On the beginning of summer.
夏ごろもたつたのやまのほととぎすいつしかなかん声をきかばや
| natsugoromo tatsuta no yama no hototogisu itsu shika nakan koe o kikaba ya | As a summer robe On Tatsuta Mountain, O, cuckoo, I would have you swiftly sing, For your song I long to hear… |

Round Ten
Left (Win)
よひのまぞ人をばまちしほととぎすあくるまでこそねられざりけれ
| yoi no ma zo hito oba machishi hototogisu akuru made koso nerarezarikere | All night long Did I await him once, but T’is the cuckoo: Even more until the dawn, that Keeps me from my sleep! |
Shun’e
19
Right
花はすぎ紅葉はまだき夏山にをりえてもなく時鳥かな
| hana wa sugi momiji wa madaki natsuyama ni oriete mo naku hototogisu kana | The blossoms are past, and Scarlet leaves have yet to come; In the summer mountains How lively sings The cuckoo! |
Kenshō
20
The Left’s poem certainly commands one’s interest.




Round Seventeen
Cuckoos
Left (Tie)
さのみやは心あるべき時鳥ね覚の空に一声もがな
| sanomi ya wa kokoro arubeki hototogisu nezame no sora ni hitogoe mogana | Not much of The heart can you know, O, cuckoo, but On waking from the sky I would hear a single call. |
A Court Lady
33
Right
やはた山むかひの里の郭公しのびしかたの声もかはらず
| yawatayama mukai no sato no hototogisu shinobishi kata no koe mo kawarazu | By Yawata Mountain, At the estate of Mukai, A cuckoo, Fondly remembers someone With a changeless song! |
Lord Ietaka
34
The Left’s poem would seem to fail to reflect the essential meaning of the topic of cuckoos by having it not yet being heard, and thus its overall technique seems dreadful. The Right’s poem also lacks any superlative elements, they must tie.




Left
さくはなのちりつつうかぶみづのおもにいかでうき草ねざしそめけむ
| saku hana no chiritsutsu ukabu mizu no omo ni ikade ukikusa nezashi somekemu | Blossom blooming and Ever scattering, and floating Upon the surface of the water, So why might the waterweed Begin to put down roots? |
76
Right
まつひとはつねならなくにほととぎすおもひのほかになかばうからむ
| matsu hito wa tsune naranaku ni hototogisu omoi no hoka ni nakaba ukaramu | The one awaiting you is Ever changing, O, cuckoo, but If, my longing you should not meet With your song, how I will hate you! |
77
Five poems on Summer—not matched.
Left
いづれをかそれともわかむうのはなのさけるかきねをてらすつきかげ
| izure o ka sore tomo wakamu u no hana no sakeru kakine o terasu tsukikage | How is it that I might distinguish them: Deutzia flowers Blooming on a brushwood fence, and Shining moonlight? |
72
Right
この夏もかはらざりけりはつこゑは習志の岡になくほととぎす
| kono natsu mo kawarazarikeri hatsukoe wa narashi no oka ni naku hototogisu | This summer, too, Is no different; The first song Upon Narashi Hill is A calling cuckoo. |
73
Left
さよふけてなどかなくらむほととぎすたびねのやどをかすひとやなき
| sayo fukete nado ka nakuramu hototogisu tabine no yado o kasu hito ya naki | Brief night breaks, so Why does he cry so? The cuckoo A lodging on his journey Has no one to lend him! |
49
Right (Win)
なつのいけによるべさだめぬうきくさのみづよりほかにゆくかたもなし
| natsu no ike ni yorube sadamenu ukikusa no mizu yori hoka ni yuku kata mo nashi | Upon the pond in summer No destination has The waterweed, so Other than the water It has no place to go… |
Okikaze
50