さくらばなさくとみし間に散りにけり夢かうつつか春の山風
sakurabana saku to mishi ma ni chirinikeri yume ka utsutsu ka haru no yamakaze | The cherry blossom Had but bloomed before my eyes, when They scattered— Was it a dream, or reality: That spring breeze from the mountains? |

Round Twelve
Left
うつり行く花の下道跡もなしながめも白き春の山風
utsuriyuku hana no shita michi ato mo nashi nagame mo shiroki haru no yamakaze | The shifting Blossom on the paths beneath Leaves no footprints there; My gaze with whiteness filled By spring’s breezes in the mountains. |
Dōchin
23
Right (Win)
身にかへておもふもくるし桜花さかぬみ山に宿もとめてん
mi ni kaete omou mo kurushi sakurabana sakanu miyama ni yado mo tometen | It should be me instead, I think, but even that brings pain; Where cherry blossoms Fail to bloom, deep within the mountains Should I make my home. |
Dharma Master Nyokan
24
The Left’s poem does not sound poor, but has ‘gaze with whiteness’—a long time ago, Lay Priest Toshinari repeatedly said that it is not appropriate to compose about looking at something specific using ‘gaze’. The initial and concluding section of the Right’s poem sound fine—it should win.
Mountain Cherries
Round Nine
Left (Tie)
人心うつりはてぬる花の色に昔ながらの山の名もをし
hitogokoro utsurihatenuru hana no iro ni mukashi nagara no yama no na mo oshi | As a human heart All faded are The blossoms’ hues upon Ever unchanged Nagara Mountain—even its name brings regret.[1] |
A Court Lady
17
Right
なぞもかく思ひそめけむ桜花やまとしたかく成りはつるまで
nazo mo kaku omoisomekemu sakurabana yama toshi takaku narihatsuru made | Why is it that I seem so Absorbed in thought of Cherry blossom that The mountain higher Has grown? [2] |
Lord Ietaka
18
The Right’s poem mentioning ‘Grief as hard as felling trees upon a mountain higher’ has charming diction. As for the Left’s poem, while I have heard it strongly stated that using a ‘human heart’ is not diction that should be composed with these days, as this is not a poem for public circulation, for the moment I make this a tie.
[1] An allusive variation on KKS XV: 797.
[2] An allusive variation on KKS XIX: 1056.
From the Poetry Contest in 1500 Rounds.
あさ日かげにほへる山のさくら花つれなくきえぬ雪かとぞみる
asahi kage nioeru yama no sakurabana tsurenaku kienu yuki ka to zo miru | Daybreak sunrise Lights the mountains’ Cherry blossom— A stubbornly resistant Snowfall do they seem to be? |
Lord Fujiwara no Ari’ie
On the same conception [blossom, when he presented a hundred poem sequence].
身にかへておもふもくるしさくら花さかぬみ山にやどもとめてむ
mi ni kaete omou mo kurushi sakurabana sakanu miyama ni yado mo tometemu | It will cost my life, So painful to think of Cherry blossom Not yet in bloom deep within the mountains Where my lodging is to be. |
Monk Nyogan
As a poem on blossom, when he presented a hundred poem sequence to Former Emperor Sutoku.
かづらきやたかまの山のさくら花雲井のよそにみてや過ぎなん
kaduragi ya takama no yama no sakurabana kumowi no yoso ni mite ya suginan | In Kazuragi On the peak of Takama are Cherry blossoms: Being beyond the clouds Should I overlook them? |
Master of the Left Capital Office Akisuke
For a folding screen depicting a large number of travellers lying beneath blossom.
木のもとにやどりはすべし桜花ちらまくをしみ旅ならなくに
ko no moto ni yadori wa subeshi sakurabana chiramaku oshimi tabi naranaku ni | Beneath this tree Let me lodge a while, for The cherry blossoms’ Scattering I do regret, so I’ve no cause to journey on my way… |
For a folding screen depicting a large number of travellers lying beneath blossom.
いましはと思ひし程にさくらばなちる木のもとに日数へぬべし
ima shi wa to omoishi hodo ni sakurabana chiru ko no moto ni hikazu henubeshi | ‘Now, for sure, I’ll—’ I did think, but Cherry blossom Scattered from the trees, and beneath, Without arising, must I pass my time! |