Left (Tie)
はなみつつをしむかひなくけふくれてほかのはるとやあすはなりなむ
hana mitsutsu oshimu kainaku kyō kurete hoka no haru to ya asu wa narinamu Ever do I gaze upon the blossom, in
Mitsune
Right
けふのみとはるをおもはぬときだにもたつことやすきはなのかげかは
kyō nomi to haru o omowanu toki dani mo tatsu koto ya suki hana no kage ka wa “Only today is left
Mitsune[i]
‘Both of these are charming,’—they tied.
[i] This poem is included as the final spring poem in Kokinshū (II: 134), attributed to Mitsune, and with the headnote, ‘A poem on the end of spring from the Poetry Contest held by Former Emperor Uda’.
Left (Win)
さくらちるこのしたかぜはさむからでそらにしられぬゆきぞふりける
sakura chiru ko no shitakaze wa samukarade sora ni shirarenu yuki zo furikeru The cherry scattering
Tsurayuki
13[i]
Right
わがこころはるのやまべにあくがれてながながしひをけふもくらしつ
wa ga kokoro haru no yamabe ni akugarete naganagashi hi o kyō mo kurashitsu My heart to
Mitsune
14[ii]
The Left wins. ‘The Right has “long, long” which is a disagreeable word. It was hissed through pursed lips with drooping shoulders,’ and so it lost.
[i] This poem is included in Shūishū (I: 64), with the headnote, ‘From Former Emperor Uda’s Poetry Contest’.
[ii] This poem is included in Shinkokinshū (I: 81), attributed to Tsurayuki with the headnote ‘A poem from Former Emperor Uda’s Poetry Contest’.
On thunder.
天のはら鳴る神いかに思ふらんけふは身をしる雨とこそふれ
ama no hara From the plain of Heaven
Anonymous
Topic unknown.
あすからはわかなつまむとかたをかの朝の原はけふぞやくめる
asu kara wa From the morrow
Hitomaro
A poem composed by Prince Ōtsu, weeping, at Iware Pond, when he was due to die.
百傳 磐余池尓 鳴鴨乎 今日耳見哉 雲隠去牟
百伝ふ磐余の池に鳴く鴨を今日のみ見てや雲隠りなむ
momo tutapu A hundred tales
Hair.
ねくたれのかみけづるよもあはざればこひしきものをけふはくらしつ
nekutare no kami kezuru yo mo awazareba koishiki mono o kyō wa kurashitsu My sleep-tangled
Anonymous
On an old woman wiping her face with chrysanthemum dew on the ninth day of the Ninth Month.
けふまでに我をおもへば菊の上の露は千年の玉にざりける
kyō made ni Up until this day
Ki no Tsurayuki
Left
をみなへし匂へる野辺にやどりせばあやなくあだの名をやたちなん
ominaeshi nioeru nobe ni yadoriseba ayanaku ada no na o ya tachinan A maidenflower
Ono no Yoshiki
Right
秋風にさそはれ来つる雁がねの雲ゐはるかにけふぞ聞ゆる
akikaze ni sasowarekitsuru kari ga ne no kumoi haruka ni kyō zo kikoyuru On the autumn breeze
89
なに事を待つとはなしに明けくれてことしもけふになりにけるかな
nanigoto o What is there
Minamoto no Kunizane
The Seventh Night 七夜
ちとせふる祝の松のつるの子はけふすをたちて七夜なりけり
chitose furu Ageing for a thousand years,
Higo
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