Composed beholding the bright moon, when he was suffering from illness and considering abdicating the throne.
心にもあらでうき世にながらへば恋しかるべき夜はの月かな
| kokoro ni mo arade ukiyo ni nagaraFeba koFisikarubeki yoFa no tuki kana | My heart Is not in it, but in this sorry world Should I stay on, then Surely will I love Tonight’s midnight moon! |
Former Emperor Sanjō
いまはとてみざらん秋の空までもおもへばかなし夜半の月かげ
| ima wa tote mizaran aki no sora made mo omoeba kanashi yowa no tsukikage | Now, it is, I think, that Unable to see even the autumn Skies, I am filled with sadness by The midnight moonlight. |
Inpumon’in no Taiyu
At a time when she was secretly feeling very gloomy, when she was asked why she was so downcast by someone she was close to, who perhaps guessed it was due to love—she thought this in her heart.
もろともにいつかとくべきあふことのかたむすびなるよはのしたひも
| morotomo ni ituka tokubeki aFu koto no katamusubi naru yoFa no sitaFimo | Together When might we undo the mystery Of our meeting, and My half-knotted Underbelt at midnight? |
Sagami
From the Hundred Poem Sequences presented for former Emperor Horikawa.
うらかぜに吹上のはまの浜千鳥浪たちくらし夜半になくなり
| urakaze ni fukiage no hama no hamachidori nami tachikurashi yowa ni naku nari | Beach breezes Blow up Fukiage shore, where The plovers on the beach As the waves break in the darkness, Cry out with midnight. |
Kii, from the Residence of Imperial Princess Sukeko
On the autumn moon by the sea, for the poetry match held at the Poetry Office on the night of the Fifteenth of the Eighth Month.
わすれじな難波の秋の夜半の空ことうらにすむ月はみるとも
| wasureji na naniwa no aki no yowa no sora koto’ura ni sumu tsuki wa miru tomo | Never would I forget Naniwa’s autumn Midnight skies, though Clear above another distant bay The moon I see… |
Gishūmon’in no Tango
Composed on plovers.
沖つ潮指出の磯の浜千鳥風寒からし夜半に友呼ぶ
| oki tsu shio sashide no iso no hama chidori kaze samukarashi yowa ni tomo yobu | From the offing the tides Strike the shore at Sashide; On the beach plovers, Chilled by the wind Call for their mates at midnight. |
Supernumerary Middle Counsellor [Fujiwara no] Nagakata (1139-1191)
藤原長方
Left
玉章のたえだえになるたぐひかな雲井に雁の見えみ見えずみ
| tamazusa no taedae ni naru tagui kana kumoi ni kari no miemi miezumi |
His jewelled missives Have become intermittent It seems, just like The geese up in the skies, Glimpsed, and then not seen at all… |
Lord Ari’ie
1051
Right (Win)
思かぬる夜はの袂に風ふけて涙の河に千鳥鳴くなり
| omoikanuru yowa no tamoto ni kaze fukete namida no kawa ni chidori nakunari |
Unable to bear my love, At midnight my sleeve is Stirred by the wind, and Upon a river of tears The plovers are crying… |
Nobusada
1052
The Gentlemen of the Right state: we find no faults to mention in the Left’s poem. The Gentlemen of the Left state: we wonder about the reason for emphasising ‘upon a river of tears the plovers’ (namida no kawa ni chidori).
In judgement: the Left on a lover’s letters becoming intermittent, and saying ‘the geese up in the skies, glimpsed, and then not seen at all’ (kumoi ni kari no miemi miezumi) has a charming conception, and elegant diction. The Right, saying ‘at midnight my sleeve is stirred by the wind’ (yowa no tamoto ni kaze fukete) and continuing ‘the plovers are crying’ (chidori nakunari) has a configuration and diction which sounds fine, too. The criticisms of the Gentlemen of the Left are nothing more than ‘a fisherman fishing beneath his pillow’! Although the conception of the Left’s poem is charming, the configuration of the Right’s poem is slightly more notable, so it should win.