From the Poetry Match held during the reign of the Tenryaku Emperor.
しのぶれど色にいでにけりわが恋は物や思ふと人のとふまで
| sinoburedo iro ni idenikeri wa ga koFi Fa mono ya omoFu to Fito no toFu made | I kept it secret, but Passion’s hues will reveal themselves; so Of my love, ‘Is there something on your mind?’ Folk have gone so far to ask… |
Taira no Kanemori
Prince Motoyoshi lived with the daughter of Lord Kanemori, but she was summoned by the Cloistered Emperor and, while she was in service to him, he was unable to meet her, so at the beginning of the year in springtime, he took a branch of cherry blossom, and left it thrust through the doorway of her chamber.
花のいろはむかしながらにみし人の心のみこそうつろひにけれ
| Fana no iro Fa mukasi nagara ni misi Fito no kokoro nomi koso uturoFinikere | The hues of this blossom are Just as long ago, when She I saw them with has Her heart, indeed, Moved elsewhere! |
Prince Motoyoshi
On the conception of hidden love, when he held a poetry match in one hundred rounds at his house, while he was Major Captain of the Left.
もらすなよ雲ゐるみねのはつしぐれ木葉は下にいろかはるとも
| morasu na yo kumo’iru mine no hatsushigure ko no ha wa shita ni iro kawaru tomo | O, don’t drip down, Peak-clinging clouds First shower! For under you the trees’ leaves Will yet change their hues…[i] |
The Regent and Grand Minister
[i] An allusive variation on KKS V: 260.
Left
くれぬべきあきををしめばをぐら山みねのもみぢもいろづきにけり
| kurenubeki aki o oshimeba ogurayama mine no momiji mo irozukinikeri | Pass into dusk must Autumn, so I regret when On Ogura Mountain The scarlet leaves on the peak Have taken on deeper hues! |
33
Right
をしめども秋はとまらず女郎花野べにおくれてかれぬばかりを
| oshimedomo aki wa tomarazu ominaeshi nobe ni okurete karenu bakari o | I regret it, yet Autumn will not linger; O, maidenflower, Within the meadows tarry and Simply do not wither away… |
34
As a poem on willows.
春くれば猶色まさる山しろのときはの杜の青柳のいと
| haru kureba nao iro masaru yamashiro no tokiwa no mori no aoyagi no ito | Spring has come, and Still their hues are beyond fine: In Yamashiro’s Evergreen forests— Pale green threads of willow. |
For a folding screen showing snow falling and clinging to a plum tree.
梅のはな色はそれともわかぬまで風にみだれて雪はふりつつ
| ume no hana iro wa sore tomo wakanu made kaze ni midarete yuki wa furitsutsu | The plum blossoms’ Hue is such that I cannot tell them apart— The wind creates confusion as The snow falls on and on… |
Left (Tie)
むらさきにあふみづなれやかきつばたそこのいろさへかはらざるらむ
| murasaki ni au mizu nare ya kakitsubata soko no iro sae kawararuramu | Violet Suits the water here! Irises The hues beneath Seem to have changed. |
Mitsune
45
Right
ほととぎすこゑのみするはふくかぜのおとはのやまになけばなりけり
| hototogisu koe nomi suru wa fuku kaze no otowa no yama ni nakeba narikeri | A cuckoo’s Call alone upon The gusting wind; Wingbeats sound on Otowa Mountain Where he does sing. |
46
Left (Tie)
はるふかきいろこそなけれやまぶきのはなにこころをまづぞそめつる
| haru fukaki iro koso nakere yamabuki no hana ni kokoro o mazu zo sometsuru | In the depths of spring, Their hues, indeed, are lacking: The kerria Blooms have my heart Dyed first! |
Mitsune
31
Right
かぜふけばおもほゆるかなすみのえのきしのふぢなみいまやさくらむ
| kaze fukeba omohoyuru kana suminoe no kishi no fujinami ima ya sakuramu | When the wind blows—that Is when I wonder if at Suminoe’s Shore the wisteria waves Are blooming now? |
Prince Kaneyuki
32