On summer trees, when His Majesty, the Former Emperor, ordered him to produce a thirty poem sequence.
虹のたつふもとの杉は雲にきえて峰よりはるるゆふだちのあめ
| niji no tatsu fumoto no sugi wa kumo ni kiete mine yori haruru yūdachi no ame | A rainbow rises above Cedars in the foothills, Vanishing in the clouds Clearing from the peaks, With an evening shower of rain. |
Former Senior Assistant Governor General of Dazai Toshikane
あめふればかさとり山のもみぢばはゆきかふ人のそでさへぞてる[1]
| ame fureba kasatoriyama no momijiba wa yuki kau hito no sode sae zo teru | When rain falls on Kasatori Mountain, take your umbrella, For the scarlet leaves set Passing folks’ Sleeves alight! |
19
くりかへし我がみをわけてなみだこそ秋のしぐれにおとらざりけれ
| kurikaeshi wa ga mi o wakete namida koso aki no shigure ni otorazarikere | Time and again Am I broken By tears; The autumn drizzle Cannot outdo them… |
20
[1] This poem was included in Kokinshū (V: 263), attributed to Mibu no Tadamine.
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Empress Dowager during the reign of the Kanpyō emperor.
水の面にあやをりみだる春雨や山のみどりをなべて染むらん
| mizu no omo ni ayaori midaru harusame ya yama no midori o nabete somuran | Upon the water’s surface A confusing pattern paints The rain of spring— Will it now the mountains All dye with green, I wonder? |
Ise
Left (Win)
忘らるゝ人に軒端の忍ぶ草涙の雨ぞ露けかりける
| wasuraruru hito ni nokiba no shinobugusa namida no ame zo tsuyukekarikeru |
Forgotten by Him, beneath my eaves The ferns bring back memories; A rain of tears Leaves them dew-drenched. |
Lord Kanemune
1021
Right
戀づまのやがて軒端になり行けばいとど忍ぶの草ぞ茂れる
| koizuma no yagate nokiba ni nariyukeba itodo shinobu no kusa zo shigereru |
My man is Far away; beneath my eaves Are the signs: How many memories and Ferns grow thickly… |
Lord Tsune’ie
1022
Both Left and Right state: we find no faults to mention.
In judgement: both poems refer to ‘memory ferns’ (shinobugusa), and there is not a great deal of difference in quality between them, but the Left’s ‘rain of tears’ (namida no ame), with its association of dew, is slightly better than the Right’s ‘ferns grow thickly’ (kusa zo shigereru), and so should win.