As a poem on willows.
春くれば猶色まさる山しろのときはの杜の青柳のいと
| haru kureba nao iro masaru yamashiro no tokiwa no mori no aoyagi no ito | Spring has come, and Still their hues are beyond fine: In Yamashiro’s Evergreen forests— Pale green threads of willow. |
Round Six
Left
夏山のみねのこずゑのたかければなく郭公こゑかはるかな
| natsuyama no mine no kozue no takakereba naku hototogisu koe kawaru kana | The summer mountain Peaks have treetops So high, that The crying cuckoo’s Calls stand for them. |
11
Right (Win)
おほあらきのもりの下草茂りあひてふかくも夏のなりにけるかな
| ōaraki no mori no shitagusa moriaite fukaku mo natsu no narinikeru kana | In Ōaraki Forest the undergrowth Has grown so thick, that Deep summer is Surely here! |
Mitsune
12
Wind
Left (Win)
おはらきのもりのくずはもふくかぜにもみぢもあへずちりやしぬらん
| oharaki no mori no kuzuha mo fuku kaze ni momiji mo aezu chiri ya shinuran | In Oharaki Among the groves, will the kudzu leaves, When the wind does blow Parting from the scarlet leaves Scatter, too, I wonder? |
Tamemasa
3
Right
みかきののくさこそなびけよろづよのはじめのあきのかぜのこゑかも
| mikaki no no kusa koso nabike yorozu yo no hajime no aki no kaze no koe kamo | In the fields by the sacred walls The grasses do sway; Ten thousand generations’ First autumn Breeze sounds out! |
Nagayoshi
4
Left (Win)
恋わたる夜はのさむしろ波かけてかくや待けん宇治の橋姫
| koi wataru yowa no samushiro nami kakete kaku ya machiken uji no hashihime |
Crossed in love At night my mat of straw Is washed by waves; Is this how she waits, The maid at Uji bridge. |
A Servant Girl
1019
Right
いにしへの宇治の橋守身をつまば年経る恋を哀とも見よ
| inishie no uji no hashimori mi o tsumaba toshi furu koi o aware tomo miyo |
Ancient Warden of Uji bridge, If you pinch me, How I have aged with love for you Will you know, and pity me… |
Jakuren
1020
Left and Right together state: we find no faults to mention.
In judgement: the style of both the Left’s ‘maid at Uji bridge’ (uji no hashihime) and the Right’s ‘Warden of Uji bridge’ (uji no hashimori) is pleasant, and the Left’s ‘Is this how she waits, the maid at Uji bridge’ (kaku ya machiken uji no hashihime) draws on the conception of a tale from long ago, and the configuration also seems deeply moving. Thus, the Left should win.
Left
月夜には手倉の山の時鳥声も隠れぬ物にざりける
| tukiyo ni Fa tekura no yama no Fototogisu kowe mo kakurenu mono ni zarikeru |
On a moonlit night On Tekura Mountain that The cuckoo Does conceal his call Is not true at all… |
7
Right (Win)
住む里は篠部をの森の時鳥木の下声ぞ標なりける
| sumu sato Fa sinobe no mori no Fototogisu ko no sita kowe zo sirube narikeru |
To my dwelling In Shinobe Forest are The cuckoo Calls beneath the trees A signpost. |
8
逢ふ事のなきを浮田の杜にすむ呼子鳥こそ我が身なりけれ
| aFu koto no naki wo ukita no mori ni sumu yobukodori koso wa ga mi narikere |
That meet we Do not is hard; in Ukita’s Sacred groves will I dwell, and As an ever crying bird Shall I become! |
Fujiwara no Tamezane
藤原為真
This poem only appears in variant editions of the Kin’yōshū text.