Mountain Cherries
Round Nine
Left (Tie)
人心うつりはてぬる花の色に昔ながらの山の名もをし
| hitogokoro utsurihatenuru hana no iro ni mukashi nagara no yama no na mo oshi | As a human heart All faded are The blossoms’ hues upon Ever unchanged Nagara Mountain—even its name brings regret.[1] |
A Court Lady
17
Right
なぞもかく思ひそめけむ桜花やまとしたかく成りはつるまで
| nazo mo kaku omoisomekemu sakurabana yama toshi takaku narihatsuru made | Why is it that I seem so Absorbed in thought of Cherry blossom that The mountain higher Has grown? [2] |
Lord Ietaka
18
The Right’s poem mentioning ‘Grief as hard as felling trees upon a mountain higher’ has charming diction. As for the Left’s poem, while I have heard it strongly stated that using a ‘human heart’ is not diction that should be composed with these days, as this is not a poem for public circulation, for the moment I make this a tie.
[1] An allusive variation on KKS XV: 797.
[2] An allusive variation on KKS XIX: 1056.