Round One
Left
山だもるあきのかりほにおく露はいなおほせどりのなみだなりけり
yamada moru
aki no kariho ni
oku tsuyu wa
inaosedori no
namida narikeri | Warding mountain fields, in
Autumn upon a hasty hut
The dripping dewdrops are
Migrating birds’
Tears. |
Tadamine
1
Right
たつたひめいかなるかみにあればかは山をちくさにあきはそむらん
tatsutahime
ika naru kami ni
areba ka wa
yama o chikusa ni
aki wa somuran | Princess Tatsuta:
What manner of deity
Might she be, that
All the mountain’s thousand grasses
She dyes with autumn hues? |
2
夜もすがら山田の庵は稲妻の光をのみや－灯火にする
yomosugara
yamada no io wa
inazuma no
hikari o nomi ya
tomoshibi ni suru |
All throughout the night
In a hut among the mountain fields,
Is the lightning’s
Light alone the only
Lamp? |
さと遠み山田のいほはいなづまのひかりのもるをともとみるかな
sato tōmi
yamada no io wa
inazuma no
hikari no moru o
tomo to miru kana | Far from home
In the mountain fields a hut
By lightning’s
Light is drenched,
Which we watch together. |
Higo, from the Residence of the Kyōgoku Regent
京極関白家肥後
目もかれずまもる山田のいなづまのひかりにふれてただならずみゆ
me mo karezu
mamoru yamada no
inazuma no
hikari ni furete
tada narazu miyu | Still fresh to my eyes,
The mountain fields I ward
By lightning’s
Light are brushed, and
Appear again anew. |
Toshiyori
足引きの山田を植て稲妻のともに秋には逢はむとぞ思ふ
asiFiki no
yamada wo uwete
inaduma no
tomo ni aki ni Fa
aFamu to zo omoFu |
Leg-wearying
Mountain fields are planted
With lightning;
Together in the autumn
Do they seem to meet, I feel. |
'Simply moving and elegant'