Cherry Blossom
Left (Tie)
わがそのへいざかへりなむあさがほのひとはなさくらのはなりにけり
| wa ga sono e iza kaerinamu asagao no hito hana sakura no wa narinikeri | To my garden, Well, I must return, for A morning glory’s Single bloom in flower seems To have turned it to a meadow. |
Okikaze
9
Right
はるはきぬたねにまくべきいねはなさくらのはなへにおろしはててよ
| haru wa kinu tane ni makubeki ine wa nasa kura no hanae ni oroshihateteyo | Spring has come, and The seeds must be sown; No seedlings sprout Beside the storehouse Sow them all! |
10
をみなへしなどかあきしもにほふらむはなのこころをひともしれとか
| ominaeshi nadoka aki shimo ni niouramu hana no kokoro o hito mo shire to ka | O, maidenflower, Why is it that, of all, in autumn You would glow so bright? Of a fickle flower’s heart Folk to inform, perhaps… |
47
てをとらばひとやとがめむをみなへしにほへるのべにやどやからまし
| te o toraba hito ya togamemu ominaeshi nioeru nobe ni yado ya karamashi | Should I put my hands on you, By folk would I be despised, O, maidenflower, so In the meadow where you shine Would I borrow lodging… |
48
Left
あさぎりとのべにむれたるをみなへしあきをすぐさずいひもとめなん
| asagiri to nobe ni muretaru ominaeshi aki o sugusazu ii mo tomenan | Amid the morning mists Upon the meadow clusters A maidenflower I’ll not let autumn pass by Without a word to hold her here. |
9
Right
あきかぜのふきそめしよりをみなへしいろふかくのみみゆるのべかな
| akikaze no fukisomeshi yori ominaeshi iro fukaku nomi miyuru nobe kana | Since the autumn wind First began to blow, The maidenflowers’ Hues have simply deepened, Glimpsed upon the meadows! |
10
むらさきのねさへいろこき草なれやあきのことごとのべをそむらむ
| murasaki no ne sae irokoki kusa nare ya aki no kotogoto nobe o somuramu | Do even the gromwell’s Roots take on deeper hues Among the grasses, For in autumn every Meadow does seem dyed? |
39
秋のよにひとを見まくのほしければあまのかはらをたちもならすか[1]
| aki no yo ni hito o mimaku no hoshikereba ama no kawara o tachi mo narasu ka | On an autumn night To see him is All my longing, so On the banks of Heaven’s river Should I be wont to stand? |
40
[1] A minor variant of this poem occurs in Mandaishū (1801) and Shokugoshūishū (688): 秋の夜に人をみまくのほしければ天の川原を立ちならすかな aki no yo ni / hito o mimaku no / hoshikereba / ama no kawara o / tachinarasu kana ‘On an autumn night / To see him is / All my longing, so / On the banks of Heaven’s river / Is where I ever stand!’ (Anonymous).
Fields
Left
いつしかもゆきてはやみむあきのののはなのしたひもとけはてぬらん
| itsu shika mo yukite wa yamimu aki no no no hana no shitahimo tokehatenuran | Swiftly Shall I halt my travels In an autumn meadow; A blossom’s underbelt Seems completely undone. |
Korenari
5
Right (Win)
かりにとやいもはまつらんあきのののはなみるほどはいへぢわすれぬ
| kari ni to ya imo wa matsuran aki no no no hana miru hodo wa ieji wasurenu | Is it but briefly that My sweetheart should wait? In an autumn meadow While gazing at the flowers The way home I have quite forgot! |
Nagayoshi
6
Left (Tie)
この比の心の底をよそに見ば鹿鳴く野邊の秋の夕暮
| kono koro no kokoro no soko o yoso ni miba shika naku nobe no aki no yūgure |
Of late Of the depths of my heart Were you to catch a distant glimpse: A stag belling in the meadow On an autumn evening… |
A Servant Girl
1067
Right
暮れかゝる裾野の露に鹿鳴きて人待つ袖も涙そふ也
| kurekakaru susono no tsuyu ni shika nakite hito matsu sode mo namida sou nari |
Twilight Drapes dewfall on the mountains’ skirts, With a stag’s sad cry; Awaiting him, my sleeves, too, Are wet with tears. |
Nobusada
1068
Left and Right together: we find no faults to mention.
In judgement: it would be impossible to ever exhaust the overtones of feeling in ‘a stag belling in the meadow on an autumn evening’ (shika naku nobe no aki no yūgure) in the Left’s poem; in the Right’s poem the configuration and conception of ‘awaiting him, my sleeves, too, are wet with tears’ (hito matsu sode mo namida sou nari) is richly evocative. I find it extremely hard to put both poems down, so this round, again, is a tie of quality.