Left
織女の年に一たび逢ふものをなどわが恋のはるけかるらむ
| tanabata no toshi ni hito tabi au mono o nado wa ga koi no harukekaruramu | The Weaver Maid But once a year A meeting may have, but Why is it my love Does seem to grow ever distant? |
13
Right
つゆに露われもろともにおきゐつつ恋する身さへ消えぬべきかな
| tsuyu ni tsuyu ware morotomo ni oki’itsutsu koisuru mi sae kienubeki kana | Dewfall upon dewdrops, Both do I Let ever fall— Love fills my flesh so It could fade away! |
14
Round Twenty-Nine
Left (Win)
宮城のの木下風や過ぎぬらん露におくるる秋萩の花
| miyagino no ko no shitakaze ya suginuran tsuyu ni okururu akihagi no hana | On Miyagi Plain has The breeze beneath the trees Passed by? For Missing the dewfall are The autumn bush clover blooms… |
Takasuke
57
Right
物おもふやどの物とてながむれば露にをれふす庭の萩原
| mono’omou yado no mono tote nagamureba tsuyu ni orefusu niwa no hagiwara | Sunk in gloomy thought is The one who dwells here, I feel, When I gaze upon, Broken and tangled among the dewdrops, The bush clover grove in the grounds… |
Shimotsuke
58
The Left poem’s ‘Missing the dewfall are the autumn bush clover’ sounds pleasant. The Right poem has no faults either, yet the Left should win.
比日之 暁露丹 吾屋前之 芽子乃下葉者 色付尓家里
このころのあかときつゆにわがやどのはぎのしたばはいろづきにけり
| kono koro no akatoki tuyu ni wa ga yado no pagi no sitaba pa irodukinikeri | Around thus time near Dawn, the dewfall on My dwelling’s Bush clover underleaves Has changed their hue! |
Anonymous
From among his autumn poems.
秋の露やたもとにいたくむすぶらんながき夜あかずやどる月影
| aki no tsuyu ya tamoto ni itaku musuburan nagaki yo akazu yadoru tsukikage | Is it the autumn dewfall that Upon my sleeves so heavily Lies? This long night unending is The moonlight’s lodging… |
The Senior Retired Emperor
Composed on the wind bringing fond thoughts of the past, in the autumn after his father, Hidemune, had passed away.
露をだに今は形見の藤ごろもあだにも袖を吹く嵐かな
| tsuyu o dani ima wa katami no fujigoromo ada ni mo sode o fuku arashi kana | Even the dewfall, which Now is a keepsake upon My mourning robes is Transient, so from my sleeves ‘Tis blown by the storming wind! |
Fujiwara no Hideyoshi
I had asked that Master of Discipline Kōkaku be accorded the honour of the role of reader at the ceremony for the recitation of the Vimalakīrti nirdeśa Sutra, and when he was constantly passed over, had complained to the Hosshōji Lay Priest and former Palace Minister; even though he mentioned ‘Shimeji plain’, the following year Kōkaku was once more passed over, so I composed this and sent it to him.
契りおきしさせもが露をいのちにてあはれことしの秋もいぬめり
| tigiri okisi sasemo ga tuyu wo inoti nite aFare kotosi no aki mo inumeri | A promise dropped, as Dewfall on the mugwort— Such is life, so Miserable, this year’s Autumn must arrive. |
Fujiwara no Mototoshi
