such gloomy Thoughts still fill me? |
Lord Sane’ie
109
Right
ありてこそあらぬすがたになりもせめうしとていかがみをばなぐべき
| arite koso aranu sugata ni nari mo seme ushi tote ikaga mi oba nagubeki | I live on, so My former state I have abandoned; How can I all the cruelties Cast from my flesh? |
Atsuyori
110
The Left’s configuration and conception are truly charming. The writer is troubled, isn’t he! In particular, the configuration of ‘As a man would such gloomy / Thoughts still fill me?’ sounds especially pleasant. For the Right, the tone of ‘How can I all the cruelties’ also seems pleasant, but still, I make the Left the winner.
Original
やへたてるみかさのやまのしらくもはみゆきさぶらふさくらなりけり
| yae tateru mikasa no yama no shirakumo wa miyuki saburau sakura narikeri | Standing eightfold high above Mikasa Mountain, The clouds of white, In service to the excursion Are cherries. |
7
Left (Win)
よそにてもきみしみつれば山ざくらこころやすくやいまはちるらむ
| yoso nite mo kimi shi mitsureba yamazakura kokoro yasuku ya ima wa chiruramu | Seen from afar, and Even by my Lady, do The mountain cherries Contentedly Seem to scatter now? |
8
Right
やへたてるくもゐに見えしさくらばなかへるたむけにけふやちるらん
| yae tateru kumoi ni mieshi sakurabana kaeru tamuke ni kyō ya chiruran | Standing eightfold high Among the clouds, I seemed to see Cherry blossoms, As a memento of our return Seeming to scatter today. |
9
Original
さくらばなみかさのやまのかげしあればゆきとふるともぬれじとぞおもふ
| sakurabana mikasa no yama no kage shi areba yuki to furutomo nureji to zo omou | When cherry blossom Upon Mikasa mountain Shows its shape, Even should snow fall, I’ll not get damp, I feel![1] |
4
Left
このまよりはなのゆきのみちりくるはみかさのやまのもるにざるべき
| ko no ma yori hana no yuki nomi chirikuru wa mikasa no yama no morunizarubeki | Between the trees Simply a snow of blossom Comes a’falling— Mikasa mountain Will certainly be covered![2] |
5
Right (Win)
かすがのにゆきとふるてふはなみにぞみかさの山をさしてきにける
| kasugano ni yuki to furu chō hanami ni zo mikasa no yama o sashite kinikeri | Upon Kasuga Plain, Snow falls, they say— Indeed, when viewing blossom On Mikasa mountain, an umbrella Raise up as you come! |
6
[1] This is included in Shūishū (XVI: 1056) as an anonymous poem under the heading ‘Topic unknown’.
[2] This poem is included in Shinsenzaishū (II: 152), as an anonymous poem with the headnote: ‘Composed in reply to “When cherry blossom / Upon Mikasa mountain / Shows its shape, / Even should snow fall, / I’ll not get damp, I feel!”, which was among twenty-one poems by provincial officials, when the Kyōgoku Lady of the Bedchamber went to Kasuga.’
