On hearing a cuckoo call in a year where there were two First Months.
きかざりきやよひのやまの郭公春くははれるとしはありしかど
kikazariki yayoi no yama no hototogisu haru kuwawareru toshi wa arishikado I have yet to hear In the Third Month mountains A cuckoo, though Spring has been added to This year…
Round Ten
Left (Win)
よひのまぞ人をばまちしほととぎすあくるまでこそねられざりけれ
yoi no ma zo hito oba machishi hototogisu akuru made koso nerarezarikere All night long Did I await him once, but T’is the cuckoo: Even more until the dawn, that Keeps me from my sleep!
Shun’e 19
Right
花はすぎ紅葉はまだき夏山にをりえてもなく時鳥かな
hana wa sugi momiji wa madaki natsuyama ni oriete mo naku hototogisu kana The blossoms are past, and Scarlet leaves have yet to come; In the summer mountains How lively sings The cuckoo!
Kenshō 20
The Left’s poem certainly commands one’s interest.
Round Seventeen
Cuckoos
Left (Tie)
さのみやは心あるべき時鳥ね覚の空に一声もがな
sanomi ya wa kokoro arubeki hototogisu nezame no sora ni hitogoe mogana Not much of The heart can you know, O, cuckoo, but On waking from the sky I would hear a single call.
A Court Lady 33
Right
やはた山むかひの里の郭公しのびしかたの声もかはらず
yawatayama mukai no sato no hototogisu shinobishi kata no koe mo kawarazu By Yawata Mountain, At the estate of Mukai, A cuckoo, Fondly remembers someone With a changeless song!
Lord Ietaka 34
The Left’s poem would seem to fail to reflect the essential meaning of the topic of cuckoos by having it not yet being heard, and thus its overall technique seems dreadful. The Right’s poem also lacks any superlative elements, they must tie.
おなじ枝になきつつをりしほととぎすこゑはかはらぬものとしらずや
onaji e ni nakitsutsu orishi hototogisu koe wa kawaranu mono to shirazu ya On the same branch, Always singing was This cuckoo, too, His song ever unchanging— Do you really not know that?
Prince Atsumichi
かをるかによそふるよりはほととぎすきかばやおなじこゑやしたると
kaoru ka ni yosouru yori wa hototogisu kikaba ya onaji koe ya shitaru to Scenting their fragrance In place of his – rather The cuckoo I would hear, wondering if his call Is just the same…
Izumi Shikibu
Left
One poem missing
Right
夏なれば深草山のほととぎすなくこゑしげくなりまさるなり
natsu nareba fukakusayama no hototogisu naku koe shigeku narimasaru nari When the summer comes, On Fukakusa Mountain, deep within the grasses, The cuckoo Sings his song, lush Beyond all measure.
80
Left
たまくしげ二上山のほととぎす今ぞあけくれなきわたるなる
tamakushige futakamiyama no hototogisu ima zo akekure nakiwataru naru On the jewelled comb of Futakami Mountain The cuckoos Now, indeed, both night and day Do fill with their constant song.
78
Right
時鳥のちのさ月もありとてやながくうづきをすぐしはてつる
hototogisu nochi no satsuki mo ari tote ya nagaku uzuki o sugushihatetsuru O, cuckoo! A further Fifth Month There is, so Leisurely, the Fourth Month Have you completely spent?
79
Left
さくはなのちりつつうかぶみづのおもにいかでうき草ねざしそめけむ
saku hana no chiritsutsu ukabu mizu no omo ni ikade ukikusa nezashi somekemu Blossom blooming and Ever scattering, and floating Upon the surface of the water, So why might the waterweed Begin to put down roots?
76
Right
まつひとはつねならなくにほととぎすおもひのほかになかばうからむ
matsu hito wa tsune naranaku ni hototogisu omoi no hoka ni nakaba ukaramu The one awaiting you is Ever changing, O, cuckoo, but If, my longing you should not meet With your song, how I will hate you!
77
Five poems on Summer—not matched.
Left
いづれをかそれともわかむうのはなのさけるかきねをてらすつきかげ
izure o ka sore tomo wakamu u no hana no sakeru kakine o terasu tsukikage How is it that I might distinguish them: Deutzia flowers Blooming on a brushwood fence, and Shining moonlight?
72
Right
この夏もかはらざりけりはつこゑは習志の岡になくほととぎす
kono natsu mo kawarazarikeri hatsukoe wa narashi no oka ni naku hototogisu This summer, too, Is no different; The first song Upon Narashi Hill is A calling cuckoo.
73
Left
さよふけてなどかなくらむほととぎすたびねのやどをかすひとやなき
sayo fukete nado ka nakuramu hototogisu tabine no yado o kasu hito ya naki Brief night breaks, so Why does he cry so? The cuckoo A lodging on his journey Has no one to lend him!
49
Right (Win)
なつのいけによるべさだめぬうきくさのみづよりほかにゆくかたもなし
natsu no ike ni yorube sadamenu ukikusa no mizu yori hoka ni yuku kata mo nashi Upon the pond in summer No destination has The waterweed, so Other than the water It has no place to go…
Okikaze 50
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'Simply moving and elegant'