Former Emperor Yōzei, on the 15th day of the Ninth Month, when it fell upon the day of Elder Brother-Metal Monkey, held a poetry match of the Left and Right with his eldest son’s daughters, the First Princess and the Second Princess, as the leaders of the two teams, composing poems in response to prior poems on the conception of the end of autumn.
Original
つきかげのやましたまでにさやけきはよるももみぢのいろをみよとや
tsukikage no yamashita made ni sayakeki wa yoru mo momiji no iro o miyo to ya
The moonlight To the mountains’ foot Is clear, so At night, too, the scarlet leaves’ Hues behold—I wonder if they say!
1
Left
もみぢせぬあきのやまべのあらばこそつきのひかりをたづねてもみめ
momiji senu aki no yamabe no araba koso tsuki no hikari o tazunete mo miyu
Should scarlet leaves be not Upon the autumn mountainside Then, surely, still The moon’s light Would I visit to see.
ono ga sumu mine no kogarashi samuki yo wa shika mo momiji no koromo kirurashi
Where he dwells upon The peak, the bitter wind On a night so chill, for The stag, of scarlet leaves Does seem to make a robe.
The Supernumerary Major Counsellor 69
Right
すみのぼる月にうらむる声すなりねられぬ鹿や夜寒なるらん
suminoboru tsuki ni uramuru koesunari nerarenu shika ya yozamu naruran
Climbing clearly At the moon, in despair Does he cry— Sleepless, does the stag Feel night’s chill, perhaps?
Nobunari 70
The Left’s poem has ‘the stag, of scarlet leaves does seem to make a robe’ which sounds charming, and the Right’s poem has ‘sleepless, does the stag feel night’s chill, perhaps’, which appears refined. Thus, they tie.
kaminazuki shigure fururashi okuyama wa toyama no momiji ima sakarinari
In the Godless Month Chill showers have fallen, it seems, Deep within the mountains, while On the peaks nearby the scarlet leaves Are now at their finest.
