Orchids
Left
おぼつかなあきくるごとにふぢばかまたがためにとかつゆのそむらん
| obotsukana aki kuru goto ni fujibakama ta ga tame ni toka tsuyu no somuran | How strange, that Whenever autumn comes Grow orchids— For whose sake, I wonder, Does the dewfall dye them? |
9
Right
おくしもにいくしほそめてふぢばかまいまはかぎりとさきはじむらん
| oku shimo ni iku shio somete fujibakama ima wa kagiri to sakihajimuran | The dewfall with Many dippings dyes The orchids— Now that all is done Might they begin to bloom. |
10
Autumn
Round Seven
Left
秋山はからくれなゐに成りにけりいくしほしぐれふりてそめけん
| akiyama wa karakurenai ni narinikeri iku shio shigure furite someken | The autumn mountains To Cathay scarlet Have turned; How many dippings with drizzle Have fallen to dye them so? |
13[1]
Right (Win)
秋きぬとめにはさやかにみえねども風の音にぞおどろかれぬる
| aki kinu to me ni wa sayaka ni mienedomo kaze no oto ni zo odorokarenuru | That autumn has come With my eyes, clearly, I cannot see, yet The sound of the wind Has startled me. |
Fujiwara no Toshiyuki 14[2]
[1] Shokugosenshū VII: 429
[2] This poem was particularly highly evaluated and so is included in numerous other anthologies (Kokin rokujō I: 125), exemplary collections (Shinsen waka 2) and senka awase – contests assembled from prior poems (Shunzei sanjū roku nin uta’awase 61; Jidai fudō uta’awase 49).