Rain on a spring evening.
つれづれと雨ふりくらす春の日はつねよりながき物にぞ有りける
| tsurezure to ame furikurasu haru no hi wa tsune yori nagaki mono ni zo arikeru | Idly The rain falls, darkening The springtime sun— How much longer than normal It does seem to last… |
Shōgimon’in[1]
[1] Shōgimon’in 章義門院 (?-1336) was the title given to Imperial Princess Yoshiko 誉子, the second daughter of Emperor Fushimi.
Left
なつの日のくるるもしらず鳴く蝉をとひもしてしか何ごとかうき
| natsu no hi no kururu mo shirazu naku semi o toi mo shiteshika nani goto ka uki | Of the summer sun’s Setting unaware are The singing cicadas: Had I but asked them of it, What would they despise? |
70
Right
あやめ草いくらの五月あひくらむ来る年毎にわかく見ゆらむ
| ayamegusa ikura no satsuki aikuramu kuru toshigoto ni wakaku miyuramu | O, sweet flags! In how many Fifth Months Have you come to meet me? With every turning year You seem younger to me! |
71
Left
夏の日を天雲しばしかくさなむぬるほどもなく明くる夜にせん
| natsu no hi o amagumo shibashi kakusanamu nuru hodo mo naku akuru yo ni sen | The summer sun is Briefly by heaven’s clouds Concealed! No time to sleep in The bright night they’ve made! |
68
Right
郭公なきつる夏の山辺にはくつていださぬ人やすむらむ
| hototogisu nakitsuru natsu no yamabe ni wa kutsute idasanu hito ya sumuramu | A cuckoo Singing in summer On the mountainside: Does a man who will not reveal The price of shoes live there? |
69
Left
夏の日を暮らし侘びぬる蝉のまにわがなきそふるこゑはきこゆや[1]
| natsu no hi o kurashiwabinuru semi no ma ni wa ga nakisouru koe wa kikoyu ya | The summer sun They know not how to endure, So with the cicadas My sobbing Voice do you hear? |
59
Right
恨みつつとどむる人のなければや山時鳥うかれでてなく
| uramitsutsu todomuru hito no nakereba ya yama hototogisu ukaredete naku | How I constantly despise The one who’s staying here If he were gone, would The mountain cuckoo Have aimlessly left his home to sing? |
60
[1] The phrase semi no (‘the cicadas’) is missing from the text of the contest, but has been suggested by later scholarship.
Left
草しげみ下葉かれ行く夏の日もわくとしわけば袖やひちなん
| kusa shigemi shitaba kareyuku natsu no hi mo waku to shi wakeba sode ya hichinan | The grass is thick, with Underleaves withering In the summer sun, but When I try to forge on through, Will my sleeves seem soaked? |
53
Right
五月雨に物思ひをればほととぎす夜ぶかく鳴きていづち行くらん
| samidare ni mono’omoi oreba hototogisu yo fukaku nakite izuchi yukuramu | When in the drizzling rain, I’m sunk in gloomy thoughts, A cuckoo Sings in night’s depths: And where might it be going? |
Tomonori
54[1]
[1] Kokinshū III: 153/Shinsen man’yōshū 47/Kokin rokujō VI: 4441
Left
春霞色の千ぐさにみえつるはたなびく山の花のかげかも
| harugasumi iro no chigusa ni mieturu wa tanabiku yama no hana no kage kamo | The haze of spring has Countless hues It does appear; Streaming across the mountains with The blossoms’ glow. |
Okikaze
37[1]
Right
日くるればかつちる花をあたらしみ春のかたみにつみぞいれつる
| hi kurureba katsu chiru hana o atarashimi haru no katami ni tsumi zo iretsuru | When the sun goes down, With the scattering blossoms Feel renewed— As a keepsake of spring Have I plucked them up! |
38
[1] Kokinshū II: 102/Shinsen man’yōshū 25/Kokin rokujō I: 620
Left 梅のはなしるきかならでうつろはば雪降りやまぬ春とこそ見め
| ume no hana shiru ki ka narade utsurowaba yuki furiyamanu haru to koso mime | Of the plum blossom Is this tree not aware, so If it fades An endless snowfall Will seem to mark this spring. |
5
Right
春の日に霞わけつつとぶ雁の見えみみえずみ雲がくれ行く
| haru no hi ni kasumi waketsutsu tobu kari no mie mi miezu mi kumogakureyuku | The springtime sun Keeps breaking through the haze, so The geese, winging, Appear and are lost to view Vanishing within the clouds. |
6