Mist
Left (Tie)
うすしともみゆるものからさほやまのみねのあきぎりあきたちにけり
| usushi to mo miyuru mono kara saoyama no mine no akigiri aki tachinikeri | Faint Does it appear, so with Mount Sao’s Peak in autumn mists Autumn has come! |
Taira no Tōmi
13
Right
あさぎりはたつともみえずいとどしきをぐらのやまのふもととおもへば
| asagiri wa tatsu mo miezu itodoshiki ogura no yama no fumoto to omoeba | The morning mists Arise, and hidden Even more are Gloomy Mount Ogura’s Foothills… |
Taira no Sanenao
14
Original
きみしなほかくしかよはばいそのかみふるきみやこもふりじとぞおもふ
| kimi shi nao kaku shi kayowaba isonokami furuki miyako mo furiji to zo omou | O, my Lady, Should you thus ever visit Isonokami, where at Furu, the ancient capital, too, Never stales, I feel![1] |
Mitsune
22
Left (Win)
かよふともしられじものをふるさとはかすがのやまのふもとならねば
| kayou tomo shirareji mono o furusato wa kasuga no yama no fumoto naraneba | To ever visit there is something Folk might not know, for The ancient capital Among Kasuga Mountain’s Foothills does not lie… |
23
Right
はるごとにきてはみるともいそのかみふりにしさとのなにはかはらじ
| haru goto ni kite wa miru tomo isonokami furinishi sato no nani wa kawaraji | Every single spring I come to gaze, yet At Isonokami, Furu’s ancient capital Does nothing ever change? |
24
[1] A variant of this poem occurs in Mitsune’s personal collection: When the Priestly Emperor’s Rokujō Lady of the Bedchamber visited Kasuga, I met and conversed with Lord Tadafusa, the Governor of Yamato, and he mentioned that he had been asked to compose eight quality poems in the name of his province, so I sent him two of my own. The date was the 7th day of the Third Month, Engi 21 [17.4.921]. きくになほかくしかよはばいそのかみふるきみやこもふりしとぞおもふ kiku ni nao / kaku shi kayowaba / isonokami / furuki Miyako mo / furishi to zo omou ‘O, I hear that / Should you ever thus visit / Isonokami, where at / Furu, the ancient capital, too, / Has grown old, I feel.’(Mitsune-shū 323)
Round Sixteen
Left
桜さく吉野の山の山風にふもとをこめて花にほふらし
| sakura saku yoshino no yama no yamakaze ni fumoto o komete hana niourashi | Cherries bloom In the mountains of Yoshino, where The mountain breezes Make even the foothills Aglow with blossom. |
Tomoshige
31
Right (Win)
花の色はあまりにけりなつくばねのこのもかのもにかかる白雲
| hana no iro wa amarinikeri na tsukubane no kono mo kano mo ni kakaru shirakumo | The blossoms’ hues Have overflowed[1] The peak of Tsukuba— Near and far, both, Draped with clouds of white.[2] |
Dharma Master Zenshin
32
The Left’s poem has no faults worth mentioning and, furthermore, is not particularly remarkable. The Right’s poem refers to the peak of Tsukuba; while this is generally thought of as a mountain, it is not necessarily limited to mountains and there are, I think, a bunch of instances where it means a place with lots of trees; however, because here it also conveys the conception of mountains, from the use of pleasant poetic technique, the Right should win.
[1] Zenshin is clearly referencing Ono no Komachi’s famous: Topic unknown. 花の色はうつりにけりないたづらにわが身世にふるながめせしまに hana no iro wa / utsurinikeri na / itazura ni / wa ga mi yo ni furu / nagame seshi ma ni ‘The blossoms’ hues / Have already faded away, / While in idle thoughts / My life goes by, / As I watch the long rains fall.’ (KKS II: 113).
[2] An allusive variation on: Eastern poem: a poem from Hitachi. 筑波嶺のこのもかのもに影はあれど君がみかげにます陰はなし tsukuba ne no / kono mo kano mo ni / kage aredo / kimi ga mikage ni / masu kage wa nashi ‘On the peak of Tsukuba / Here and there / Lie shadows, yet / To your shadow, my love (my Lord) / They cannot compare!’ Anonymous (KKS XX: 1095).
Composed on the conception of falling leaves.
たつた山ふもとの里はとほけれどあらしのつてにもみぢをぞみる
| tatutayama Fumoto no sato Fa toFokeredo arasi no tute ni momidi wo zo miru | Tatsuta Mountain From this estate in the foothills Lies far away, yet The storm wind’s actions mean I see scarlet leaves! |
Hōribe no Narinaka
Round Nine
Left
川ぎりのふもとをこめて立ちぬれば空にぞ秋の山はみえける
| kawagiri no fumoto o komete tachinureba sora ni zo aki no yama wa miekeru | The river mists Around the foothills Have risen, so ‘Tis in the skies that autumn On the mountains is revealed. |
Fukayabu
17
Right
年毎の紅葉ばながす立田川みなとや秋のとまりなるらん
| toshigoto no momijiba nagasu tatsutagawa minato ya aki no tomari naruran | Every single year Scarlet leaves wash down The Tatsuta River; Is it at the mouth that autumn Might find its port? |
18
On summer trees, when His Majesty, the Former Emperor, ordered him to produce a thirty poem sequence.
虹のたつふもとの杉は雲にきえて峰よりはるるゆふだちのあめ
| niji no tatsu fumoto no sugi wa kumo ni kiete mine yori haruru yūdachi no ame | A rainbow rises above Cedars in the foothills, Vanishing in the clouds Clearing from the peaks, With an evening shower of rain. |
Former Senior Assistant Governor General of Dazai Toshikane
