Left
はるのよのあかぬわかれのあかつきはちへのにしきをたつにざりける
| haru no yo no akanu wakare no akatsuki wa chie no nishiki o tatsu ni zarikeru | After a spring night, Unsatisfied, parting at The dawn, Sewn a thousandfold, the brocade Through which I go! |
26
Right
あけぬてふこゑもなみだももろともにうちいづるからにそでぞぬれける
| akenu chō koe mo namida mo morotomo ni uchi’izuru kara ni sode zo nurekeru | ‘Tis dawn, say Birdsongs and tears Both, Bursting out, so My sleeves are soaked! |
27
Round Two
Left
人しれずはれぬ歎きの有るものを普くてらせ秋のよの月
| hito shirezu harenu nageki no aru mono o amaneku terase aki no yo no tsuki | Unknown to all A grief which never clears I have, so Shine without restraint, O, moon this autumn night! |
His Excellency, Nagazane, Former Assistant Governor General of Dazai
3
Right
山の端のうき雲晴れてすみのぼる月と共にもゆくこころかな
| yama no ha no ukigumo harete suminoboru tsuki to tomo ni yuku kokoro kana | At the mountains’ edge The drifting clouds unfurl, and Clearly climbing With the moon Goes my spirit! |
Lady Hyōenokami
4
In the poem of the Left, the expression following ‘A grief which never clears / I have, so’ is both forceful and lacking in gentility; in addition, the poem of the Right’s ‘drifting clouds clear away’ and what follows seems stagnant, so the light of the moon these nights seems to be of the same standard.
Left
こひしきにねざめてみをぞうきなみのよるぞかなしきそでのひつまで
| koishiki ni nezamete mi o zo ukinami no yoru zo kanashiki sode no hitsu made | Filled with love I do awake, but Waves of depression drift, Breaking the night with sadness Until my sleeves are drenched through… |
17
Right
うつつにもゆめにもみえずなりぬればさむるよなよなねをのみぞなく
| utsutsu ni mo yume ni mo miezu narinureba samuru yonayona ne o nomi zo naku | In both reality, and Dreams I see her not— When it comes to that, then On waking night after night Will I simply weep! |
18
Left
うちさめてこひしきひとをおもふよはわがたましひもゆきてつげなん
| uchisamete koishiki hito o omou yo wa wa ga tamashii mo yukite tsugenan | Awaking when My darling girl Filled my thoughts all night, Even my soul Has gone to let her know! |
15
Right
よはにおきてこひぞわびぬるはるのよはゆめにみえつるひとのなければ
| yowa ni okite koi zo wabinuru haru no yo wa yume ni mietsuru hito no nakereba | Arising at midnight, and Suffering love’s fire On a night in spring, For in my dreams I saw My girl, though she’s not here now… |
16
Left
ひとこひてぬるはるのよはしきたへのまくらながれてうきぬべきかな
| hito koite nuru haru no yo wa shikitae no makura nagarete ukinubeki kana | Loving her, and Sleeping on a night in spring, My mulberry cloth Pillow in the flow Simply floats away! |
11
Right
ねざめするわがしきたへはいけなれやつまなきをしとなかれこそすれ
| nezamesuru wa ga shikitae wa ike nare ya tsuma naki oshi to nakare koso sure | On waking Is my mulberry cloth A pond, by chance? For as a mandarin drake without his duck Do I surely cry! |
12
Left
いをしねばゆめにもひとをみるべきをよなよなさむるめこそつらけれ
| i o shi neba yume ni mo hito o mirubeki o yonayona samuru me koso tsurakere | When I’m deep in sleep Even in my dreams, too, her I can behold, but Waking, night after night, Is cruel to my eyes, indeed! |
9
Right
こひわびてこころまどへるねざめにはおもかげをだにあふとたのまむ
| koiwabite kokoro madoeru nezame ni wa omokage o dani au to tanomamu | Desolate with love, My heart just wanders lost; On waking, Even an image of you To meet is all I would ask. |
10
Left
ひとしれずねざめのこひはよぶこどりよぶかきこゑはきくひともなし
| hito shirezu nezame no koi wa yobukodori yobukaki koe wa kiku hito mo nashi | Unknown to all I awake and yearn: A songbird Late at night sings With no one listening at all. |
3
Right
おもひやるこころしゆかばさよふけておきゐてこふとつぐべきものを
| omoiyaru kokoro shi yukaba sayo fukete oki’ite kou to tsugubeki mono o | If, steadfast, My heart but was, then As brief night wore on I’d arise and my love Be able to announce, but… |
4
