Sent when he had returned home from a lady’s house on a day when the snow was falling.
あけぬればくるる物とはしりながらなほうらめしきあさぼらけかな
| akenureba kururu mono to Fa sirinagara naFo uramesiki asaborake kana | Dawn has broken, and That dusk will come I know for certain, but Still, I hate The morning light! |
Fujiwara no Michinobu
Composed on the conception of love at the end of the Third Month.
春はをし人はこよひとたのむればおもひわづらふ今日のくれかな
| Faru Fa wosi Fito Fa koyoi to tanomureba omoFiwazuraFu keFu no kure kana | Regretting the departure of spring, and Tonight, my man Expecting, Wracked with painful thoughts Does today reach its dusk! |
The Minister of the Centre
Left
いまはとてすぎゆく秋のかたみにはかぜのおくれにもみぢをやみん
| ima wa tote sugiyuku aki no katami ni wa kaze no okure ni momiji o ya min | Might now be when Departing autumn’s Keepsake is Presented on the breeze: A glimpse of scarlet leaves? |
41
Right
あきながらとしはくれなん紅葉ばをぬさとちらせる山のみねより
| aki nagara toshi wa kurenan momijiba o nusa to chiraseru yama no mine yori | It’s autumn, so The year has reached its dusk; Scarlet leaves for A garland are made to scatter From the mountain peaks… |
42
Left
みにそへてもたらぬ秋ををしむとてくれん事こそわびしかりけれ
| mi ni soete motaranu aki o oshimu tote kuren koto koso wabishikarikere | It mounts up, Unreliable, autumn Fills me with regret, and That it fades into dusk, indeed, Is truly sad. |
39
Right
もみぢつつしぐれふりいでてゆく秋をみねの朝霧たちもとめなん
| momijitsutsu shigure furi’idete yuku aki o mine no asagiri tachi mo tomenan | Ever marked with autumn hues The showers fall on Autumn as it goes; The morning mist around the peak Arises, then lingers on. |
40
Left
くれぬべきあきををしめばをぐら山みねのもみぢもいろづきにけり
| kurenubeki aki o oshimeba ogurayama mine no momiji mo irozukinikeri | Pass into dusk must Autumn, so I regret when On Ogura Mountain The scarlet leaves on the peak Have taken on deeper hues! |
33
Right
をしめども秋はとまらず女郎花野べにおくれてかれぬばかりを
| oshimedomo aki wa tomarazu ominaeshi nobe ni okurete karenu bakari o | I regret it, yet Autumn will not linger; O, maidenflower, Within the meadows tarry and Simply do not wither away… |
34
Cherry blossom on a distant mountain.
かづらきや高間のさくらながむれば夕ゐる雲に春雨ぞ降る
| kazuraki ya takama no sakura nagamureba yū iru kumo ni harusame zo furu | In Kazuraki When on Takama Mountain’s cherries I gaze From the clouds at the cusp of dusk Falls a springtime shower. |
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’.