When the autumn wind was blowing coldly, around the time his wife passed away.
思ひきや秋のよ風のさむけきにいもなきとこにひとりねむとは
| omoFiki ya aki no yokaze no samukeki ni imo naki toko ni Fitori nemu to Fa | How unexpected is The autumn night’s wind, So cold upon My bed where, without my darling I must sleep alone. |
Senior Assistant Governor General Kuni’akira
Original
ひとりぬるよをながづきのはなすすきそよともあきのかぜぞこたふる
| hitori nuru yo o nagazuki no hanasusuki soyo to mo aki no kaze zo kotauru | Sleeping alone, How long the night in the Longest Month: The blossoming silver grass Whispers, ‘So it is,’ with the autumn Wind replying! |
45
Left
こたふともたのまざらなむはなすすきふくあきかぜのさだめなければ
| kotau tomo tanomazaranamu hanasusuki fuku akikaze no sadame nakereba | It may reply, but I would not have you trust, for The blossoming silver grass Blowing in the autumn wind is Fickle, indeed… |
46
Right
そよとだにしりてこたふるかぜしあらばなにかながきよおもひわぶらん
| soyo to dani shirite kotauru kaze shi araba nanika nagaki yo omoiwaburan | If, ‘So it is,’ You know and reply, O, wind, then Why, all the long night through Do my thoughts torment me so? |
47
Original
おとにのみききわたりつるあきのよのながさをひとりねてぞしりぬる
| oto ni nomi kikiwataritsuru aki no yo no nagasa o hitori nete zo shirinuru | By word alone Had I heard of Autumn nights’ Length, but alone and Sleeping did I understand it! |
42
Left (Win)
あきのよのながきにそへてねざめつつつきせぬものをおもふころかな
| aki no yo no nagaki ni soete nezametsutsu tsukisenu mono o omou koro kana | To an autumn night’s Length, add Being awake, then Inexhaustible is the gloom Filling your thoughts! |
43
Right
ひとりねであかぬときにもあきのよのながきこころをしらぬものかは
| hitori nede akanu toki ni mo aki no yo no nagaki kokoro o shiranu mono ka wa | Sleepless alone When unsatisfied, too, An autumn night’s Length, the heart Knows well, doesn’t it! |
44
Round Eleven
Left (Both Judges – Tie)
こけのむす岩ねに残る八重ぎくはや千代さくとも君ぞみるべき
| koke no musu iwane ni nokoru yaegiku wa yachiyo saku tomo kimi zo mirubeki | Choked with moss are The crags where linger Eightfold chrysanthemums: E’en were they eight thousand ages a’bloom My Lord would have beheld them, no doubt! |
Lady Shinano
45
Right
霜がれに我ひとりとや白菊の色をかへても人にみすらん
| shimogare ni ware hitori to ya shiragiku no iro o kaetemo hito ni misuran | ‘Burned by frost ‘Tis me alone!’ thinks A white chrysanthemum, Changing hue To show to folk, for sure. |
Lord Tokimasa
46
Toshiyori states: I wonder if there is a poem as precedent for chrysanthemums lingering beneath moss-covered crags? If not, it’s a very crude expression. The ending of the poem is antiquated, too. As for the second poem ‘“Tis me alone!” thinks’ does not sound satisfactory. The assembled company settled the matter of the final ‘folk’, so I must make this a tie.
Mototoshi states: whether they are placed by a brushwood fence, or at the base of a crag, chrysanthemums feel like pines. As for the Right, having a chrysanthemum seem to think ‘‘tis me alone’ is speculative—had it been something like ‘this bloom opens’ then it would have been the poet’s thoughts. Neither of these is of quality to win or lose, so I make them a tie.
Composed when he had gone to the residence of Narisuke, the Chief Priest of Kamo, when drunk, was sorrowing that he had yet to be promoted.
もみぢするかつらのなかにすみよしのまつのみひとりみどりなるかな
| momidisuru katura no naka ni sumiyosi no matu no mi Fitori midori naru kana | Among the scarlet-leaved Katsura, Sumiyoshi’s Solitary pinecone Is green! |
Kunimoto, the Governor of Tsu
Round Ten
Left (Tie)
夜もすがら妻こふるまにさをしかのめさへあはでや鳴きあかすらん
| yomosugara tsuma kouru ma ni saoshika no me sae awade ya naki’akasuran | All night long, Yearning for his mate, Does the stag Fail to close his eyes, Belling until the dawn? |
Mikawa
43
Right
独のみみねのをしかのなくこゑにあはれ吹きそふ風の音かな
| hitori nomi mine no oshika no naku koe ni aware fukisou kaze no oto kana | A single, solitary, Stag from the peak Belling out Laces sadness into the gusting Sound of the wind! |
Kojijū
44
The Left’s ‘fail to close his eyes’ is a commonly utilised viewpoint, while the Right’s ‘lacing sadness into the gusts’ is unsatisfactory—simply ‘laced’ would be preferable. Nevertheless, neither of these are particularly significant faults, so these should tie.
Composed on the moon.
玉垂之 小簾之間通 独居而 見験無 暮月夜鴨
たまだれの をすのまとほし ひとりゐて みるしるしなき ゆふづくよかも
| tamadare no wosu no matoposi pitori wite miru sirusinaki yupudukuyo kamo | Hung with jewels The blinds’ gaps reveal Me sitting here alone How pointless to be gazing out At the rising moon tonight! |
Anonymous
When the Lay Priest Regent came to call and sent in to say that he was going to go away unhappy, because she had been slow in opening the gate.
なげきつつひとりぬるよのあくるまはいかに久しき物とかはしる
| nagekitutu Fitori nuru yo no akuru ma Fa ika ni Fisasiki mono to ka wa shiru | Ever grieving, Sleeping solo all night until The gates of dawn do open: What an eternity that is— I wonder if you know! |
The Mother of Michitsuna, Major Captain of the Right
いまよりはなでておほさむをみなへしときあるあきにあふとおもへば
| ima yori wa nadete ōsamu ominaeshi toki aru aki ni au to omoeba | From this point on With gentle caresses will I raise This maidenflower, That an auspicious autumn She would meet—I thought… |
Nochikata
31
あきぎりにゆくへやまどふをみなへしはかなくのべにひとりほのめく
| akigiri ni yukue ya madou ominaeshi hakanaku nobe ni hitori honomeku | In the autumn mists Has she lost her way? A maidenflower Fleetingly in the meadows Did I faintly glimpse alone… |
Susugu
32
