Original
さよふかくこひするしかのこゑきけばわれさへあやなそでのひづかな
sayo fukaku koisuru shika no koe kikeba ware sae ayana sode no hizu kana Deep within a night so brief, A’loving, the stag’s Cry I hear Even my sleeves, strangely, Never dry at all!
4
きくひとのそでさへひづるしかのねにあきのしぐれのふりでてぞなく
kiku hito no sode sae hizuru shika no ne ni aki no shigure no furidete zo naku Folk hearing, With even their sleeves never drying, At a stag’s bell— An autumn shower Falling with a cry!
5
Only one poem was requested in response this round.
Left
したひもをゆふつけどりのこゑたちてけさのわかれになきぞわびぬる
shitahimo o yūtsukedori no koe tachite kesa no wakare ni naki zo wabinuru Underbelt Tying with the cockerel’s Crow, arising, At this morning’s parting I weep, all forlorn!
34
Right
かぎりとはおもはぬものをあかつきのわかれのとこはおきうかりけり
kagiri to wa omowanu mono o akatsuki no wakare no toko wa oki’ukarikeri My limits I have not reached, I think, but At dawn Parting from your bed, Rising is so wretched.
35
Left
はるのよのあかぬわかれのあかつきはちへのにしきをたつにざりける
haru no yo no akanu wakare no akatsuki wa chie no nishiki o tatsu ni zarikeru After a spring night, Unsatisfied, parting at The dawn, Sewn a thousandfold, the brocade Through which I go!
26
Right
あけぬてふこゑもなみだももろともにうちいづるからにそでぞぬれける
akenu chō koe mo namida mo morotomo ni uchi’izuru kara ni sode zo nurekeru ‘Tis dawn, say Birdsongs and tears Both, Bursting out, so My sleeves are soaked!
27
Round Eight
Left
風さむみゆふかげ草にかくろへてはたおる虫の声聞ゆなり
kaze samumi yūkage kusa ni kakuroete hataorumushi no koe kikoyu nari Chill the wind Upon the evening grasses, from Whence, concealed, The crickets’ Cries I hear.
Chikafusa 15
Right
誰がためとあやめも見えぬ夕ざれにはたおる虫の声聞ゆらん
ta ga tame to ayame mo mienu yūzare ni hataorumushi no koe kikoyuran For whose sake Amidst the gloam Of eventide, might The crickets’ Cries I hear?
Lady Hȳoe 16
At present, ‘Amidst the gloam / Of eventide’ appears to have a bit more conception than ‘the evening grasses, from / Whence, concealed, / The crickets’.
Partings at Dawn
Left
ひとしれぬわがみとおもへばあかつきのとりとともにやなきてかへらん
hito shirenu wa ga mi to omoeba akatsuki no tori to tomo ni ya nakite kaeran No one knew Of my sorry state, I thought, so With the dawn Birds’ chorus should I, Sobbing, make my way home?
20
Right
ひとしれずあかでわかるるあかつきにうちなきそふるをしのこゑかな
hito shirezu akade wakaruru akatsuki ni uchinaki souru oshi no koe kana No one knows How unsatisfied I am to part With the dawn Sobs overlaying The cries of the mandarin ducks!
21
Left
ひとしれずねざめのこひはよぶこどりよぶかきこゑはきくひともなし
hito shirezu nezame no koi wa yobukodori yobukaki koe wa kiku hito mo nashi Unknown to all I awake and yearn: A songbird Late at night sings With no one listening at all.
3
Right
おもひやるこころしゆかばさよふけておきゐてこふとつぐべきものを
omoiyaru kokoro shi yukaba sayo fukete oki’ite kou to tsugubeki mono o If, steadfast, My heart but was, then As brief night wore on I’d arise and my love Be able to announce, but…
4
The End of Autumn.
Left
琴の音に声よりあはせなく虫の秋のはつるはえこそしのばね
koto no ne ni koe yori awase naku mushi no aki no hatsuru wa e koso shinobane A zither’s strains Blended with the songs The insects cry, That autumn is ending They truly cannot recall!
19
Right
長月の菊にぞ人をたのみつる花ひらくとも心うつるな
nagatsuki no kiku zo hito o tanomitsuru hana hiraku tomo kokoro utsuru na In the Longest Month A chrysanthemum, in a man Has placed its trust— The bloom may open, yet O, change not your heart!
20
Love
Left
秋萩におく白露の消えかへり人をこひしとおもふころかな
akihagi ni oku shiratsuyu no kiekaeri hito o koishi to omou koro kana In autumn upon the bush clover Fall silver dewdrops, Vanishing away, with Her I loved— My feelings in those days!
17[i]
Right
寒き夜はさごろも雁の声きけばかへすがへすぞ人はこひしき
samuki yo wa sagoromo kari no koe kikeba kaesugaesu zo hito wa koishiki On a night so chill, In a scanty robe, when the goose Cries I hear, Again and yet again Do I long for her…
18
[i] This poem is included in Shinshūishū (XII: 1011), with the headnote, ‘From the poetry match at Tsurayuki’s house’. A variant of it also appears in some Mandaishū (XV: 2458) texts; in others the version provided is as in the contest: From the poetry match held when Tsuryuki was in Suo province. 秋萩におく白露の澄みかへり人をこひしとおもふころかな aki hagi ni / oku shiratsuyu no / sumikaeri / hito o koishi to / omou koro kana ‘In autumn upon the bush-clover / Fall silver dewdrops / Ever clear / Her I loved— / My feelings in those days’.
From a poetry match held by Tsurayuki when he was Suō province in Tengyō 2 – The beginning of Summer.
いつしかとなつになるらしうつせみのこゑもあはれになきはじむらし
itsu shika to natsu ni narurashi utsusemi no koe mo aware ni nakihajimurashi All of a sudden Summer has come, it seems: Cicada shell Songs, sadly Seem to sound in the air.
Anonymous
Composed and sent when he heard that Inspector Kinmichi had had a number of people compose poems on the bush warbler at his residence.
春霞たちへだつれど鶯の声はかくれぬものとしらずや
harugasumi tachihedatsuredo uguisu no koe wa kakurenu mono to shirazu ya The haze of spring Arising, interferes, yet The warbler Is unable to conceal his cry— I wonder if he know it?
Former Consultant Tsunemori
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