This match took place when, hearing that his courtiers were composing poetry, His Majesty ordered them to compose love poems to the ladies in attendance.
おもひあまりいかでもらさんおく山の岩かきこむる谷の下みづ
omoi’amari ikade morasan okuyama no iwa kakikomuru tani no shitamizu
My passion’s full, so How should it o’erflow? Deep within the mountains Hemmed in by crags are The waters of the valley floor…
Major Counsellor Kinzane 1
In reply
いかなれば音にのみきく山川の浅きにしもはこころよすらん
ika nareba oto ni nomi kiku yamakawa no asaki ni shimo wa kokoro yosuran
For some reason, I simply hear the sound Of a mountain stream; Into the shallows, indeed, has Your heart been swept, it seems!
na ni shi owaba shiite tanomamu ominaeshi hito no kokoro no aki wa uku tomo
If the name fits, then Strongly, would I ask you, Maidenflower: Though folk’s full hearts In autumn, be cruel…
37
あきのよをひとりねたらむあまのがはふちせたどらずいざわたりなむ
aki no yo o hitori netaramu ama no kawa fuchise tadorazu iza watarinamu
On an autumn night, I sleep alone, it seems, for To the River of Heaven’s Depths and shallows I will not make my way— However can I cross them?
39
[1]Shinchokusenshū 242; also a minor variant occurs in Kokin rokujō (3368) なにしおはばしひてたのまんをみなへし花の心の秋はうくともna ni shi owaba / shiite tanomamu / ominaeshi / hana no kokoro no / aki wa uku tomo ‘If the name fits, then / Forcefully, would I trust you, / Maidenflower: / Though a flower’s heart / In autumn, be cruel…’ Tsurayuki.