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
Azaleas
Left
かりがねにおもひかけつつしのばなんあまつそらなるわが身なりとも
kari ga ne ni omoikaketsutsu shinobanan ama tsu sora naru wa ga mi naritomo | Upon the goose cries Ever hang your thoughts, and Remember, that Within the sky-spanning heavens I may yet be… |
Sadafun
15
Right
うぐひすのこゑなつかしくなきつるはのちもこひつつしのばなむとか
uguisu no koe natsukashiku nakitsuru wa nochi mo koitsutsu shinobanamu to ka | Does the warbler’s Song so charmingly Ring out that Later, ever fondly Will he be remembered? |
16
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
A place where a flute is playing.
ふえのねはすみぬなれどもふくかぜになべてもかすむはるの空かな
fue no ne wa suminu naredomo fuku kaze ni nabete mo kasumu haru no sora kana | The flute’s notes Have ended, yet Blown by the wind Together they haze The springtime sky. |
Fujiwara no Takatō (949-1013)
藤原高遠
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
'Simply moving and elegant'