michi no be no ono no yūgiri tachikaeri mite koso yukame akihagi no hana
By the roadside Across the meadows evening mists Rise and fall endlessly; Thus would I go and see The autumn bush clover blooms.[1]
[1] An allusive variation on: For a poetry competition held in the Tenryaku era. 春ふかみゐてのかは浪たちかへり見てこそゆかめ山吹の花 haru fukami / ide no kawanami / tachikaeri / mite koso yukame / yamabuki no hana ‘In the depths of spring / Waves on the river at Idé / Rise and fall endlessly; / Thus would I go and see / The kerria blooms…’ Minamoto no Shitagō (SIS I: 68).
furusato no kasuga no nobe no kusa mo ki mo haru ni futatabi au kotoshi kana
At the ancient capital Upon Kasuga’s plain, Grasses and trees, both, Springtime have twice Met this year! [1]
Mitsune 34
Left (Win)
はるながらまたはるにあふかすがのにおひぬくさきはねたくやあるらん
haru nagara mata haru ni au kasugano ni oinu kusaki wa netaku ya aruran
‘Tis spring, but That springtime once more has come To Kasuga Plain, Won’t the grasses and trees growing there Be envied, indeed?
35
Right
ゆきかへるみちのやどりかかすがののくさきにはなのたびかさぬらむ
yukikaeru michi no yadori ka kasugano no kusaki ni hana no tabikasanuramu
Is it that arriving and departing, The lodging on spring’s path lies On Kasuga Plain, so On the grasses and trees, blossom Appears time and time again?
36
[1] This poem occurs in Mitsune-shū (322) with the same headnote as for poem (22), above. It was also included in Shinsenzaishū (X: 980), with the headnote, ‘Composed in place of the Governor of Yamato in Engi 21, on the day when the Kyōgoku Lady of the Bedchamber visited the shrine at Kasuga.’
utsuriyuku hana no shita michi ato mo nashi nagame mo shiroki haru no yamakaze
The shifting Blossom on the paths beneath Leaves no footprints there; My gaze with whiteness filled By spring’s breezes in the mountains.
Dōchin 23
Right (Win)
身にかへておもふもくるし桜花さかぬみ山に宿もとめてん
mi ni kaete omou mo kurushi sakurabana sakanu miyama ni yado mo tometen
It should be me instead, I think, but even that brings pain; Where cherry blossoms Fail to bloom, deep within the mountains Should I make my home.
Dharma Master Nyokan 24
The Left’s poem does not sound poor, but has ‘gaze with whiteness’—a long time ago, Lay Priest Toshinari repeatedly said that it is not appropriate to compose about looking at something specific using ‘gaze’. The initial and concluding section of the Right’s poem sound fine—it should win.
During the period when Izumi Shiku had accompanied Yasumasa to Tango, when there was a poetry match in the capital and Handmaid Koshikibu was selected as one of the poets, Lord Sadayori came to her chamber at the palace and went on at her, asking, ‘How are your poems coming along? Will you be sending them to your mother in Tango? Has your messenger not returned yet?’ and really seemed very unsettled about everything, so she composed this as a playful way of preventing him from going himself.
おほえ山いくのの道のとほければまだふみもみずあまのはしだて
oFoeyama ikuno no miti no toFokereba mada Fumi mo miezu ama no Fasidate
In Ōeyama The path to Ikuno Lies far away, so I’ve not set foot upon it, or had a letter from Ama-no-Hashidate!
