Left (Tie)
ふくかぜにとまりもあへずちるときはやへやまぶきのはなもかひなし
| fuku kaze ni tomari mo aezu chiru toki wa yaeyamabuki no hana mo kainashi | The gusting wind Does never cease, so Scattering time has come upon The eightfold kerria Blooms—so little good they are! |
Okikaze
35
Right
をしめどもたちもとまらずゆくはるをなこしのやまのせきもとめなむ
| oshimedomo tachi mo tomarazu yuku haru o nakoshi no yama no seki mo tomenamu | How I regret it, yet Cannot halt the departure of Parting spring— O, that Nakoshi Mountain’s Barrier would hold it! |
Tsurayuki
36
ときのまもあきのいろをやをみなへしながきあだなにいはれはてなん
| toki no ma mo aki no iro o ya ominaeshi nagaki adana ni iwarehatenan | For such a brief time In her autumn hues is A maidenflower, and yet Ever is she faithless Said to be… |
39
あきのののくさをみなへししらぬみははなのなにこそおどろかれぬれ
| aki no no no kusa o mina heshi shiranu mi wa ana no na ni koso odorokarenure | Through all the autumn meadows’ Grasses have I passed, yet I know them not, so When I learned her name How surprised I was! |
40
〔 〕むつれなつれむなぞもあやなてにとりつみてしばしかくさじ[1]
| mutsure na tsuremu nazo mo ayana te ni toritsumite shibashi kakusaji | How I long to stay fondly with you, So why, indeed, should You be picked, and Briefly fail to hide yourself… |
25
These poems spell out ominaeshi at the beginning of each line.
をののえはみなくちにけりなにもせでへしほどをだにしらずざりける
| ono no e wa mina kuchinikeri nani mo sede heshi hodo o dani shirazu zarikeru | My axe handles Have all rotted away! Doing nothing, Of the passing time completely Unaware, have I been. |
26
[1] The initial line of this poem is missing from the available original texts of the contest, however, given that this is a kutsukamuriuta on maidenflowers (ominaeshi), it must have both begun and ended with o, like poems 23 and 24, and been a similar type of phrase (‘a flower picked’ oru hana o をる花を; ‘those who picked you’ oru hito o をる人を) (Miki et al. 2019, 94).
When the house of Bishop Mokuban burnt down, I sent a message, with this, to his mother.
出でにける門のほかをし知らぬ身は問ふべき程もさたすきにけり
| idenikeru kado no Foka wo si siranu mi Fa toFubeki Fodo mo sada suginikeri |
Departed Through that other gate have you, while In ignorance, I, When I should have known, Have passed my time. |
Izumi Shikibu
和泉式部