しら露はわきてもおかじをみなへし心からにや色のそむらむ
shiratsuyu wa wakite mo okaji ominaeshi kokoro kara ni ya iro no somuramu | Silver dewdrops Fall where they will, so Surely, ’tis the maidenflower’s Own heart that Stains her with such hues? |
Michinaga
His Majesty, Former Emperor Yōzei, held a match on the topic of ‘Love and Summer Insects’.
Left (Tie)
いたづらにみはなるてへどなつむしのおもひはえこそはなれざりけれ
itazura ni mi hanarute hedo natsumushi no omoi wa e koso hanarezarikere | Pointlessly Did I spend my days apart from you, yet As the fireflies, The burning of my passionate thoughts I could not leave behind! |
1
Right
みをすててひとつおもひにこがれたるこころぞなつのむしにまされる
mi o sutete hitotsu omoi ni kogaretaru kokoro zo natsu no mushi ni masareru | Abandoning all restraint, But one fiery passion Chars My heart—the fire Flies does it exceed! |
2
Left (Tie)
あふことのきみにたえにしわがみよりいくらのなみだながれいでぬらむ
au koto no kimi ni taenishi wa ga mi yori ikura no namida nagare’idenuramu | My meetings with You, my lord, have ceased, and From my flesh What a torrent of tears Flow out! |
Ise
59
Right
きみこひのあまりにしかばしのぶれどひとのしるらんことのわびしさ
kimi koi no amari nishikaba shinoburedo hito no shiruran koto no wabishiki | Loving you Beyond all measure, I kept it secret, yet That folk seem to know Is a cause of heartache. |
Tsurayuki
60
On hearing His Highness, the Prince of the Right remark in irritation that the Left’s poem had appealed to His Majesty’s heart, His Majesty composed
ゆきかへりちどりなくなるはまゆふのこころへだてておもふものかは
yukikaeri chidori naku naru hamayū no kokoro hedatete omou mono ka wa | Going back and forth Plovers cry from The beach among the spider lilies Do their hearts distinguish Do you think? |
His Majesty
61
Left (Tie)
たれによりおもひくだくるこころぞはしらぬぞひとのつらさなりける
tare ni yori omoi’kudakuru kokoro zo wa shiranu zo hito no tsurasa narikeru | For who is it that Love should distraught make My heart? That she realises not reveals Her cruelty! |
Mitsune
53
Right
はづかしのもりのはつかにみしものをなどしたくさのしげきこひなる
hazukashi no mori no hatsuka ni mishi mono o nado shitakusa no shigeki koi naru | Shyly in Hazukashi Forest, briefly Did I glimpse her, so Why as undergrowth So lush has my love grown? |
Mitsune
54
Love
Five poems, stopping at five
Left (Win)
なみだがはいかなるみづかながるらんなどわがこひをけすひとのなき
namidagawa ika naru mizu ka nagaruran nado wa ga koi o kesu hito no naki | In the River of Tears What sort of water is it That does flow? Why is it that my love’s burn To extinguish is there no one? |
Okikaze
51
Right
みをもかへおもふものからこひといへばもゆるなかにもいるこころかな
mi o mo kae omou mono kara koi to ieba moyuru naka ni iru kokoro kana | Staking my life is Often in my thoughts, but Within the fires of love, Burning, Does my heart lie! |
Okikaze
52
Ten Poems on the Third Month
Left (Tie)
みてかへるこころあかねばさくらばなさけるあたりにやどやからまし
mitekaeru kokoro akaneba sakurabana sakeru atari ni yado ya karamashi | Seeing you and returning home Leaves my heart unsated, O, cherry blossom! In the place where you do bloom is Where I would borrow lodging… |
Okikaze
21
Right
しののめにおきてみつればさくらばなまだよをこめてちりにけるかな
shinonome ni okite mitsureba sakurabana mada yo o komete chirinikeru kana | At the edge of dawn, When I arise to gaze upon The cherry blossoms Within the night’s span Have they scattered! |
Yorimoto
22
The Right’s poem was just as His Majesty said: ‘It expresses affection for the blossom through gazing and gazing upon them.’ When it was suggested to him that the work produced by Lord Sadakata and Lord Noboru conveyed the same overall impression, he took his time to consider the matter, then said, ‘In that case,’ and made the round a tie.
Left (Win)
はるかぜのふかぬよにだにあらませばこころのどかにはなはみてまし
harukaze no fukanu yo ni dani aramaseba kokoro nodoka ni hana wa mitemashi | The spring breezes Not blowing of an evening—if only That were so, then With peace in my heart I would view the blossom |
His Majesty
11
Right
ちりぬともありとたのまむさくらばなはるはすぎぬとわれにきかすな
chirinu tomo ari to tanomamu sakurabana haru wa suginu to ware ni kikasu na | You have fallen, yet That you are here, I will believe, O, cherry blossom! That spring is past— Don’t tell me that! |
12
‘The Left’s poem is my own—it really should lose, shouldn’t it?’
Left (Win)
はるがすみたちしかくせばやまざくらひとしれずこそちりぬべらなれ
harugasumi tachishi kakuseba yamazakura hito shirezu koso chirinuberanare | If the spring haze Has risen to conceal The mountain cherries, Then, indeed, will no one know When they have seemed to scatter! |
Tsurayuki
9
Right
たのまれぬはなのこころとおもへばやちらぬさきよりうぐひすのなく
tanomarenu hana no kokoro to omoeba ya chiranu saki yori uguisu no naku | Untrustworthy are The blossoms’ hearts I do think, so While they are unscattered Will the warbler sing. |
Okikaze
10[i]
Both of these are the same—they tie.[ii]
[i] This poem is included in Shinshūishū (XI: 1549), attributed to Okikaze, with the headnote, ‘From Former Emperor Uda’s Poetry Contest’. It is also included twice in Kokin rokujō (I: 31) and (VI: 4395): in both cases the poem is attributed to Okikaze, but the first instance lacks a headnote, while the second is classified as a ‘Warbler’ poem. Finally, it is also included in Mandaishū (II: 254), again attributed to Okikaze, but this time with the headnote, ‘Topic unknown’.
[ii] Given that the Left’s poem here is marked as winning, presumably Uda means that both poems are equally worthy of a win—that is, that this is a yoki ji, a ‘tie of quality’.