Original
わかなつむとしはへぬれどかすがのののもりはけふやはるをしるらむ
| wakana tsumu toshi wa henuredo kasugano no nomori wa kyō ya haru o shiruramu | Plucking fresh herbs do The years pass by, yet On Kasuga Plain, The wardens today Must truly know ‘tis spring. [1] |
Mitsune
19
Left (Tie)
けふ見てぞわれはしりぬるはなはなほかすがののべのものにぞありける
| kyō mite zo ware wa shirinuru hana wa nao kasuga no nobe no mono ni zo arikeru | Today did I see, and Understood it well, that Blossom, truly, Upon the meadows of Kasuga Is best of all. |
20
Right
ありへてもかすがののもりはるにあふはとしもわかなもつめるしるしか
| arihete mo kasuga no nomori haru ni au wa toshi mo wakana mo tsumeru shirushi ka | Over passing ages, For the wardens of Kasuga, Encountering the springtime, The years and the fresh herbs, both, Have garnered as a sign, perhaps. |
21
[1] A variant of this poem occurs in Shokugosenshū: In the twenty-first year of the same era, on a day when the Kyōgoku Lady of the Bedchamber visited the shrine at Kasuga, he composed this in place of the official from the province of Yamato. としごとにわかなつみつつかすが野ののもりもけふやはるをしるらん toshi goto ni / wakana tsumitsutsu / kasugano no / nomori mo kyō ya / haru o shiruran ‘Every single year / Ever plucking fresh herbs / On Kasuga Plain / The wardens, too, today / Must truly know ‘tis spring.’Mitsune (XVI: 1032/1029)
Original
うぐひすのなきつるなへにかすがののけふのみゆきをはなとこそみれ
| uguisu no nakitsuru nae ni kasugano no kyō no miyuki o hana to koso mire | While the warbler Sings on Kasuga Plain Today, accompanying the progress, snow As blossom does appear.[1] |
16
Left (Win)
いまはしもはなとぞいはむかすがののはるのみゆきをなにとかは見む
| ima wa shimo hana to zo iwamu kasugano no haru no miyuki o nani to ka wa mimu | Now, of all, The blossom, I would describe, On Kasuga Plain, as Springtime progress snow— What else can I say? |
17
Right
ふるさとにゆきまじりたるはなと見ばわれにおくるなのべのうぐひす
| furusato ni yukimajiritaru hana to miba ware ni okuru na nobe no uguisu | Around the ancient capital Have I gone amidst the snow— If as blossom I did see it, then, O, don’t send me off, Warbler upon the plain! |
18
[1] SIS 1044 attributed to Fujiwara no Tadafusa ‘Headnote ‘Among the many poems presented by provincial officials, when the Kyōgoku Lady of the Bedchamber visited Kasuga.’
Round Eight
Left
やまかぜにしほるる野べの草むらのねやさむしとや鹿の鳴くらん
| yamakaze ni shioruru nobe no kusamura no neya samushi to ya shika no nakuran | The mountain wind Withers the meadow’s Clumps of grasses— Is it his chilly bedchamber That makes the stag cry out? |
Moromitsu
39
Right (Win)
あはれとはねらふさつをも思ふらんをしか妻どふ秋の夕ぐれ
| aware to wa nerau satsuo mo omouran oshika tsumadobu aki no yūgure | ‘How sad,’ The aiming hunter, too, Seems to think, as The stag searches for his mate On an autumn evening… |
Lay Priest Sanekiyo
40
The Left shows no technique from beginning to end, compounded by the fact that, while ‘although the stag does lie’ is a common expression in poetry, ‘bedchamber’ is something I am unaccustomed to hearing. As for the Right, ‘aiming hunter’ is distasteful to hear, but the poem is not bad overall, so it wins.
Round Four
Left
さをしかのなくねはよそにききつれど涙は袖の物にぞ有りける
| saoshika no naku ne wa yoso ni kikitsuredo namida wa sode no mono ni zo arikeru | The stag’s Sad bell in the distance Did I hear, yet still My tears my sleeves Have covered. |
Sadanaga
31
Right (Win)
山たかみおろすあらしやよわるらんかすかに成りぬさをしかの声
| yama takami orosu arashi ya yowaruran kasuka ni narinu saoshika no koe | From the mountain’s heights Descending, has the storm wind Weakened? Faintly comes The stag’s bell. |
Lord Suetsune
32
I do wonder about the Left, given that there appears to be a poem by the late Lord Toshiyori:
さをしかのなくねは野べにきこゆれどなみだは床の物にぞ有りける
| saoshika no naku ne wa nobe ni kikoyuredo namida wa toko no mono ni zo arikeru[1] | The stag’s Sad bell upon the plain I heard, yet My tears my bed Have covered. |
I am a little leery of the Right’s central line, but overall it is not the case that this poem lacks conception, so it should win.
[1] KYS (3) III: 225 Composed on ‘listening to stags in a hut in the fields’. Also SZS V: 310 ‘Composed when he heard a stag belling while at a mountain retreat in Tanakami’. Also Sanboku kikashū 451 ‘Listening to stags in a hut in the fields’.
Round Twelve
Left
我がやどものこる花なくうゑつれど野べのけしきは猶ぞ床しき
| wa ga yado mo nokoru hana naku uetsuredo nobe no keshiki wa nao zo yukashiki | At my dwelling Lingering blooms are there none Though I did plant them, The prospect of a meadow is Charming still! |
Lord Fujiwara no Kiyosuke, Senior Secretary of the Dowager Empress’ Household Office
23
Right
秋萩の枝もとををにおく露のはらはばあやな花やちりなん
| akihagi no eda mo tōo ni oku tsuyu no harawaba aya na hana ya chirinan | The autumn bush-clover Branches bent with Fallen dewdrops— Should I sweep them off, then Would the blossoms scatter, I wonder? |
Lay Priest and Master of the Left Capital Office Norinaga
24
Doesn’t the Right seem to resemble the poem in the Ancient and Modern Collection which says
をりてみば落ちぞしぬべき秋萩の枝もとををにおけるしら露
| oritemiba ochi zo shinubeki akihagi no eda mo tōo ni okeru shiratsuyu | Were I to pluck one, ‘Twould fall and smash: Autumn bush-clover’s Branches bent With fallen silver dewdrops. |
Round Four
Left
行人を野べの尾花にまねかせて色めきたてる女郎花かな
| yuku hito o nobe no obana ni manekasete iromeki tateru ominaeshi kana | Folk going by The meadows the silver grass Is made to beckon by The seductively standing Maidenflowers! |
Lord Fujiwara no Suetsune, Former Junior Assistant Minister of Central Affairs
7
Right (Win)
吹くをりぞ過ぐる人をばまねきけるかぜや尾花の心なるらん
| fuku ori zo suguru hito oba manekikeru kaze ya obana no kokoro naruran | When it blows, Folk passing by Are beckoned— Does the wind the silver grasses’ Heart become? |
Minor Controller of the Left Fujiwara no Tamechika
8
The Left appears to have nothing remarkable about it, while the Right’s initial three sections sound clumsy, yet appear to have some degree of conception, so I would say it wins.
