Left (Tie)
ふるさとにかすみとびわけゆくかりはたびのそらにやはるをすぐらむ
furusato ni
kasumi tobiwake
yuku kari wa
tabi no sora ni ya
haru o suguramu | Above an ancient estate
Flying through the parting haze
Go the geese:
In the skies they journey through,
I wonder, will they pass the springtime? |
Mitsune
19
Right
ちるはなをぬきしとめねばあをやぎのいとはよるともかひやなからむ
chiru hana o
nukishi tomeneba
aoyagi no
ito wa yoru tomo
kai ya nakaramu | The scattered blossom
Has been pierced, but not stayed, so,
The green willow’s
Threaded fronds are spun together, yet
It useless seems… |
20
‘“Sewn but not halted”—it really does seem so.’
Left (Win)
さくらちるこのしたかぜはさむからでそらにしられぬゆきぞふりける
sakura chiru
ko no shitakaze wa
samukarade
sora ni shirarenu
yuki zo furikeru | The cherry scattering
Breeze beneath the trees
Lacks chill—
Unaware from within the skies
The snow is falling. |
Tsurayuki
13[i]
Right
わがこころはるのやまべにあくがれてながながしひをけふもくらしつ
wa ga kokoro
haru no yamabe ni
akugarete
naganagashi hi o
kyō mo kurashitsu | My heart to
The mountainside in springtime
Is drawn—
The long, long day
Today, too, has reached its dusk. |
Mitsune
14[ii]
The Left wins. ‘The Right has “long, long” which is a disagreeable word. It was hissed through pursed lips with drooping shoulders,’ and so it lost.
[i] This poem is included in Shūishū (I: 64), with the headnote, ‘From Former Emperor Uda’s Poetry Contest’.
[ii] This poem is included in Shinkokinshū (I: 81), attributed to Tsurayuki with the headnote ‘A poem from Former Emperor Uda’s Poetry Contest’.
Left
つのくにのながらへゆかばわすれなくいまもみまくのほりえなるらむ
tsu no kuni no
nagara e yukaba
wasurenaku
ima mo mimaku no
horie naruramu | If, into the land of Tsu
To Nagara I go,
I’ll forget you not, and
Now to see you
More is what I want! |
37
Right (Win)
ひさかたのくもゐはるかにありしよりそらにこころのなりにしものを
hisakata no
kumoi haruka ni
arishi yori
sora ni kokoro no
narinishi mono o | The eternal
Clouds distant
Ever were—so
In the skies, my heart
With them did dwell. |
38
The Beginning of Autumn
Left (Win—in a certain book Tie)
しぐれにもあめにもあらぬはつぎりのたつにもそらはさしくもりけり
shigure ni mo
ame ni mo aranu
hatsugiri no
tatsu ni mo sora wa
sashikumorikeri | Neither a shower
Nor rain,
The first mists
Simply rise into the skies
And cover all with cloud. |
11
Right
としごとにあふとはすれどたなばたのぬるよのかずぞすくなかりける
toshi goto ni
au to suredo
tanabata no
nuru yo no kazu zo
sukunakarikeru | Every year
She meets him, yet
The Weaver Maid’s
Nights of passion
Are few indeed. |
Mitsune
12
On the conception of love, in a hundred poem sequence.
あふ事のむなしき空のうき雲は身をしる雨の便りなりけり
au koto no
munashiki sora no
ukigumo wa
mi o shiru ame no
tayori narikeri | Meeting you is
A vain hope—empty as the skies, where
Drifting clouds are
The rainfall of my misery’s
Harbingers. |
Prince Kore’akira
惟明親王
An allusive variation on KKS XIV: 705.
Mist
しぐれにもあめにもあらぬはつぎりのたつにもそらはさしくもりけり
shigure ni mo
ame ni mo aranu
hatsugiri no
tatsu ni mo sora wa
sashikumorikeri | Neither a shower
Nor rain,
The first mists
Simply rise into the skies
And cover all with cloud. |
Attributed to Mitsune in a certain volume
Wisteria
Left (Win)
おくつゆのひかりてたまぞみえまがふちのはながらにきえずもあらなむ
oku tsuyu no
hikarite tama zo
miemagau
chi no ha nagara ni
kiezu mo aranamu | The fallen dewdrops
Shine like gems
Within my sight;
From the budding leaves
I would they vanished not! |
21
Right
あまつそらてりみくもりみゆくつきのふちのはなどはさやけかるらん
ama tsu sora
terimi kumorimi
yuku tsuki no
fuchi no ha nado wa
sayakekaruran | Through the heaven-bound skies
Shining, then clouding,
Goes the moon, so
Why, by this deep pool’s edge
Should it show so clear? |
Fukayabu
22
On ‘Love and Travel’ at the Sumiyoshi Shrine Poetry Contest in Jōgen 2 [1209].
いかにせんせめては旅の空だのめむなしくまたん夕暮もがな
ika ni sen
semete wa tabi no
soradanome
munashiku matan
yūgure mogana | O, what am I to do?
At least, it’s due to travel’s
Unreliable skies that
Emptily I would wait
This evening—if only that were so! |
Iehira, Junior Third Rank
従三位家衡
Composed for Her Majesty, to say that this year, she had the liberty to bond with the blossoms.
しらくもにまがふさくらのこずゑにてちとせの春をそらにしるかな
sirakumo ni
magaFu sakura no
kodue nite
titose no Faru wo
sora ni siru kana | The clouds, so white
Blend with the cherry blossom
Treetops—
Are a thousand years of springtimes
Known in the skies, I wonder! |
Chūnagon, in service to Empress Taikenmon’in
待賢門院中納言
Round 8
Left
花の色はかすみのひまにほのみえて山のはにほふ春の暁
hana no iro wa
kasumi no hima ni
honomiete
yama no ha niou
haru no akebono | The blossoms’ hues
Between the shifting haze
I briefly glimpse, and
The mountains’ edges glow
With the dawn in springtime. |
325
Right
あだし夜の花にとききてゆく雁の名残もいとど有明のそら
adashiyo no
hana ni toki kite
yuku kari no
nagori mo itdodo
ariake no sora | To fleeting night’s
Blossoms has the time come, and
The departing geese leave
A keepsake more brief
In the skies at dawn. |
326
This round, again, it seems difficult to distinguish between the the two poems.
Former Emperor Gosukō (1372-1456)
後崇光院
'Simply moving and elegant'