忘れ草茂れる宿を来て見れば思ひ軒より生ふるなりけり
| wasuregusa shigereru yado o kitemireba omoinoki yori ouru narikeri |
The day-lilies Are thick around this house I have come to see; Beneath the eaves, my thoughts run wild As the growing plants… |
Minamoto no Shunrai
源俊頼
Monthly Archives: September 2016
GSIS XIX: 1147
When he visited, after many years, the home of lady with whom he had once been intimate, she composed this, pretending not to know who he was.
杉も杉宿もむかしの宿ながらかはるはひとの心なりけり
| sugi mo sugi yado mo mukashi no yado nagara kawaru wa hito no kokoro narikeri |
The cedars and their Dwelling make my home just as it was So long ago; What has changed is my Heart. |
Anonymous
KKS XIV: 725
Love V: 11
Left (Win).
葉を若みまだふし馴れぬ呉竹のこはしほるべき露の上かは
| ha o wakami mada fushinarenu kuretake no ko wa shiorubeki tsuyu no ue ka wa |
Fresh leaved, and Not yet grown to knots in bed, A bamboo Maid: will she draw the Kindly dew upon her? |
Lord Sada’ie.
861
Right.
情なき風に従ふ姫百合は露けきことやならはざるらん
| nasakenaki kaze ni shitagau himeyuri wa tsuyukeki koto ya narawazaruran |
The heartless Wind brushes A young star lily: To being dew drenched Is she, perhaps, unaccustomed? |
Lord Tsune’ie.
862
The Right state: the Left’s poem has not faults to indicate. The Left state: the Right’s poem lacks the conception of Love.
In judgement: the Left uses ‘bamboo’ (kuretake) and the Right ‘star lily’ (himeyuri): although the Left’s ‘Maid: will she draw’ (ko wa shiorubeki) does not seem possible to accept on grounds of style, but the Right, in addition to also lacking much conception of Love, has ‘heartless wind’ (nasakenaki kaze) which sounds poor. Thus, the Left should win, I think.
Love V: 10
Left (Tie).
年を經て遂に逢べき中ならば齢ばかりを歎かざらまし
| toshi o hete tsui ni aubeki naka naraba yowai bakari o nagekazaramashi |
If the years go by, and Finally, that we meet Should come to pass, Just our youth Should not be a source of grief! |
Lord Suetsune.
859
Right.
比べ來し振分髪のそのかみも終の思やなを遊びけん
| kurabekoshi furiwakegami no sono kami mo tsui no omoi ya nao asobiken |
We did match Our hair, bunched on either side: Back then, That, at last, our passions would Join – I wonder, did we know it? |
Nobusada.
860
The Right state: the conception of youth is lacking. The Left state: the initial part simply resembles the original poem.
In judgement: the Left’s poem, from beginning to end, uses nothing but commonplace diction. The Right’s poem, too, really says nothing beyond the sense of its origin poem. The poems are of the same quality.
ShKKS XVII: 1608
MYS X: 1940
MYS II: 88
[One of] Four poems composed by the Empress Iwanohime, when thinking fondly of the Emperor [Nintoku].
秋の田の穂の上に霧らふ朝霞いつへの方に我が恋やまむ
| aki no ta no po no pe ni kirapu asagasumi idupe no kata ni wa ga kopiyamamu | In the autumn fields Above the ears of rice hangs The morning haze; Nowhere does My love end. |
Empress Iwanohime
磐姫皇后