Thomas McAuley
@wakapoet.bsky.social
Translator of premodern Japanese poetry.
Left (Both Judges – Tie)
こけのむす岩ねに残る八重ぎくはや千代さくとも君ぞみるべき
Choked with moss are
The crags where linger
Eightfold chrysanthemums:
E’en were they eight thousand ages a’bloom
My Lord would have beheld them, no doubt!
Lady Shinano
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 45
こけのむす岩ねに残る八重ぎくはや千代さくとも君ぞみるべき
Choked with moss are
The crags where linger
Eightfold chrysanthemums:
E’en were they eight thousand ages a’bloom
My Lord would have beheld them, no doubt!
Lady Shinano
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 45
December 17, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Left (Both Judges – Tie)
こけのむす岩ねに残る八重ぎくはや千代さくとも君ぞみるべき
Choked with moss are
The crags where linger
Eightfold chrysanthemums:
E’en were they eight thousand ages a’bloom
My Lord would have beheld them, no doubt!
Lady Shinano
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 45
こけのむす岩ねに残る八重ぎくはや千代さくとも君ぞみるべき
Choked with moss are
The crags where linger
Eightfold chrysanthemums:
E’en were they eight thousand ages a’bloom
My Lord would have beheld them, no doubt!
Lady Shinano
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 45
Composed on the conception of love at a famous location
むこのうらの入江のすとりあさなあさなつねにみまくのほしき君かも
At the bay of Muko
Seabirds on the inlet’s sandbars
Every single morning
Always do I long to see—
That’s my desire of you!
Kinkai wakashū 484
#wakapoem #wakapoetry #poem #love #Japan #lovepoem #和歌 #恋 #恋歌
むこのうらの入江のすとりあさなあさなつねにみまくのほしき君かも
At the bay of Muko
Seabirds on the inlet’s sandbars
Every single morning
Always do I long to see—
That’s my desire of you!
Kinkai wakashū 484
#wakapoem #wakapoetry #poem #love #Japan #lovepoem #和歌 #恋 #恋歌
December 17, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Left
植ゑしその心も置かぬ白菊はあだなる霜に移ひにけり
I planted them, yet
Unconcerned are
The white chrysanthemums,
For with the faithless frost
Have they faded.
Lord Munekuni
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 43
植ゑしその心も置かぬ白菊はあだなる霜に移ひにけり
I planted them, yet
Unconcerned are
The white chrysanthemums,
For with the faithless frost
Have they faded.
Lord Munekuni
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 43
December 16, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Left
植ゑしその心も置かぬ白菊はあだなる霜に移ひにけり
I planted them, yet
Unconcerned are
The white chrysanthemums,
For with the faithless frost
Have they faded.
Lord Munekuni
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 43
植ゑしその心も置かぬ白菊はあだなる霜に移ひにけり
I planted them, yet
Unconcerned are
The white chrysanthemums,
For with the faithless frost
Have they faded.
Lord Munekuni
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 43
Left (M – Tie)
秋くれて千草の花は残らねど独うつろふ白菊のはな
Autumn sinks to twilight, and
Of a thousand blossoms
Not one lingers, save
Alone and fading
A white chrysanthemum bloom.
Lord Shigemoto
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 41
秋くれて千草の花は残らねど独うつろふ白菊のはな
Autumn sinks to twilight, and
Of a thousand blossoms
Not one lingers, save
Alone and fading
A white chrysanthemum bloom.
Lord Shigemoto
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 41
December 15, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Left (M – Tie)
秋くれて千草の花は残らねど独うつろふ白菊のはな
Autumn sinks to twilight, and
Of a thousand blossoms
Not one lingers, save
Alone and fading
A white chrysanthemum bloom.
Lord Shigemoto
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 41
秋くれて千草の花は残らねど独うつろふ白菊のはな
Autumn sinks to twilight, and
Of a thousand blossoms
Not one lingers, save
Alone and fading
A white chrysanthemum bloom.
Lord Shigemoto
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 41
Left (T – Win; M – Tie)
冬枯にうつろひ残る白菊はうは葉に置ける霜かとぞみる
Sere in winter,
Faded and lingering
A white chrysanthemum as,
Fallen upon its upper leaves,
Frost does appear, perhaps?
Lord Morikata
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 39
冬枯にうつろひ残る白菊はうは葉に置ける霜かとぞみる
Sere in winter,
Faded and lingering
A white chrysanthemum as,
Fallen upon its upper leaves,
Frost does appear, perhaps?
Lord Morikata
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 39
December 12, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Left (T – Win; M – Tie)
冬枯にうつろひ残る白菊はうは葉に置ける霜かとぞみる
Sere in winter,
Faded and lingering
A white chrysanthemum as,
Fallen upon its upper leaves,
Frost does appear, perhaps?
Lord Morikata
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 39
冬枯にうつろひ残る白菊はうは葉に置ける霜かとぞみる
Sere in winter,
Faded and lingering
A white chrysanthemum as,
Fallen upon its upper leaves,
Frost does appear, perhaps?
Lord Morikata
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 39
Composed on the conception of love at a famous location
しら波のいそこしぢなるのとせ川後もあひみん身をしたえずは
Whitecaps
Break upon the rocky path by
Notose River—
Let us meet again, once more,
If my flesh should not cease to be…
Kinkai wakashū 481
#wakapoem #wakapoetry #poem #love #Japan #lovepoem #和歌 #恋 #恋歌
しら波のいそこしぢなるのとせ川後もあひみん身をしたえずは
Whitecaps
Break upon the rocky path by
Notose River—
Let us meet again, once more,
If my flesh should not cease to be…
Kinkai wakashū 481
#wakapoem #wakapoetry #poem #love #Japan #lovepoem #和歌 #恋 #恋歌
December 12, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Left (M – Win)
霜がれの菊なかりせばいとどしく冬の籬やさびしからまし
Were frost-burned
Chrysanthemums there to be none, then
How much more
My brushwood fence in winter
Lonely would be…
Lord Sadanobu
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 37
霜がれの菊なかりせばいとどしく冬の籬やさびしからまし
Were frost-burned
Chrysanthemums there to be none, then
How much more
My brushwood fence in winter
Lonely would be…
Lord Sadanobu
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 37
December 11, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Left (M – Win)
霜がれの菊なかりせばいとどしく冬の籬やさびしからまし
Were frost-burned
Chrysanthemums there to be none, then
How much more
My brushwood fence in winter
Lonely would be…
Lord Sadanobu
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 37
霜がれの菊なかりせばいとどしく冬の籬やさびしからまし
Were frost-burned
Chrysanthemums there to be none, then
How much more
My brushwood fence in winter
Lonely would be…
Lord Sadanobu
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 37
Composed on the conception of love at a famous location
かくてのみありそのうみにありつつも逢ふよもあらばなにかうらみん
Simply so
At the rocky sea of Ariso
Am I ever to be, but
Should there be a world wherein we met,
Then what despite might I feel?
Kinkai wakashū 480
#wakapoem #wakapoetry #poem #love #Japan #lovepoem #和歌 #恋 #恋歌
かくてのみありそのうみにありつつも逢ふよもあらばなにかうらみん
Simply so
At the rocky sea of Ariso
Am I ever to be, but
Should there be a world wherein we met,
Then what despite might I feel?
Kinkai wakashū 480
#wakapoem #wakapoetry #poem #love #Japan #lovepoem #和歌 #恋 #恋歌
December 11, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Left (T- Tie)
かれ行くをなげきやすらん初霜のきくのゆかりに置くと思へば
On withering
Do they grieve, perhaps?
The first frosts upon
The chrysanthemums feel they form a bond
When falling, so…
Lady Shōshō
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 35
かれ行くをなげきやすらん初霜のきくのゆかりに置くと思へば
On withering
Do they grieve, perhaps?
The first frosts upon
The chrysanthemums feel they form a bond
When falling, so…
Lady Shōshō
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 35
December 10, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Left (T- Tie)
かれ行くをなげきやすらん初霜のきくのゆかりに置くと思へば
On withering
Do they grieve, perhaps?
The first frosts upon
The chrysanthemums feel they form a bond
When falling, so…
Lady Shōshō
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 35
かれ行くをなげきやすらん初霜のきくのゆかりに置くと思へば
On withering
Do they grieve, perhaps?
The first frosts upon
The chrysanthemums feel they form a bond
When falling, so…
Lady Shōshō
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 35
Composed on the conception of love at a famous location
雲のゐるよし野のたけに降る雪のつもりつもりて春に会ひにけり
Upon the cloud-capped
Peak of Yoshino
The fallen snow
Does drift and drift, but
At long last meets the springtime.
Kinkai wakashū 479
#wakapoem #wakapoetry #poem #love #Japan #lovepoem #和歌 #恋 #恋歌
雲のゐるよし野のたけに降る雪のつもりつもりて春に会ひにけり
Upon the cloud-capped
Peak of Yoshino
The fallen snow
Does drift and drift, but
At long last meets the springtime.
Kinkai wakashū 479
#wakapoem #wakapoetry #poem #love #Japan #lovepoem #和歌 #恋 #恋歌
December 10, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Left (T – Tie; M – Win)
秋はてて霜枯れぬれどきくの花残れる色は深くみえけり
With the end of autumn
Burned by frost they are, yet
The chrysanthemum blooms’
Lingering hues
Appears all the deeper.
Lady Shinano
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 33
秋はてて霜枯れぬれどきくの花残れる色は深くみえけり
With the end of autumn
Burned by frost they are, yet
The chrysanthemum blooms’
Lingering hues
Appears all the deeper.
Lady Shinano
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 33
December 9, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Left (T – Tie; M – Win)
秋はてて霜枯れぬれどきくの花残れる色は深くみえけり
With the end of autumn
Burned by frost they are, yet
The chrysanthemum blooms’
Lingering hues
Appears all the deeper.
Lady Shinano
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 33
秋はてて霜枯れぬれどきくの花残れる色は深くみえけり
With the end of autumn
Burned by frost they are, yet
The chrysanthemum blooms’
Lingering hues
Appears all the deeper.
Lady Shinano
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 33
Left (M – Tie)
白砂の霜よに置きてみつれども移ふ菊はまがはざりけり
White as mulberry cloth.
Frost has fallen tonight
I see, and yet
The faded chrysanthemums
I can clearly tell apart.
Lord Masakane
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 31
白砂の霜よに置きてみつれども移ふ菊はまがはざりけり
White as mulberry cloth.
Frost has fallen tonight
I see, and yet
The faded chrysanthemums
I can clearly tell apart.
Lord Masakane
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 31
December 8, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Left (M – Tie)
白砂の霜よに置きてみつれども移ふ菊はまがはざりけり
White as mulberry cloth.
Frost has fallen tonight
I see, and yet
The faded chrysanthemums
I can clearly tell apart.
Lord Masakane
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 31
白砂の霜よに置きてみつれども移ふ菊はまがはざりけり
White as mulberry cloth.
Frost has fallen tonight
I see, and yet
The faded chrysanthemums
I can clearly tell apart.
Lord Masakane
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 31
Left
万代の秋のかたみになす物はきみがよはひをのぶるしらぎく
Of ten thousand ages’
Autumns a keepsake
I will make:
My Lord’s age
Extended by a white chrysanthemum!
Lord Akinaka
Naidaijin-ke uta'awse 29
万代の秋のかたみになす物はきみがよはひをのぶるしらぎく
Of ten thousand ages’
Autumns a keepsake
I will make:
My Lord’s age
Extended by a white chrysanthemum!
Lord Akinaka
Naidaijin-ke uta'awse 29
December 5, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Left
万代の秋のかたみになす物はきみがよはひをのぶるしらぎく
Of ten thousand ages’
Autumns a keepsake
I will make:
My Lord’s age
Extended by a white chrysanthemum!
Lord Akinaka
Naidaijin-ke uta'awse 29
万代の秋のかたみになす物はきみがよはひをのぶるしらぎく
Of ten thousand ages’
Autumns a keepsake
I will make:
My Lord’s age
Extended by a white chrysanthemum!
Lord Akinaka
Naidaijin-ke uta'awse 29
Composed on the conception of love at a famous location
わがせこをまつちの山のくずかづら玉さかにだにくるよしもなし
My darling man,
I await you at Matsuchi Mountain,
As a clinging kudzu vine
If only sometimes
I had but a way to make you come to me…
Kinkai wakashū 476
#wakapoem #poem #love #Japan #lovepoem #和歌 #恋 #恋歌
わがせこをまつちの山のくずかづら玉さかにだにくるよしもなし
My darling man,
I await you at Matsuchi Mountain,
As a clinging kudzu vine
If only sometimes
I had but a way to make you come to me…
Kinkai wakashū 476
#wakapoem #poem #love #Japan #lovepoem #和歌 #恋 #恋歌
December 5, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Left
ま袖もて朝置く霜を払ふかなあへず移ふきくの惜さに
From both my sleeves
The morning frost fall
I will brush away!
Reluctant to face the fading
Chrysanthemum’s burden of regret…
Lord Akikuni
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 27
ま袖もて朝置く霜を払ふかなあへず移ふきくの惜さに
From both my sleeves
The morning frost fall
I will brush away!
Reluctant to face the fading
Chrysanthemum’s burden of regret…
Lord Akikuni
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 27
December 4, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Left
ま袖もて朝置く霜を払ふかなあへず移ふきくの惜さに
From both my sleeves
The morning frost fall
I will brush away!
Reluctant to face the fading
Chrysanthemum’s burden of regret…
Lord Akikuni
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 27
ま袖もて朝置く霜を払ふかなあへず移ふきくの惜さに
From both my sleeves
The morning frost fall
I will brush away!
Reluctant to face the fading
Chrysanthemum’s burden of regret…
Lord Akikuni
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 27
Composed on the conception of love at a famous location
から衣きなれの郷に君をおきて島松の木のまてばくるしも
A Cathay robe
Do you oft wear at Kinare estate
Where you must dwell, my love—
As the tree upon your garden pond
Pining for you hurts me so…
Kinkai wakashū 475
から衣きなれの郷に君をおきて島松の木のまてばくるしも
A Cathay robe
Do you oft wear at Kinare estate
Where you must dwell, my love—
As the tree upon your garden pond
Pining for you hurts me so…
Kinkai wakashū 475
December 4, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Composed on the conception of love at a famous location
から衣きなれの郷に君をおきて島松の木のまてばくるしも
A Cathay robe
Do you oft wear at Kinare estate
Where you must dwell, my love—
As the tree upon your garden pond
Pining for you hurts me so…
Kinkai wakashū 475
から衣きなれの郷に君をおきて島松の木のまてばくるしも
A Cathay robe
Do you oft wear at Kinare estate
Where you must dwell, my love—
As the tree upon your garden pond
Pining for you hurts me so…
Kinkai wakashū 475
Lingering Chrysanthemums
Left (Both Judges – Win)
紫に匂へるきくは万代のかざしのために霜や置きつる
With violet
Shine these chrysanthemums:
That for ten thousand ages
We might wear them in our hair—
Is that why the frost has fallen?
Lady Kazusa
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 25
Left (Both Judges – Win)
紫に匂へるきくは万代のかざしのために霜や置きつる
With violet
Shine these chrysanthemums:
That for ten thousand ages
We might wear them in our hair—
Is that why the frost has fallen?
Lady Kazusa
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 25
December 3, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Lingering Chrysanthemums
Left (Both Judges – Win)
紫に匂へるきくは万代のかざしのために霜や置きつる
With violet
Shine these chrysanthemums:
That for ten thousand ages
We might wear them in our hair—
Is that why the frost has fallen?
Lady Kazusa
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 25
Left (Both Judges – Win)
紫に匂へるきくは万代のかざしのために霜や置きつる
With violet
Shine these chrysanthemums:
That for ten thousand ages
We might wear them in our hair—
Is that why the frost has fallen?
Lady Kazusa
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 25
Composed on the conception of love at a famous location
人しれずおもへばくるしたけくまの松とはまたじまてばすべなし
Unknown to all
I yearn—how painful!
At Takekuma
A’pine—no I’ll not, for
Awaiting her would have no effect, at all.
Kinkai wakashū 474
#wakapoem #wakapoetry #poem #love #Japan #lovepoem #和歌 #恋 #恋歌
人しれずおもへばくるしたけくまの松とはまたじまてばすべなし
Unknown to all
I yearn—how painful!
At Takekuma
A’pine—no I’ll not, for
Awaiting her would have no effect, at all.
Kinkai wakashū 474
#wakapoem #wakapoetry #poem #love #Japan #lovepoem #和歌 #恋 #恋歌
December 3, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Left (T – Win)
柞原紅ふかく染めてけり時雨の雨はいろなけれども
The oak groves
Deeply scarlet
Have been dyed,
Though the rain shower
Lacks any hue at all…
Lord Shigemoto
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 23
柞原紅ふかく染めてけり時雨の雨はいろなけれども
The oak groves
Deeply scarlet
Have been dyed,
Though the rain shower
Lacks any hue at all…
Lord Shigemoto
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 23
December 2, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Left (T – Win)
柞原紅ふかく染めてけり時雨の雨はいろなけれども
The oak groves
Deeply scarlet
Have been dyed,
Though the rain shower
Lacks any hue at all…
Lord Shigemoto
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 23
柞原紅ふかく染めてけり時雨の雨はいろなけれども
The oak groves
Deeply scarlet
Have been dyed,
Though the rain shower
Lacks any hue at all…
Lord Shigemoto
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 23
Left
さごろもの袂はせばしかづけども時雨の雨は心してふれ
My night robe’s
Sleeve are narrow:
I cover myself, yet,
O rain shower,
Fall with care!
Lord Toshitaka
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 21
さごろもの袂はせばしかづけども時雨の雨は心してふれ
My night robe’s
Sleeve are narrow:
I cover myself, yet,
O rain shower,
Fall with care!
Lord Toshitaka
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 21
December 1, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Left
さごろもの袂はせばしかづけども時雨の雨は心してふれ
My night robe’s
Sleeve are narrow:
I cover myself, yet,
O rain shower,
Fall with care!
Lord Toshitaka
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 21
さごろもの袂はせばしかづけども時雨の雨は心してふれ
My night robe’s
Sleeve are narrow:
I cover myself, yet,
O rain shower,
Fall with care!
Lord Toshitaka
Naidaijin-ke uta'awase 21