Composed on ‘willows by a fence’ for the Poetry Match held at the residence of His Excellency, Supernumerary Middle Counsellor Toshitada.
あたらしやしづの柴垣かきつくるたよりにたてる玉のをやなぎ
| atarashi ya shizu no shibagaki kakitsukuru tayori ni tateru tama no oyanagi | How regrettable! A peasant’s brushwood fence Fenced in With the support of Jewelled tiny willow threads… |
Minamoto no Nakamasa
A willow by a mountain hut.
山がつのかたをかかけてしむるいほのさかひにみゆるたまのをやなぎ
| yamagatsu no kataoka kakete shimuru io no sakai ni miyuru tama no oyanagi | A mountain man Clinging to the slopes Marking out his hut’s Border, it appears, with Jewelled tiny willow threads. |
52[i]
[i] Saigyō included a variant of this poem in Mimosugawa uta’awase (25)—this version was also later included in Shinkokinshū (XVII: 1677):
山がつのかた岡かけてしむるののさかひにたてる玉のを柳
| yamagatsu no kataoka kakete shimuru no no sakai ni tateru tama no oyanagi | A mountain man Clinging to the slopes Marking out his meadows, Standing on the border, Jewelled tiny willow threads. |
This poem lost the round in which it was included, with Shunzei, although praising the its style and ‘realistic depiction’ , being dissatisfied with the final line and querying whether it was appropriate to use ‘tiny’ (o を) as a modifier for ‘willow’ (yanagi 柳).