Teiji-in uta’awase 20

Left (Tie)

はなみつつをしむかひなくけふくれてほかのはるとやあすはなりなむ

hana mitsutsu
oshimu kainaku
kyō kurete
hoka no haru to ya
asu wa narinamu
Ever do I gaze upon the blossom, in
Vain regret, for
Today will end and
A different spring will
Greet me on the morrow!

Mitsune
39

Right

けふのみとはるをおもはぬときだにもたつことやすきはなのかげかは

kyō nomi to
haru o omowanu
toki dani mo
tatsu koto ya suki
hana no kage ka wa
“Only today is left
Of spring”—I’ll not think that for
Even at such a time,
Is it easy to part from
The blossoms’ shade?

Mitsune
40[i]

‘Both of these are charming,’—they tied.


[i] This poem is included as the final spring poem in Kokinshū (II: 134), attributed to Mitsune, and with the headnote, ‘A poem on the end of spring from the Poetry Contest held by Former Emperor Uda’.

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