toshi goto ni kitsutsu wa ga miru sakurabana kasumi mo ima wa tachi na kakushi so
Every single year I hear of and gaze upon Cherry blossom: The haze, too, now Arising, don’t hide them!
Nakatsukasa
15
The Left’s poem is extremely charming – that really is how things are.
The Right’s poem: where is it that you always hear of and then see them? This is a bit rough. There’s also no reason to include the expression ‘now’ here. Thus, the Left wins.
[1] A variant of this poem was later included in Shūishū (I: 66).
yukusue no chitose o komete harugasumi tatsuta no yama ni matsukaze zo fuku
The future for A thousand years contained within The haze of spring: On the mount of Tatsuta The wind blows through the pines![i]
661
[i] See: Topic unknown. ゆかむ人こん人しのべ春がすみたつたの山のはつさくら花 yukamu hito / kon hito shinobi / harugasumi / tatsuta no yama no / hatsu sakurabana ‘Folk who go / And those who come, secretly do dwell upon / The haze of spring / Over Mount Tatsuta’s / First flowering cherry blossoms.’ Middle Counsellor Yakamochi (Shinkokinshū I: 85)
