Composed on plum blossom.
梅がえにこほれる霜やとけぬらんほしあへぬ露の花にこぼるる
| ume ga e ni kōreru shimo ya tokenuran hoshiaenu tsuyu no hana ni koboreru | Upon the plum tree’s branches The frozen frost Is melting, it seems— Never-drying dewdrops Overflow the blossom. |
Bamboo
Left
つゆもおけとなびくものからたけのはのいろうつろへるあきもみぬかな
| tsuyu mo oke to nabiku mono kara take no ha no iro utsuroeru aki mo minu kana | ‘Fall, O, dewdrops!’, I say, then Weighed down The bamboo leaves’ Hues fading I’ll see not this autumn! |
18
Asters
Right
あきののにいろなきつゆはおきしかどわかむらさきに花はそみけり
| aki no no ni iro naki tsuyu wa okishikado wakamurasaki ni hana wa somikeri | Upon the autumn meadows Colourless dew Has fallen, yet With pale violet Have the blooms been dyed. |
18
Wisteria
Left (Win)
おくつゆのひかりてたまぞみえまがふちのはながらにきえずもあらなむ
| oku tsuyu no hikarite tama zo miemagau chi no ha nagara ni kiezu mo aranamu | The fallen dewdrops Shine like gems Within my sight; From the budding leaves I would they vanished not! |
21
Right
あまつそらてりみくもりみゆくつきのふちのはなどはさやけかるらん
| ama tsu sora terimi kumorimi yuku tsuki no fuchi no ha nado wa sayakekaruran | Through the heaven-bound skies Shining, then clouding, Goes the moon, so Why, by this deep pool’s edge Should it show so clear? |
Fukayabu
22
When a man who had come to see her around the Eighth Month left behind his fan, which was decorated with a picture of bamboo leaves spotted with dewdrops, after some time had passed, she returned it, with this.
しののめにおきてわかれし人よりはひさしくとまる竹の葉の露
| shinonome ni okite wakareshi hito yori wa hisashiku tomaru take no ha no tsuyu | At the break of dawn He rose and left— That man, but Much longer lingered Dewdrops on the bamboo leaves. |
Izumi Shikibu
Left Final Round
をみなへしこのあきまでぞまさるべきつゆをもぬきてたまにまどはせ
| ominaeshi kono aki made zo masarubeki tsuyu o mo nukite tama ni madowase | The maidenflowers This autumn Have been fine, indeed— Strung with dewdrops As pearls let you be! |
His Majesty
21[1]
Right
きみによりのべをはなれしをみなへしおなじこころにあきをとどめよ
| kimi ni yori nobe o hanareshi ominaeshi onaji kokoro ni aki o todomeyo | For My Lord Have you left your meadows, O, maidenflower, Wishing as we, Autumn—hold here! |
Her Majesty, the Empress
22[2]
The flowers of the Right were inferior, but the poems of the Right won.
[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 528
[2] Shinsen man’yōshū 548
Left
あきのののつゆにおかるるをみなへしはらふひとなみぬれつつやふる
| aki no no no tsuyu ni okaruru ominaeshi harau hito nami nuretsutsu ya furu | In the autumn meadows Dripped with dewdrops are The maidenflowers— With no one to brush them off Will they ever be so drenched? |
Okikaze
17[1]
Right
あだなりとなにぞたちぬるをみなへしなぞあきののにおひそめにけむ
| adanari to na ni zo tachinuru ominaeshi nazo aki no no ni oisomenikemu | Faithless is The reputation attached to The maidenflower, So why within the autumn meadows Has she begun to grow? |
18[2]
[1] Gosenshū VI: 275; Kokin rokujō 3689; Okikaze-shū 12
[2] Shinsen man’yōshū 522
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
In the spring of the year following the early death of Onomiya Palace Minister, the cherry blossoms bloomed profusely, and he composed on the topic of voicing one’s thoughts a little.
桜花にほふものから露けきはこのめも物を思ふなるべし
| sakuranbana niFoFu mono kara tuyukeki Fa kono me mo mono wo omoFunarubesi | Cherry blossoms Have such a glow, that Dewdrops fill My eyes as sadness Seems to fill my thoughts. |
Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobu
Left
秋の月草むらわかずてらせばややどせる露を玉とみすらん
| aki no tsuki kusamura wakazu teraseba ya yadoseru tsuyu o tama to misuran | Does the autumn moon Not forge through the grassy thickets As it shines? For The dewdrops it lodges there It seems to display as jewels. |
114
Right
なほざりに秋のみやまに入りぬれば錦のいろの衣をこそきれ
| naozari ni aki nomi yama ni irinureba nishiki no iro no kinu o koso kire | Easily, indeed, Does autumn, simply, to the mountains Enter in, so In garb the hue of Brocade do they clothe themselves! |
115