Stones 石
石はさもたちける人のこころさへ かたかど有りて見えもするかな
| ishi wa samo tachikeru hito no kokoro sae katakado arite mie mo suru kana | Such is the way with stones: Should the folk who place them, Within their hearts have but even A trace of talent, It is plain to see! |
Toshiyori
Stars 星
ひこぼしの心も空にはつ秋の七日の夜をやこひしかるらん
| hikoboshi no kokoro mo sora ni hatsu’aki no nanuka no yo o ya koishikaruran | Does the Herd Boy’s Heart within the skies Find early autumn’s Seventh night The most dear of all? |
Kanemasa
Love Separated by Distant Roads 隔遠路恋
我がこひは心づくしのみちとほみゆきめぐりてもいつかあふべき
| wa ga koi wa kokorozukushi no michi tōmi yukimeguritemo itsuka aubeki | My love does Drain my heart; On distant roads He travels on, yet When is it we will meet? |
Higo
Love Separated by Distant Roads 隔遠路恋
はるばるとおもひやれどもあさゆふにゆかぬ心のくるしきやなぞ
| harubaru to omoiyaredomo asa yū ni yukanu kokoro no kurushiki ya nazo | On the distance far Do dwell my pondering thoughts, so Why, morning and evening, too, Does my heart, held here, Feel such pain? |
Tadafusa
Love Separated by Distant Roads 隔遠路恋
白雲の八重なる山はかさぬともこころは空にかよへとほづま
| shiragumo no yae naru yama wa kasanu tomo kokoro wa sora ni kayoe tōzuma | Clouds of white, Eightfold upon the mountains Do not lie, yet My heart, into the skies Fly back and forth, to my distant love! |
Nakazane
Love Interrupted by a Year 経年恋
いかにせんあはで年さへこえぬるにわすれぬ恋の心ながさを
| ika ni sen awade toshi sae koenuru ni wasurenu koi no kokoro nagasa o | O, what am I to do? For even a year with no meeting Have I spent, but An unforgettable love Runs through my heart… |
Higo
Composed when it was said that a poetry competition was to be held at the residence of the Middle Captain Lady of the Bedchamber in the Ninna period.[1]
おしと思心は糸によられなん散る花ごとに貫きてとどめむ
| oshi to omoFu kokoro Fa ito ni yorarenan tiru Fana goto ni nukite todomemu | If regrets Within my heart should into threads Be spun, then Through every scattered blossom Would I sew to hold them here… |
Sosei
[1] It was taboo to record the personal names of noble women of high rank unless they were made empress. The Ninna 仁和 period began on the 11th day of the Third Month, 885, and lasted until the 30th day of the Fifth Month, 889. ‘Lady of the Bedchamber’ (miyasudokoro 御息所) was a title given to imperial consorts who had given birth to a prince, while ‘Middle Captain’ (chūjō 中将) was a military position in the palace guards. Contemporary readers would have been able to identify who the ‘Lady who had given birth to an imperial prince and whose father held the position of Middle Captain during the Ninna period’ was, but modern scholarship has not done so; nor have records of this poetry competition survived.
Composed after seeing some faded flowers.
花見れば心さへにぞうつりける色には出でじ人もこそしれ
| Fana mireba kokoro saFe ni zo uturikeru iro ni Fa ideji Fito mo koso sire | When I see these blooms Even my heart Does droop No tint must show upon my face, yet Others surely know… |
Mitsune
Composed one year when there was an intercalary moon in the Third Month.[1]
さくら花春くははれる年だにも人のこころに飽かれやはせぬ
| sakurabana haru kuFaFareru tosi dani mo Fito no kokoro ni akare ya wa senu | O, cherry blossoms! Even when extra spring Is added to the year, To folk’s hearts Won’t you give satisfaction? |
Ise
[1] Probably 904.
Left (Win)
さざ浪や志賀津の海士になりにけりみるめはなくて袖のしほるる
| sazanami ya shigatsu no ama ni narinikeri mirume wa nakute sode no shioruru | Rocked by wavelets A fisherman at Shiga Bay Have I become! Glimpsing no seaweed, How my sleeves are soaked… |
Lord Suetsune
1171
Right
伊勢の海の底までかづく海人なれやみるめに人を思ふ心は
| ise no umi no soko made kazuku ama nare ya mirume ni hito o omou kokoro wa | At Ise, to the sea Bed dive Fisher-girls: Am I one, too? A seaweed-tangled glimpse of you Lodging in my heart… |
Jakuren
1172
The Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults to mention. The Left state: neither beginning nor end is sufficiently forcefully expressed.
In judgement: the conception and configuration of the Left’s ‘fisherman at Shiga Bay’ (shigatsu no ama) certainly seem splendid. That is really all there is to say about this poem. To make a deliberate point of seeking out elements which sound difficult is a pointless activity for the Way of Poetry and an individual poet. As for the Right’s poem, diving ‘to the sea bed’ (soko made) is just something that fisher-girls do. The Left must win.