Composed on the conception of summer love, when the Regent and Palace Minister held a poetry contest at his residence.
おもひあれば袖にほたるをつつみてもいはばや物をとふ人はなし
omoi areba sode ni hotaru o tsutsumite mo iwaba ya mono o tou hito wa nashi I am filled with passion’s fire, but Even should my sleeves fireflies Wrap up, ‘What do you ponder on?’— There’s no one to enquire of me…[1]
Monk Jakuren
Created with Soan .
[1] An allusive variation on Gosenshū IV: 209 ; and a poem which Kenshō cites in his judgement of the poems in Round 1310 of Sengohyakuban uta’awase 千五百番歌合 (‘Poetry Contest in 1500 Rounds’): あめふればのきのたま水つぶつぶといはばやものを心ゆくまで ame fureba / noki no tamamizu / tsubutsubu to / iwaba ya mono o / kokoro yuku made ‘The rain falls and / Jewelled droplets from my eaves / Drip one by one: / Should I ponder on that / Until my heart is eased?’
Regretting the Day of the Rat
Left
むねのひををしもぬかねばみだれおつるなみだのたまにかつぞけちつる
mune no hi o o shimo nukaneba midare’otsuru namida no tama ni katsu zo kechitsuru The fire within my breast Will not thread upon a string, but My disorderly dripping Gemstone tears will Yet extinguish it.
Tsurayuki 23
Right (Win)
くらきよにともすほたるのむねのひををしも とけたるたまかとぞ見る
kuraki yo ni tomosu hotaru no mune no hi o o shimo toketaru tama ka zo zo miru On a night so dark, The kindled fireflies of The fire within my breast; Loosened from their string As scattered gemstones they appear.
Tadamine 24
The Day of the Rat (ne no hi 子日)
Left
ほのぼのとみねのひ のまづさしつればむすばぬはるのゆきぞとけける
honobono to mine no hi no mazu sashitsureba musubanu haru no yuki zo tokekeru Faintly, Upon the peaks the sun first Shines, then Not fully frozen, the spring Snow melts.
Tsurayuki 1
Right (Win)
かたこひをするがのふじのやまよりもむねのひ のまづもえまさるかな
katakoi o suruga no fuji no yama yori mo mune no hi no mazu moemasaru kana In love and unrequited, More than Suruga’s Fuji Mountain does The fire in my breast, first Burn all the greater!
Tomonori 2
'Simply moving and elegant'