She had this written as a reply when Middle Counsellor Taira no Korenaka sent her a letter for the first time in a long while.
夢とのみ思ひなりにし世中を何いまさらにおどろかすらん
| yume to nomi omoinarinishi yo no naka o nani imasara ni odorokasuran | Simply as a dream Had I come to think Of us, so Why now of all times Should I be so intrigued? |
The Daughter of Takashina no Narinaka
Topic unknown.
君をのみ思ひねにねし夢なればわが心から見つるなりけり
| kimi wo nomi omoFine ni nesi yume nareba wa ga kokoro kara mituru narikeri | You, alone, it was I loved when I fell asleep and Dreamed of you, but It was my heart’s longing That I did see. |
Mitsune
Topic unknown.
ぬる夢にうつつのうさもわすられておもひなぐさむほどぞはかなき
| nuru yume ni utsutsu no usa mo wasurarete omoinagusamu hodo zo hakanaki | On appearing in a dream, then Reality’s cold cruelties I will forget, and Be comforted For a brief, empty moment. |
Princess Yoshiko, Junior Consort
Composed when people were instructed to compose love poems at the residence of Lord Akisue.
あふと見てうつつのかひはなけれどもはかなき夢ぞいのちなりける
| aFu to mite ututu no kaFi Fa nakeredomo Fakanaki yume zo inoti narikeru | Glimpsing a meeting Upon this reality has no effect At all, yet A brief dream Is my whole life. |
Lord Fujiwara no Akisuke
After I had had various people compose on the scent of plum carried on the breeze.
梅がかをゆめの枕にさそひきてさむるまちける春の山風
| ume ga ka o yume no makura ni sasoikite samuru machikeru haru no yamakaze | The scent of plum To my pillow, where I lay dreaming Was beckoned— Waiting ‘til I awakened did The mountain breeze in springtime. |
Composed on the conception of a pillow scented with orange blossom.
をりしもあれ花たちばなのかをるかなむかしをみつる夢の枕に
| orishi mo are hanatachibana no kaoru kana mukashi o mitsuru yume no makura ni | In days gone by and yet now still Orange blossoms Do I scent! A love long gone I glimpse when Dreaming on my pillow. |
Fujiwara no Kinhira
Left (Win)
うらやまず臥す猪の床はやすくとも歎も形見寢ぬも契りを
| urayamazu fusu i no toko wa yasukutomo nageku mo katami nenu mo chigiri o |
I do not envy The boar lounging in his bed: He may be at ease, yet Grief, too, is a memento; Lying sleepless marks our bond… |
Lord Sada’ie
1061
Right
いかにわれ臥す猪の床に身をかへて夢の程だに契結はん
| ika ni ware fusu i no toko ni mi o kaete yume no hodo dani chigiri musuban |
Somehow I To a boar lounging in his bed Would change myself, and For just a brief dream’s length Would form a bond with you… |
Lord Takanobu
1062
The Gentlemen of the Right state: the initial line of the Left’s poem sounds poor. The sense of the ending, too, is difficult to grasp. The Gentlemen of the Left state: we wonder about the appropriateness of changing oneself into a bed.
In judgement: both Left and Right refer to ‘a boar lounging in his bed’ (fusu i no toko), and it has been mentioned that the initial line of the Left’s poem sounds poor, and that its ending is difficult to grasp. There really are a number of unacceptable aspects to this poem, are there not, so I cannot add any further words to what has been said. The Right’s poem is not suggesting that one change oneself into a bed. It is saying that one should briefly become a boar, that one might dream briefly of love. How can one possibly see the dream of a boar lying asleep? It certainly seems inferior to ‘not envying a lounging boar’.