kuraiyama mine no sakura o kazashitemo hito wa mono o ya nao omouramu
Even should I Mount Kurai’s Cherry blossom from the peak Wear in my hair, As a man would such gloomy Thoughts still fill me?
Lord Sane’ie 109
Right
ありてこそあらぬすがたになりもせめうしとていかがみをばなぐべき
arite koso aranu sugata ni nari mo seme ushi tote ikaga mi oba nagubeki
I live on, so My former state I have abandoned; How can I all the cruelties Cast from my flesh?
Atsuyori 110
The Left’s configuration and conception are truly charming. The writer is troubled, isn’t he! In particular, the configuration of ‘As a man would such gloomy / Thoughts still fill me?’ sounds especially pleasant. For the Right, the tone of ‘How can I all the cruelties’ also seems pleasant, but still, I make the Left the winner.
aware to ya kami mo omowamu suminoe no fukaku tanomi o kakuru mi nareba
‘How sad,’ does The God, too, think? For at Suminoe Deep in devotions Am I entangled…
Lord Tsunemori 105
Right
たのみつるこのひとむらの人ごとにちとせをゆづれすみよしのまつ
tanomitsuru kono hitomura no hito goto ni chitose o yuzure sumiyoshi no matsu
Devoted are This group of folk, so To each and every one Grant a thousand years, O, pines of Sumiyoshi!
Lord Yorisuke 106
The poem of the Left, saying ‘deep in devotions’ and suchlike, is pleasant, I have to say. Does the poem of the Right’s ‘this group of folk’ refer to the current poets or to the speaker’s own household? Well, whichever it is, the conception of devotion does not appear to be slight, but again I say this is a tie.
The Chrysanthemum Match held during the Reign of the Daigo Emperor[1]
Topic
Poets
秋すぎてのこれるきくはかみな月くもをわけてぞにほふべらなる
aki sugite nokoreru kiku wa kaminazuki kumo o wakete zo niouberanaru
Autumn passes, and Lingering chrysanthemums In the Godless Month Seem to break apart the clouds With their glow.
His Majesty’s Composition 1
霜がれになりはてぬともきくの花をる人たれととはばこたへむ
shimogare ni narehatenu tomo kiku no hana oru hito tare to towaba kotaemu
Completely burned by frost They may have become, yet These chrysanthemum blooms, but Who was it plucked you, Should you ask, I wonder, would they reply?
