For a folding screen showing snow falling and clinging to a plum tree.
梅のはな色はそれともわかぬまで風にみだれて雪はふりつつ
| ume no hana iro wa sore tomo wakanu made kaze ni midarete yuki wa furitsutsu | The plum blossoms’ Hue is such that I cannot tell them apart— The wind creates confusion as The snow falls on and on… |
Lingering snow.
春きては花とか見えんおのづから朽木の杣にふれる白雪
| haru kite wa hana to ka mien onozukara kuchigi no soma ni fureru shirayuki | When spring does come As blossom does it seem? Intermittently Upon Timber Mountain’s bare branches Is there fallen snow, so white. |
On seeing snow at the beginning of spring.
春たたばわかなつまむとしめおきしのべともみえず雪のふれれば
| haru tataba wakana tsumamu to shime’okishi nobe to mo miezu yuki no furereba | If spring comes then Going to pick fresh herbs Is what I did expect, but The meadows are beyond my sight In the falling snow… |
On seeing snow at the beginning of spring.
かきくらし猶ふる雪のさむければ春ともしらぬ谷のうぐひす
| kakikurashi nao furu yuki no samukereba haru tomo shiranu tani no uguisu | Raking in the darkness, Still falls the snow With such cold, that ‘Tis spring all unknowing is The warbler in the valley. |
5
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’.
When he was together with the Cloistered Emperor [Uda], gazing the Yoshino waterfall.
何時の間に降り積もるらんみ吉野の山の峡より崩れ落つる雪
| itu no ma ni Furitumoruran miyosino no yama no kaFi yori kudure’oturu yuki | How swiftly It does seem to fall From fair Yoshino’s Mountain passes: The snow comes a’tumbling down. |
Minamoto no Noboru
The End of Winter
Left
したぎえのゆきまをみればふゆながらはるのけちかきここちこそすれ
| shitagie no yukima o mireba fuyu nagara haru no kechikaki kokochi koso sure | Melting below, Gaps in the snow, I see, so Though ‘tis yet winter Spring’s sensation closer Comes, I feel! |
19
Right (Win)
みよしののやまのしらゆきつもるらしふるさとさむくなりまさるなり
| miyoshino no yama no shirayuki tsumorurashi furusato samuku narimasaru nari | On fair Yoshino Mountain white snow fall Drifts high, it seems, For in this ancient place the chill Grows ever stronger. |
Korenori
20
Left
| Mibu no Tadamine | Ariwara no Motokata | Taira no Sadafun |
Right
| Sakanoue no Korenori | Ki no Tsurayuki | Ōshikōchi no Mitsune |
The Beginning of Spring
Left (Tie)
はるたつといふばかりにやみよしののやまもかすみてけさはみゆらむ
| haru tatsu to iu bakari ni ya miyoshino no yama mo kasumite kesa wa miyuramu | Spring is here They simply say, but Is fair Yoshino Mountain, too, all hazed In view this morning, I wonder? |
Tadamine
1
Right
はるたちてなほふるゆきはむめのはなさくほどもなくちるかとぞみる
| haru tachite nao furu yuki wa mume no hana saku hodo mo naku chiru ka to zo miru | Spring is here, yet Still the snow falls—does, as Plum blossoms’ Brief flowering then Scattering, it truly seem? |
Mitsune
2