Left

まきもくのひばらの霞たちかへりみれども花のおどろかれつつ

makimoku no hibara no kasumi tachikaeri miredomo hana no odorokaretsutsu

In Makimoku[1] among The cypress groves the haze Rises and departs; I see it, yet the blossom Ever does amaze me…

27[2]

Right

白妙の浪路わけてや春はくる風吹くからにはなも咲きけり

shirotae no namiji wakete ya haru wa kuru kaze fuku kara ni hana mo sakinikeri

White as mulberry cloth are The wave-wakes: forging through them does Spring come? The wind blows so, The blossom has bloomed!

28

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[1] Makimoku 巻目 was an alternate name for Makimuku 纏向, a place in Yamato province which was traditionally believed to be the location of the state’s capital during the reigns of the legendary emperors Suinin 垂仁 and Keikō 景行.

[2] Shinsen man’yōshū 17/An almost identical poem is also included in Kokin rokujo (I: 619), while a minor variant occurs in Fubokushō (IV: 1100), with a headnote identifying it as being included in this contest: まきもくのひばらの山にたちかへり見れども花におどろかれつつ makimoku no / hibara no yama ni / tachikaeri / miredomo hana no / odorokaretsutsu ‘In Makimoku among / The mountain cypress groves / Rising and departing, / I see it, yet the blossom / Ever does amaze me…’