Round Twenty-Two
Snow
Left (Win)
霜がれのまがきの中に雪ふれば菊より後の花もありけり
shimogare no magaki no naka ni yuki fureba kiku yori nochi no hana mo arikeri When, burned by frost,
Suketaka
Right
花さけば雪かとみせて雪ふれば花かとみするみよしのの山
hana sakeba yuki ka to misete yuki fureba hana ka to misuru miyoshino no yama When the blossom blooms
Kūnin
Both are elegant, but even so the Right should lose.
Round Twenty
Scarlet Leaves
Left (Tie)
秋されば暁つゆにいもが袖まきぎの山ににほふもみぢば
aki sareba akatsuki tsuyu ni imo ga sode makigi no yama ni niou momijiba When the autumn comes,
Masashige
Right
下染はおなじみどりにみし程も紅葉の色のうすくこきかな
shitazome wa onaji midori ni mishi hodo mo momiji no iro no usuku koki kana First dyed
Kūnin
The Left has a lofty tone, yet the Right is still smooth. Thus, I make this a tie.
Hunting by torchlight.
さ月やまおぼつかなきをゆふづくよこがくれてのみしかやまつらん
satsuki yama obotsukanaki o yūzukuyo kogakurete nomi shika ya matsuran In the summer mountains
玉くしげはこねのやまの郭公むかふのさとに朝な朝ななく
tamakushige hakone no yama no hototogisu mukau no sato ni asana asana naku A jewelled comb [i]
[ii] This poem is inspired by: 心乎之 無何有乃郷尓 置而有者 藐孤射能山乎 見末久知香谿務 kokoro oshi / mukau no sato ni / okite araba / bakoya no yama o / mimaku chikakemu ‘My heart / In paradise / Should I leave behind, then / Mount Miaogushe / Would I soon come to see.’ Anonymous (MYS XVI: 3851 ). The Man’yō poem refers to Mount Bakoya (C. Miaogushe), a legendary Chinese mountain where immortals were said to dwell, and Sanetomo’s reference to Hakone echoes this due to the partial homophony between the place names.
かづらきやたかまのやまの時鳥雲ゐのよそに鳴きわたるなり
kazuragi ya takama no yama no hototogisu kumoi no yoso ni nakiwataru nari In Kazuragi
From among my cuckoo poems.
足曳の山ほととぎすこがくれてめにこそみえね音のさやけき
ashihiki no yama hototogisu kogakurete me ni koso miene ne no sayakeki Leg-wearying,
A cuckoo at dusk.
夕やみのたづたづしきにほととぎす声うらがなし道やまどへる
yū yami no tazutazushiki ni hototogisu koe uraganashi michi ya modoeru In the evening gloam
A cuckoo at a mountain dwelling.
山ちかく家ゐしせれば郭公なくはつこゑをわれのみぞきく
yama chikaku ie ishisereba hototogisu naku hatsukoe o ware nomi zo kiku Near unto the mountains
はつこゑを聞くとはなしに今日も又山ほととぎすまたずしもあらず
hatsukoe o kiku to wa nashi ni kyō mo mata yama hototogisu matazu shimo arazu That first call
On the beginning of summer.
夏ごろもたつたのやまのほととぎすいつしかなかん声をきかばや
natsugoromo tatsuta no yama no hototogisu itsu shika nakan koe o kikaba ya As a summer robe
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'Simply moving and elegant'
