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'