Left
ひくるればひとめのもりにぬるとりのあかつきがたになきつつぞたつ
| hi kurureba hitome no mori ni nuru tori no akatsukigata ni nakitsutsu zo tatsu | Since the setting of the sun Avoiding others’ eyes within the forest Slept a bird that At the edge of dawn Sobbing, does depart! |
22
Right
ねをあさみそこをはなるるうきくさのけさのおきにぞながれわびぬる
| ne o asami soko o hanaruru ukikusa no kesa no oki ni zo nagare wabinuru | Shallow the roots Separating from the river’s bed, Of the drifting waterweed, This morning rising, Swept away in desolation! |
23
Round Six
Left (Tie)
すみよしのまつのむらだちかぜさえてしきつのなみにやどる月かげ
| sumiyoshi no matsu no muradachi kaze saete shikitsu no nami ni yadoru tsukikage | At Sumiyoshi The pines crowd together In the chilly wind, as Upon the waves at Shikitsu Lodges moonlight. |
Lord Fujiwara no Sane’ie
Supernumerary Middle Captain of the Inner Palace Guards, Right Division
Exalted Junior Third Rank[1]
11
Right
なにはえのそこにやどれる月をみてまたすみのぼるわがこころかな
| naniwae no soko ni yadoreru tsuki o mite mata suminoboru wa ga kokoro kana | At Naniwa Bay, Lodged on the bottom, The moon fills my gaze, as Once more, clearly soars My heart! |
Lord Fujiwara no Atsuyori
Junior Fifth Rank, Upper Grade
Without Office[2]
12
In the Left’s poem, I can say that the configuration of ‘Upon the waves at Shikitsu / Lodges moonlight’ is pleasant. In the Right’s poem, saying ‘Lodged on the bottom, / The moon fills my gaze, as / Once more, clearly soars / My heart!’ appears to show deep thought but, while it appears that ‘Naniwa Bay’ encompasses Sumiyoshi, the conception of the topic expressing ‘over the shrine’ sounds somewhat vague. Then again, the Left’s tone is more in keeping with a poem for a poetry match, but it lacks any language particularly evocative of the topic, so the round ties.
[1] Jūsan’i-gyō ukon gonchūjō Fujiwara ason Sane’ie 従三位行右近衛権中将藤原朝臣実家
[2] San’i jūgoige Fujiwara ason Atsuyori 散位従五位上藤原朝臣敦頼
When a woman told him to throw himself into a pool.
身をすててふかきふちにも入りぬべしそこの心のしらまほしさに
| mi o sutete Fukaki Futi ni mo irinubesi soko no kokoro no siramaFosisa ni | I shall cast off all restraint, and Into a deep pool, indeed, Plunge— For at the bottom your heart’s depths I would come to know… |
Minamoto no Michinari
Left
さはみづにかはづなくなりやまぶきのうつろふいろやそこにみゆらむ
| sawamizu ni kawazu nakunari yamabuki no utsurou iro ya soko ni miyuramu | Among the marsh waters The frogs are crying; The kerria’s Fading hues—might They see them below the surface there? |
27
Right (Win)
ちりてゆくかたをだにみむはるがすみはなのあたりはたちもさらなむ
| chiriteyuku kata o dani mimu harugasumi hana no atari wa tachi mo sara namu | Scattering off If only I might see them, but The spring haze Around the blossoms is Already rising! |
28
Love on Meeting
Left (Win)
人ごころいまはかぎりになりぬればみるこそみぬにおとらざりけれ
| hitogokoro ima wa kagiri ni narinureba miru koso minu ni otorazarikere | My human heart Now has its bound Reached, so Seeing you compared to not Is no worse! |
31
Right
わかれてはのちぞかなしきにごりえのそこともしらぬありかとおもへは
| wakarete wa nochi zo kanashiki nigorie no soko to mo shiranu arika to omoeba | Parting does Later bring such sadness: A muddy inlet’s Depths leave me unknowing Of where she is, so… |
Mitsune
32
The Middle of Autumn
Left (Tie)
くもゐよりてりやまさるときよたきのそこにてもみむあきのつきかげ
| kumoi yori teri ya masaru to kiyotaki no soko nite mo mimu aki no tsukikage | From the clouds Does it shine most bright? On Kiyotaki’s Riverbed I see Autumn moonlight. |
13
Right
人しれぬねをやなくらんあきはぎのはなさくまでにしかのこゑせぬ
| hito shirenu ne o ya nakuran aki hagi no hana saku made ni shika no koe senu | That no one may know Quietly, does he cry? Until the autumn bush clover Blooms flower The stag’s bell stays silent. |
Mitsune
14
The first time he spoke with Kamo no Narisuke, he took a shallow wine-cup and composed:
ききわたるみたらしがはの水きよみそこのこころをけふぞみるべき
| kikiwataru mitarashigawa no mizu kiyomi soko no kokoro o kyō zo mirubeki | Listening, The River Mitarashi’s Waters are so pure That to the bottom of my heart I can see today. |
Kunimoto, the Governor of Tsu
Left
白露ぞ霜となりける冬のよはあまの河さへ水こほりけり
| shiratsuyu zo shimo to narikeru fuyu no yo wa ama no kawa sae mizu kōrikeri | Silver dewdrops Have turned to frost On this winter’s night Even the River of Heaven’s Waters have frozen. |
153
Right
冬の海に降りいる雪やそこにゐて春たつ浪の花とさくらん
| fuyu no umi ni furi’iru yuki ya soko ni ite haru tatsu nami no hana to sakuran | Upon the sea in winter, Falling down, is the snow: Does it rest upon the bed and With the waves breaking in springtime Bloom into blossom? |
154
Left (Tie)
この比の心の底をよそに見ば鹿鳴く野邊の秋の夕暮
| kono koro no kokoro no soko o yoso ni miba shika naku nobe no aki no yūgure |
Of late Of the depths of my heart Were you to catch a distant glimpse: A stag belling in the meadow On an autumn evening… |
A Servant Girl
1067
Right
暮れかゝる裾野の露に鹿鳴きて人待つ袖も涙そふ也
| kurekakaru susono no tsuyu ni shika nakite hito matsu sode mo namida sou nari |
Twilight Drapes dewfall on the mountains’ skirts, With a stag’s sad cry; Awaiting him, my sleeves, too, Are wet with tears. |
Nobusada
1068
Left and Right together: we find no faults to mention.
In judgement: it would be impossible to ever exhaust the overtones of feeling in ‘a stag belling in the meadow on an autumn evening’ (shika naku nobe no aki no yūgure) in the Left’s poem; in the Right’s poem the configuration and conception of ‘awaiting him, my sleeves, too, are wet with tears’ (hito matsu sode mo namida sou nari) is richly evocative. I find it extremely hard to put both poems down, so this round, again, is a tie of quality.
From the pond at Ōsawa in Saga. From this point on, poems refer to flowers on the suhama.
人本と思ひしものを大沢の池の底にも誰か植ゑけむ
| Fitomoto to omoFisi mono wo oFosaFa no ike no soko ni mo tare ka uwekemu | A single bloom Did I think it was, but In Ōsawa Pond’s depths Who might have planted it there? |
Tomonori
2
A variant of this poem occurs in Kokinshū (V:275).