Left (Win)
さくらちるこのしたかぜはさむからでそらにしられぬゆきぞふりける
sakura chiru
ko no shitakaze wa
samukarade
sora ni shirarenu
yuki zo furikeru | The cherry scattering
Breeze beneath the trees
Lacks chill—
Unaware from within the skies
The snow is falling. |
Tsurayuki
13[i]
Right
わがこころはるのやまべにあくがれてながながしひをけふもくらしつ
wa ga kokoro
haru no yamabe ni
akugarete
naganagashi hi o
kyō mo kurashitsu | My heart to
The mountainside in springtime
Is drawn—
The long, long day
Today, too, has reached its dusk. |
Mitsune
14[ii]
The Left wins. ‘The Right has “long, long” which is a disagreeable word. It was hissed through pursed lips with drooping shoulders,’ and so it lost.
[i] This poem is included in Shūishū (I: 64), with the headnote, ‘From Former Emperor Uda’s Poetry Contest’.
[ii] This poem is included in Shinkokinshū (I: 81), attributed to Tsurayuki with the headnote ‘A poem from Former Emperor Uda’s Poetry Contest’.
Hair.
ねくたれのかみけづるよもあはざればこひしきものをけふはくらしつ
nekutare no
kami kezuru yo mo
awazareba
koishiki mono o
kyō wa kurashitsu | My sleep-tangled
Hair I comb tonight, even though
We have not met, so
The one I love will be
In my thoughts all day long. |
Anonymous
On an old woman wiping her face with chrysanthemum dew on the ninth day of the Ninth Month.
けふまでに我をおもへば菊の上の露は千年の玉にざりける
kyō made ni
ware o omoeba
kiku no ue no
tsuyu wa chitose no
tama nizarikeru | Up until this day
Have you thought of me, so
Upon the chrysanthemums
These dewdrops, thousand year
Jewels do not seem to be. |
Ki no Tsurayuki
The morning after Tanabata, he received a poem which had been composed and sent to him from Mitsune’s house, so sent this in return.
あひ見ずてひとひも君にならはねばたなばたよりも我ぞまされる
aFimizute
Fito Fi mo kimi ni
naraFaneba
tanabata yori mo
ware zo masareru | Not meeting and
For even a single day from you
Parted, I am, so
Greater than the Weaver Maid’s
Are my swelling feelings. |
Tsurayuki
むめのはなちるよりさきにさきしかどみるひはさきにゆきのふれれば
mume no hana
chiru yori saki ni
sakishikado
miru hi wa saki ni
yuki no furereba | Plum blossom:
Before in scatters,
It has bloomed, yet
On the day to view it, first
Snow has fallen, so… |
Left
おもひつつひるはかくてもなぐさめつ夜こそ涙つきずながるる
omoitsutsu
hiru wa kakute mo
nagusametsu
yoru koso namida
tukizu nagaruru | Ever thinking of you
My day is thus
Consoled, but
At night, indeed, my tears
Never do run dry… |
178
Right
かぎりなく深きおもひを忍ぶれば身をころすにもおとらざりけり
kagirinaku
fukaki omoi o
shinobureba
mi o korosu ni mo
otorazarikeri | Endless
Depths has the love
That I conceal, so
That it will kill my flesh
Is no exaggeration. |
179
もみぢばのながるるあきはかはごとににしきあらふとひとはみるらん[1]
momijiba no
nagaruru aki wa
kawa goto ni
nishiki arau to
hito wa miruramu | The scarlet leaves
Flow and in autumn
By every river
Washing their brocade
Folk can be seen! |
ひしくればよるもめかれじきくのはなあきすぎぬればあふべきものか
hi shi kureba
yoru mo mekareji
kiku no hana
aki suginureba
aubeki mono ka | When the day is here,
At night you do escape my sight,
O, chrysanthemums;
When autumn has passed by,
I wonder shall we meet again? |
70
[1] This poem is included in Gosenshū (VII: 415).
Old Folk 老人
あさなあさなみれどむかしのかげならで日にそへおいのますかがみかな
asana asana
miredo mukashi no
kage narade
hi ni soe oi no
masukagami kana | Each morn
I look, yet yesterday’s
Face fails to appear, and
With each passing day, old age
Is clear within my mirror! |
Tadafusa
[One of] four poems from the province of Etchū.
弥彦おのれ神さび青雲のたなびく日すら小雨そほ降る
iyapiko
wonore kamusabi
awokumo no
tanabiku pi sura
kosame sopopuru |
O, Iyahiko!
Your very form fills me with awe:
Clouds of grey
Trail round by day – even then
Showers drizzle down… |
恋草に染かへりたる色なれば思ひそめけむ日をぞ恨むる
koFigusa ni
simikaFeritaru
iro nareba
omoFisomekemu
Fi wo zo uramuru |
The lovely grasses’
Have ever staining
Hues, so
When it seemed I was first deeply dyed with love –
That day I do hate! |
Minamoto no Toshiyori
源俊頼
'Simply moving and elegant'