Round Fourteen
Left (Win)
七夕のわかるる今朝のたもとにや秋の白露おきはじむらん
| tanabata no wakaruru kesa no tamoto ni ya aki no shiratsuyu okihajimuran | The Weaver Maid Parts from him this morn, Upon her sleeves Autumn’s silver dewdrops Must have begun to fall… |
Shun’e
27
Right
秋へてもはてなき中をみるをりは七夕つめぞうらやまれける
| aki hete mo hatenaki naka o miru ori wa tanabatatsume zo urayamarekeru | Though the autumns pass, When on their endless bond She ponders, Even the Weaver Maid Must despise her lot! |
Kenshō
28
Round Seven
Left (Tie)
けさはまたそれともみえず淡路島霞のしたに浦風ぞ吹く
| kesa wa mata sore tomo miezu awajishima kasumi no shita ni urakaze zo fuku | This morning, once again, I cannot that clearly see Awaji Isle, but Beneath the haze The winds are blowing o’er the beach! |
Chikanari, Ranked without Office
13
Right
春霞なびく朝けの塩風にあらぬけぶりや浦に立つらん
| harugasumi nabiku asake no shiokaze ni aranu keburi ya ura ni tatsuran | Spring haze Trails over with the morn— Salt-fire breezes It is not, yet does smoke Seem to rise across the bay? |
Ie’kiyo, Ranked without Office
14
Both Left and Right don’t seem bad. I make them a tie.
[One of] Ten poems on winter.
やどもなし今朝わびしらにこえきつるあらちの山の雪のゆふ暮
| yado mo nashi kesa wabishira ni koekitsuru arachi no yama no yuki no yūgure | Lacking any home This morning forlorn and lonely Have I come to cross through Arachi Mountain’s Twilight snows. |
Jien
Topic unknown.
けさはしもおきけんかたもしらざりつおもひ出づるぞきえてかなしき
| kesa Fa simo okiken kata mo sirazaritu omoFi’iduru zo kiete kanasiiki | This morning of all mornings To where I headed on arising I paid no mind at all, for Filling my thoughts was passion’s Fading sadness! |
Ōe no Chisato
Spring
Composed on the First day of the First Month
今朝みれば山もかすみて久かたのあまのはらより春は来にけり
| kesa mireba yama mo kasumite hisakata no ama no hara yori haru wa kinikeri | Gazing out this morning The mountains are all hazed From the eternal Plains of Heaven[i] Spring has come, at last! |
1
[i] The reference to the ‘plains of Heaven’ (ama no hara 天の原) being ‘eternal’ (hisakata 久方) implies that the poet has been long awaiting the arrival of spring—a nuance which I have attempted to capture with the final ‘at last’.
Left
| Mibu no Tadamine | Ariwara no Motokata | Taira no Sadafun |
Right
| Sakanoue no Korenori | Ki no Tsurayuki | Ōshikōchi no Mitsune |
The Beginning of Spring
Left (Tie)
はるたつといふばかりにやみよしののやまもかすみてけさはみゆらむ
| haru tatsu to iu bakari ni ya miyoshino no yama mo kasumite kesa wa miyuramu | Spring is here They simply say, but Is fair Yoshino Mountain, too, all hazed In view this morning, I wonder? |
Tadamine
1
Right
はるたちてなほふるゆきはむめのはなさくほどもなくちるかとぞみる
| haru tachite nao furu yuki wa mume no hana saku hodo mo naku chiru ka to zo miru | Spring is here, yet Still the snow falls—does, as Plum blossoms’ Brief flowering then Scattering, it truly seem? |
Mitsune
2
Orchids
Left
はるきてはきのふばかりをあさみどりなべてけさこくのはなりにけり
| haru kite wa kinō bakari o asamidori nabete kesa koku no wa narikeri | Spring’s coming means, though Yesterday was simply Pale green, Everywhere, this morning deeper-hued Have the meadows become. |
Tsurayuki
19
Right
はるさめにしべゆるぶらし春のくさこくのはなべてさきみちにけり
| harusame ni shibe yuruburashi haru no kusa koku no wa nabete sakimichinikeri | In the springtime rain, The flowers’ hearts seem loosened, so With spring plants’ hues Deepening, the meadows everywhere Have filled with blossom. |
20
Left
あきごとにさきはくれどもをみなへしけふをまつとのなにこそありけれ
| aki goto ni saki wa kuredomo ominaeshi kyō o matsu to no na ni koso arikere | Every single autumn Does her time to bloom arrive, yet This maidenflower Has been waiting for this day Or so the rumour goes! |
5[1]
Right
さやかにもけさはみえずやをみなへしきりのまがきにたちかくれつつ
| sayaka ni mo kesa wa miezu ya ominaeshi kiri no magaki ni tachikakuretsutsu | Clearly This morning I cannot glimpse That maidenflower In the mists along the brushwood fence Ever does she hide herself away. |
6[2]
[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 518
[2] Shinsen man’yōshū 540