あまのはらふりさけみればますかがみきよき月よに雁鳴きわたる
| ama no hara furisakemireba masukagami kiyoki tsukiyo ni kari nakiwataru | When, upon the plain of Heaven I upwards turn my gaze, Across the clear mirror of A pure moonlit night The geese go crying as they cross. |

Round Twelve
Left (Tie)
あらし吹くまくずが原に鳴く鹿は恨みてのみや妻をこふらん
| arashi fuku makuzu ga hara ni naku shika wa uramite nomi ya tsuma o kouran | Storm winds blow Across the arrowroot upon the plain Where bells a stag— Might it be with bitterness, alone, that He yearns for a mate? |
Shun’e
47
Right
山里は妻こひかぬる鹿の音にさもあらぬ我もねられざりけり
| yamazato wa tsuma koikanuru shika no ne ni sa mo aranu ware mo nerarezarikeri | In a mountain retreat, Filled with too much yearning for his mate A stag bells out— ‘Tis not true of me, yet Still I cannot sleep. |
Lay Priest Master
48
The Left’s stag’s bell seeming to despise the arrowroot field and the Right’s inability to sleep on hearing a stag belling at a mountain retreat are both evocative of lonely sadness and neither sounds at all inferior to the other in the depths of the emotion they convey, so I find myself quite unable to distinguish between them.




なほたのめしめぢがはらのさせもぐさ我がよの中にあらむかぎりは
| nao tanome shimeji ga hara no sasemogusa wa ga yo no naka ni aran kagiri wa | Yet trust in me! For while On Shimeji plain The mugwort smoulders I, within this mundane world Will ever be… |
This poem is said to have been recited by the Kiyomizu Kannon.

Composed on the conception of the Song of the Everlasting Woe.
おもひかねわかれし野べをきてみればあさぢが原に秋かぜぞふく
| omoFikane wakaresi nobe wo kitemireba asadi ga hara ni akikaze zo Fuku | Unable to bear my longing To the meadows where we parted Have I come and fixed my gaze, but Across the cogon grass upon the plain Indeed, the autumn wind is blowing. |
Minamoto no Michinari

Fresh herbs in the snow.
わかなつむ衣手ぬれてかた岡のあしたのはらにあは雪ぞふる
| wakana tsumu koromode nurete kataoka no ashita no hara ni awayuki zo furu | Picking fresh herbs, My sleeves are soaked, for In Kataoka Upon the plain of Ashita Falls a froth of snow. |

Left (Win)
われききてひとにはつげむほととぎすおもふもしるくまづここになけ
| ware kikite hito ni wa tsugeku hototogisu omou shiruku mazu koko ni nake | I listen, and To folk will tell, O, cuckoo, so Where I am lost in thoughts of you, Sing here first! |
Mitsune
47
Right
かたをかのあしたのはらをとよむまでやまほととぎすいまぞなくなる
| kataoka no ashita no hara o toyomu made yamahototogisu ima zo nakunaru | Until in Kataoka The plain of Ashita Does resound The mountain cuckoos Are singing now! |
48
When ‘Until in Kataoka / The plain of Ashita / Does resound’ had been recited, His Majesty laughed, saying, ‘It would be impossible for it to resound,’ so the final part of the poem was not recited and it lost.
Spring
Left
春のたつ霞の衣うらもなく年を経てこそ花の散りけれ
| haru no tatsu kasumi no koromo ura mo naku toshi o hete koso hana no chirikere | Spring does sew A robe of haze Without an underlay, The year passes by in A scattering of blossom |
1
春の野の雪間をわけていつしかと君がためとぞ若菜摘みつる
| haru no no no yuki ma o wakete itsushika to kimi ga tame to zo wakana tsumitsuru | Across the springtime meadows Do I forge between the snows, Eagerly, so eagerly, For you, my Lord, Have I gathered fresh herbs! |
2
春霞かすみこめたる山里はこほりとくともかげはみえじを
| harugasumi kasumi kometaru yamazato wa kōri toku tomo kage wa mieji o | The haze of spring Blurs all around A mountain retreat, Even were the ice to melt I could see no sign of it! |
3
Right
梅枝にきゐる鶯年毎に花の匂ひをあかぬ声する
| ume ga e ni ki’iru uguisu toshigoto ni hana no nioi o akanu koesuru | Upon the plum tree’s branches Has come to rest the warbler; Every single year, that Of the blossoms’ scent He cannot get his fill he sings. |
4
桜色に花さく雨はふりぬとも千しほぞそめてうつろふなそで
| sakurairo ni hana saku ame wa furinu tomo chishio zo somete utsurou na sode | Cherry-coloured Blossoms flower, as the rain Falls on, yet Dyed a thousand times Fade not, o, my sleeves! |
5
青柳のいとはるばると緑なる行末までも思ひこそやれ
| aoyagi no ito harubaru to midori naru yukusue made mo omoi koso yare | The willow’s Branches dangle lengthily So green Right to the very end Will I fondly think of you. |
6