Monthly Archives: December 2015

Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Winter I: 29

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Left (Tie).

いにしへの流れを受くる御狩かなその芹河の跡にまかせて

inishie no
nagare o ukuru
mikari kana
sono serikawa no
ato ni makasete		 In days long gone,
Flowed by here
His Majesty’s hunting party;
At the River Seri,
Traces, tell the tale…

Lord Suetsune.

537

Right.

いにしへの野守の鏡今日見れば御幸を映す氷なりけり

inishie no
nomori no kagami
kyō mireba
miyuki o utsusu
kōri narikeri		 That long ago
Falconer’s mirror:
When I look on it today,
Reflecting the progress is
A sheet of ice.

Jakuren.

538

The Right find no fault with the Left’s poem. The Left wonder whether ice is able to reflect anything, and what the purpose of using the term is.

Shunzei’s judgement: Both poems are elegant [yū], starting with ‘In days long gone, flowed by here’ (inishie no nagare o ukuru) and ‘That long ago falconer’s mirror: when I look on it today’ (inishie no nomori no kagami kyō mireba) respectively, but the use of ‘the’ (sono) in the Left’s ‘the River Seri’ (sono serikawa) is poor [ika ni zo kikoyu]. The Right’s ‘ice’ (kōri) really does seem somewhat unsuitable. Thus, it is impossible to pick either as the winner.

Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Winter I: 28

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Left.

狩衣をどろの道も立歸り打散る雪の野風寒けし

karigoromo
odoro no michi mo
tachikaeri
uchichiru yuki no
nokaze samukeshi		 Clad in hunting garb, and
Down a path of thorns
Returning,
The scattered snowflakes make
The wind off the plain feel all the more chill…

Lord Sada’ie.

535

Right.

諸人の狩場の小野に降る霰今日の御幸に玉ぞ散ける

morobito no
kariba no ono ni
furu arare
kyō no miyuki ni
tama zo chirikeru		 Many folk
Have Ono as their hunting ground, but
The hail falling
Today, upon this Imperial Progress
Has scattered jewels.

Ietaka.

536

Neither Left nor Right have any criticisms.

Shunzei’s judgement: ‘A path of thorns’ (odoro no michi mo) recollects the gentlemen of the court when garbed for hawking, and certainly sounds accurate, but the final line does not say anything out of the ordinary. On scattered jewels of ‘hail falling on the hunting ground of Ono’ (kariba no ono ni furu arare), you have ‘many folk’ (morobito no) and then ‘today’s Imperial Progress’ (kyō no miyuki ni) which sounds as if both are indistinguishable. It is impossible to assign a winner or loser this round.

Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Winter I: 27

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Left.

雉子鳴く嵯峨野の原の御幸には古き跡をや先尋ぬらん

kigisu naku
sagano no hara no
miyuki ni wa
furuki ato o ya
saki tazunuran		 The pheasants cry
In the fields of Sagano;
On this Imperial Progress,
The traces of times long gone
Should we visit first?

Lord Kanemune.

533

Right (Win).

すべらぎの今日の御幸は御狩野の草葉も靡く物にぞ有ける

suberagi no
kyō no miyuki wa
mikarino no
kusaha mo nabiku
mono ni zo arikeru		 On His Majesty’s
Progress on this day
To His hunting grounds
The very blades of grass do bow
Before Him

The Provisional Master of the Empress’ Household Office.

534

The Right state that pheasants do not cry out during the winter, to which the Left reply that this is seen occasionally in recent poetry. The Left then comment that mi occurs too often in the Right’s poem.

Shunzei’s judgement: The Left’s ‘traces of times long gone’ (furuki ato o ya) is most fine [yoroshiku haberubeshi]. On pheasants crying in winter, it goes without saying that they do not, and in this poem in particular, I wonder about the appropriateness of ‘pheasants crying’ (because it was convention to avoid anything with potentially negative associations in a poem on the topic of Imperial Visits). The Right’s poem commences with ‘His Majesty’ (suberagi no) and continues with ‘the very blades of grass do bow’ (kusaha mo nabiku) which has felicitous associations. Thus, the Right must win.

Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Winter I: 26

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Left (Tie).

箸鷹を古きためしに引き据へて跡ある野邊の御幸成けり

hashitaka o
furuki tameshi ni
hikisuete
ato aru nobe no
miyuki narikeri		 A sparrowhawk
As of old
Shall I call to hand;
Traces left upon this field
Of an Imperial progress.

Lord Ari’ie.

531

Right.

箸鷹も會ふを嬉しと思ふらん絶えにし野邊の今日の御幸に

hashitaka mo
au o ureshi to
omouran
taenishi nobe no
kyō no miyuki ni		 The sparrowhawk, too,
Would be glad to greet,
I feel,
At last, the field
Where today’s Progress is…

Nobusada.

532

Neither team finds any fault with the other’s poem this round.

Shunzei’s judgement: Both poems are on sparrowhawks (hashitaka), with the Left ‘as of old shall I call to hand’ (furuki tameshi ni hikisuete) the bird, while the Right’s ‘would be glad to greet, I feel’ (au o ureshi to omouran), and both sound charming [okashiku kikoyu]. The round must tie.

Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Winter I: 25

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Left.

大原や野邊の御幸に所得て空取る今日の眞白斑の鷹

ōhara ya
nobe no miyuki ni
tokoro ete
soratoru kyō no
mashirō no taka		 Ōhara
Plain for an Imperial Progress is
Most apt;
Catching prey a’wing this day
Is a white banded hawk!

Kenshō.

529

Right (Win).

嵯峨の原走る雉子の形跡は今日の御幸に隱れなき哉

saga no hara
hashiru kigisu no
kata ato wa
kyō no miyuki ni
kakurenaki kana		 On the field of Saga
Racing, the pheasants’
Tracks
Today’s Imperial Progress
Will not come at all…

Tsune’ie.

530

The Right state that ‘most apt’ (tokoro ete) is rarely heard in poems. The Left reply that ‘track’ (kata ato) is the same.

Shunzei’s judgement: The poem of the Left sounds grandiose, but there is something dubious about it. When starting with Ōhara (ōhara ya), one expects it to be followed by ‘Oshio Mountain’, as it suggests the field of Ōhara. Without that following Oshio Mountain, when one encounters Ōhara, on recollects both ‘misty clear waters’ and ‘waters of a pure, peaceful well’, and does not know to which the Ōhara refers. There is no precedent at all for Imperial vists to the Ōhara which lies at the foot of Mount Hiei. There are, however, for visits to Mount Oshio. In the poem on ‘waters of a pure, peaceful well’, it states that ‘though there are no birds, we visit for our pleasure’, so it would be impossible for the ‘white banded hawk’ to take prey a’wing there. I have heard ‘tracks’ before, but the poem has little sense of truly knowing ‘Saga Field’, yet there have, without doubt, been Imperial visits there, so ‘tracks’ must be the better poem.

Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Winter I: 24

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Left.

宇津の山夕越え來れば霙降り袖ほしかねつ哀この旅

utsu no yama
yū koekureba
mizore furi
sode hoshikanetsu
aware kono tabi		 Gloomy in the Utsu Mountains,
Crossing them at dusk
In a fall of sleet;
I cannot dry my sleeves,
On this lonely journey.

Kenshō.

527

Right.

今日も又交野の御野に霙してかはく間もなき狩衣かな

kyō mo mata
katano no mino ni
mizore shite
kawaku ma mo naki
karigoromo kana		 Today once more
On the royal hunting grounds at Katano
Sleet falls;
No time at all to dry
My hunter’s garb…

Lord Tsune’ie.

528

The Right find no faults with the Left’s poem. The Left merely say that the Right’s poem sounds old-fashioned [furumekashi].

Shunzei’s judgement: ‘The Left’s ‘I cannot dry my sleeves, on this lonely journey’ (sode hoshikanetsu aware kono tabi) has a strong sound of loneliness about it [sabite wa kikoehaberu], but there is a lack of anything connected to utsu no yama in this poem. In The Tales of Ise where it says ‘By Utsu Mount in reality‘ (utsu no yamabe no utsutsu ni mo), it does not seem that sleet was falling. If there is no reason for including utsu no yama to express the sense of sleet falling, there are many other places which could have been used to express a lonely journey. As there is no reason for including it, formally [sama de] there is a lack of connection to it. The Right’s katano no mino, too, as in the poem ‘To lend lodging to keep me dry, is there no one‘ is about hail, though hawking does take place there, so the poem does sounds slightly charming [sukoshi okashiku kikoyu]. Both Left and Right use utsu no yama and katano no mino, respectively, unnecessarily – anywhere would have done as well. Both poems are equal for this reason.’

Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Winter I: 23

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Left (Win)

積もるかと見えつる雪も霙にて眺め侘ぬる冬の山里

tsumoru ka to
mietsuru yuki mo
mizore nite
nagamewabinuru
fuyu no yamazato		 Wondering at the fall
Of snow glimpsed as
It turns to sleet,
Gazing at the sight is sad, indeed,
Winterbound in my mountain home.

Lord Kanemune.

525

Right.

かき曇る同じ空より雪降れば時雨も色の變る成りけり

kakikumoru
onaji sora yori
yuki fureba
shigure mo iro no
kawaru narikeri		 Crowding clouds and when
From the self-same sky
Falls snow
The shower its very hue
Does change.

Jakuren.

526

Neither the Left nor the Right find any fault with the other’s poems this round.

Shunzei’s judgement: Although the Left’s ‘wondering at the fall of snow glimpsed’ (tsumoru ka to mietsuru yuki mo) sounds as if a first fall of snow turns into sleet later, the latter part of the poem’s conception and diction are most fine [shimo no ku no kokoro kotoba koso yoroshiku haberumere]. The Right initially makes one wonder if it is snow falling, and then has ‘the shower its very hue’ (shigure mo iro no). Neither initially nor finally is there a mention of sleet. The Left’s ‘gazing at the sight is sad’ seems particularly good, too. Thus, the Left wins.

Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Winter I: 22

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Left.

この山の峰のむら雲吹まよひ槇の葉傳ひ霙降り來ぬ

kono yama no
mine no murakumo
fukimayoi
maki no ha tsutai
mizore furikonu		 About this mountain
Peak, crowding clouds
Go scudding by;
The yew leaves tell the tale
Of fallen sleet.

Lord Sada’ie.

523

Right (Win).

雪ならばかゝらましやはうち拂ふ袖もしほたるゝ霙降るなり

yuki naraba
kakaramashi ya wa
uchiharau
sode mo shiotaruru
mizore furunari		 Were it snow
Would it be like this?
Sweeping on
My sleeves are drenched
With the sleet that’s fallen!

The Provisional Master of the Empress’ Household Office.

524

Neither Left nor Right find any fault.

Shunzei’s judgement: ‘Peak, crowding clouds go scudding by’ (mine no murakumo fukimayoi) sounds fine [yoroshiku kikoyuru], but preceding it with ‘About this mountain’ (kono yama no) is something I find myself particularly unable to accept, as I wonder to which mountain the poem refers. ‘Would it be like this? Sweeping on’ (kakaramashi ya wa uchiharau) connects well with what comes before and after it and sounds tasteful, more or less [nani to naku yū ni kikoehaberu]. The Right must win.