Love
Left
恋といへばまづいでたちて春も皆ゆくらむ方も知らずもあるかな
| koi to ieba mazu idetachite haru mo mina yukuramu kata mo shirazu mo aru kana | This thing called love Has gone before, and The spring, too, no one It’s destination Knows at all! |
11
Right
年毎に花におくるるみにしあれば恋ひせぬ春のなきぞわびしき
| toshi goto ni hana ni okururu mi ni shi areba koisenu haru no naki zo wabishiki | Every single year Missing the blossom Is my sorry self, A springtime with no one to love Is there not, but still sad and lonely am I! |
12
Round Five
Left (Win)
さくらやまはなのさかりに風ふけばこずゑをこして白波ぞたつ
| sakurayama hana no sakari ni kaze fukeba kozue o koshite shiranami zo tatsu | On the mount of Cherries So fine is the blossom that When the wind does blow, Passing o’er the treetops, Whitecaps arise! |
Controller’s Graduate
9
Right
この春ははなにこころのあくがれてこのもとにてもくらしつるかな
| kono haru wa hana ni kokoro no akugarete ko no moto nite mo kurashitsuru kana | This springtime By the blossoms my heart Is captivated, and Beneath the trees Does dwell! |
Kerin’in Graduate
10
Both Left and Right, in terms of diction, tone and style are superb with no faults at all. Thus, this is a tie.
The final section of the Left’s poem lacks fluency, yet it has conception. As for the Right’s poem, in order for one’s heart to be captivated by the blossom on every single treetop, one would need to be walking around. If one is resting peacefully beneath the trees, then one should say that one’s heart is captured. This section sounds erroneous, so the Left should win.
Pear Blossom
春立てばいづこともなしのはなりぬわかなつむべくなりぞしにける
| haru tateba izuko tomo nashi no hanarinu wakana tsumubeku nari zo shininkeru | When the springtime comes, There’s nowhere that’s Not far away, for I should pick fresh herbs— That’s what I’ve decided! |
8
This poem is an acrostic, with ‘pear blossom’ (nashi no hana) contained within nashi no hanarinu.
Taiwan Cherry
あづさゆみ春の山べにけぶりたちもゆともみえぬひざくらのはな
| azusayumi haru no yamabe ni keburi tachi moyu tomo mienu hizakura no hana | A catalpa bow: From the mountainside in springtime Smoke rising— Doesn’t it appear to be burning with Fiery cherry blossoms. |
6[i]
The Japanese name for this breed of cherry is hizakura (‘fire cherry’)—hence the imagery used in the poem.
[i] This poem is included in Kokin rokujō (4234), attributed to Ōchikōchi no Mitsune with the headnote ‘Taiwan Cherry’.
