Left
はるのよのあかぬわかれのあかつきはちへのにしきをたつにざりける
| haru no yo no akanu wakare no akatsuki wa chie no nishiki o tatsu ni zarikeru | After a spring night, Unsatisfied, parting at The dawn, Sewn a thousandfold, the brocade Through which I go! |
26
Right
あけぬてふこゑもなみだももろともにうちいづるからにそでぞぬれける
| akenu chō koe mo namida mo morotomo ni uchi’izuru kara ni sode zo nurekeru | ‘Tis dawn, say Birdsongs and tears Both, Bursting out, so My sleeves are soaked! |
27
Round Seven
Left
かすがやまちえにさかゆるさかきばはよろづよまでのきみがためか
| kasugayama chie ni sakayuru sakakiba wa yorozuyo made no kimi ga tame ka | Upon Kasuga Mountain A thousand branches grow, Leafy, on the sacred tree— Until ten thousand ages pass Will they ward my Lord! |
Lady Kazusa
69
Right
君がよはいふかぎりなしみよしののこがねがみねにみよをまつまで
| kimi ga yo wa iu kagiri nashi miyoshino no kogane ga mine ni miyo o matsu made | My Lord’s reign— Words cannot describe: ‘til fair Yoshino’s Golden peak’s Age one must await! |
Lady Shikibu
70
The poem of the Left seems poetic to an extraordinarily outlandish degree! The poem of the Right’s ‘‘til fair Yoshino’s / Golden peak’s / Age one must await!’ has a sufficient conception of felicitation. Thus, these tie.
That the Left is addressed to Mount Kasuga is highly admirable. Is the Right’s ‘golden peak’ a reference to Mount Mitake? It’s very difficult to say anything profound here. Arbitrarily, I would make this a tie—the quality of the poems makes that seem right.
[One of] two poems composed when they assembled at the residence of Junior Secretary of Ceremonial Otomo sukune Ikenushi for a banquet on the 23rd day.
初雪は千重に降りしけ恋ひしくの多かる我れは見つつ偲はむ
| patuyuki pa tipe ni purisiki kopisiku no opokaru ware pa mitutu sinopamu | O, first snows Fall a thousandfold! For love Lies heavy on me, and Gazing on you, I will remember her… |
Ōhara no Imaki