Round Twelve
Left
冬の夜の月はとほくやわたりけんかげみしみづのまづしこほれば
| fuyu no yo no tsuki wa tōku ya watariken kage mishi mizu no mazu shi kōreba | On a winter’s night Does the moon distantly Pass by? For The waters where I saw its face Are the first to freeze… |
22
Right
ながれくるみづこほりぬる冬さへやなほうき草のあとはさだめぬ
| nagarekuru mizu kōrinuru fuyu sae ya nao ukikusa no ato wa sadamenu | Flowing down The waters have frozen With the winter, so will The drifting waterweed still Leave little trace? |
23
Waterweed 萍
うき草のうき世の中としりながらのがれもやらぬ我ぞかなしき
| ukikusa no ukiyo no naka to shirinagara nogare mo yaranu ware zo kanashiki | A waterweed This cruel, transient world Knows well; With no way to escape it, Sunk in sadness am I… |
Daishin
Waterweed 萍
世の中は水のうへなるうき草のうきにたへたる身をいかにせん
| yo no naka wa mizu no uenaru ukikusa no uki ni taetaru mi o ikani sen | In this mundane world Atop the waters lies A waterweed – In endless misery, O, what am I to do? |
Higo
Waterweed 萍
ふる河のとだえをわたるたび人のもすそにあをくつける萍
| furukawa no todae o wataru tabibito no mosuso ni aoku tsukeru ukikusa | An ancient river’s Broken bridge a’crossing goes A traveller, Her skirt-hem greenly Gripped by waterweed… |
Kanemasa
Waterweed 萍
池のおもにうゑぬにおふるうき草はなみやよるよる種をまきけん
| ike no omo ni uenu ni ouru ukikusa wa nami ya yoruyoru tane o makiken | Upon the surface of the pond, Not planted but growing are The waterweeds – Do the waves, washing back and forth Sow their seeds, perhaps? |
Tadafusa
Waterweed 萍
かきやればたぎちながるるうき草も世をはやくして過ぎぬべらなり
| kakiyareba tagichi nagaruru ukikusa mo yo o hayakushite suginuberanari | Dragged this way and that, by Rapidly flowing races, For a waterweed, too, The world so swiftly Must pass by. |
Toshiyori
Waterweed 萍
水の上によるべさだめぬうき草のよそへられぬる我が身なりけり
| mizu no ue ni yorube sadamenu ukikusa no yosoerarenuru wa ga mi narikeri | Upon the water, With no hope of haven, A waterweed is How I imagine Myself to be. |
Nakazane
Waterweed 萍
涙川みなとにうかぶうき草のうきねとどめむかたのなきかな
| namidagawa minato ni ukabu ukikusa no ukine todomemu kata no naki kana | On the river of tears lies A harbour where floats A waterweed – To bring a halt to sorrowful, solitary sleep is There no way at all! |
Akinaka
河の瀬に波のうき草うかれありくそのたはれめをいかが頼まむ
| kawa no se ni nami no ukikusa ukare ariku sono tawareme o ikaga tanomamu |
Upon the river rapids A waterweed among the waves Carried along: In that pleasure girl How can I put my trust? |
Minamoto no Nakamasa
源仲正
Left (Win).
雨そゝく池の浮草風こえて浪と露とにかはづ鳴くなり
| ame sosoku ike no ukikusa kaze koete nami to tsuyu to ni kawazu nakunari |
Rain drifts down Upon the duckweed in the pond, Driven by the wind Among wavelets and dewfall The frogs are calling. |
165
Right.
庭の面はひとつに見ゆる浮草をこゝぞ汀とかはづ鳴なり
| niwa no omo wa hitotsu ni miyuru ukikusa o koko zo migiwa to kawazu nakunari |
The garden’s face Seems as one With the duckweed; ‘Here lies the water’s edge,’ The frogs are calling… |
166
Neither Right nor Left has any particular remarks to make about the other’s poem this round.
Shunzei says, ‘Both poems are splendid in form, but the Left’s ‘among the wavelets and dewfall’ (nami to tsuyu to ni) is particularly pleasing. It must win.