Left (Win)
住みなれし人はこずゑに絶えはてて琴の音にのみ通ふ松風
suminareshi
hito wa kozue ni
taehatete
koto no ne ni nomi
kayou matsukaze |
Accustomed to his being here,
Now, he comes not and from the treetops
All that endures
Are my zither’s strains,
Blending with the pines. |
Lord Ari’ie
1103
Right
聞かじただつれなき人の琴の音にいとはず通ふ松の風をば
kikaji tada
tsurenaki hito no
koto no ne ni
itowazu kayou
matsu no kaze o ba |
I will listen no more!
To that cruel man’s
Zither strains
Heedlessly blending
With the wind from off the pines… |
Nobusada
1104
The Right state: it sounds as if the man is enduring on the treetops. The Left state: ‘I will listen no more!’ (kikaji tada) is extremely coarse.
In judgement: while it may sound as if the man is enduring on the treetops in the Left’s poem, this is no more than a standard use of metaphorical expression, and the configuration of ‘accustomed to his being here, now, he comes not and from the treetops’ (suminareshi hito wa kozue ni) sounds fine, with the latter part of the poem also being elegant. The initial line of the Right’s poem has a conception of closing up the ears to block one’s auditory sense, which seems excessive. Clearly, the Left’s ‘my zither’s strains’ (koto no ne ni nomi) must win.
Left (Tie)
君ゆへもかなしき琴の音は立てつ子を思ふ鶴に通ふのみかは
kimi yue mo
kanashiki koto no
ne wa tatetsu
ko o omou tsuru ni
kayou nomi ka wa |
For you
In sadness has my zither
Put forth strains, so
Can a crane calling for her chick
Be the only one to cry? |
A Servant Girl
1101
Right
よそになる人だにつらき琴の音に子を思ふ鶴も心知られて
yoso ni naru
hito dani tsuraki
koto no ne ni
ko o omou tsuru mo
kokoro shirarete |
Strangers to me –
Even they the pain
Within my zither’s strains,
As a crane calling for her chick,
Feel in their hearts! |
Ietaka
1102
Left and Right together: no faults to mention.
In judgement: both Left and Right mention ‘a crane calling for her chick’ (ko o omou tsuru). This would appear to be after the conception of the pentachord in Bai’s Works: ‘The third and fourth strings are chill, and at night a crane, loving her chick, calls from her cage.’ This is not the usual zither with seven strings, but it is certainly also a kind of zither. In the topic ‘On Zithers’ there is certainly no issue with alluding to Japanese zithers or Chinese ones, is there? In any case, neither poem seems greatly inferior or superior, so the round ties.
Left
けふも猶雪はふりつつ春霞たてるやいづこ若菜つみてむ
kyō mo nao
yuki wa furitsutsu
harugasumi
tateru ya izuko
wakana tsumitemu |
Still yet, today
Is the snow falling;
O, spring haze
Where do you arise?
For I would go and pluck fresh herbs! |
3
In no hyakushu, shodo, Eighth Month Shōji 2 [September 1200]
Right
朝氷たがため分て此川のむかへの野べに若菜つむらん
asagōri
ta ga tame wakete
kono kawa no
mukae no nobe ni
wakana tsumuran |
This film of morning ice:
For who’s sake do I break it?
On this river’s
Yonder side within the fields
Would I pluck fresh herbs… |
4
Naidaijinke hyakushu, Ninth Month Kenpō 3 [October 1215]
Left. Spring
あら玉の年もかはらぬふるさとの雪のうちにも春はきにけり
aratama no
toshi mo kawaranu
furusato no
yuki no uchi ni mo
haru wa kinikeri |
To the fresh jeweled
Year the change has yet to come, yet
Around my familiar home
Even within the snows
The spring is here! |
1
Ninnaji gojūshu, Kenkyū 1 [1190]
Right
冬ながら花ちる空のかすめるは雲のこなたに春やきつらむ
fuyu nagara
hana chiru sora no
kasumeru wa
kumo no konata ni
haru ya kitsuramu |
It’s winter now, yet
Are the blossom-scattering skies
Hazed
Beneath the clouds by
The arrival of spring, perhaps? |
2
Left (Win)
あはれとて聞き知る人はなけれども恋しき琴の音こそ絶えせね
aware tote
kikishiru hito wa
nakeredomo
koishiki koto no
ne koso taesene |
To be moved
By hearing is there
No one, yet
My beloved zither’s
Strains sound on and on… |
Kenshō
1099
Right
なをざりにはかなくすさむ琴の音もまつには通ふ物とこそ聞け
naozari ni
hakanaku susamu
koto no ne mo
matsu ni wa kayou
mono to koso kike |
Carelessly and
Wildly plucked
My zither’s strains
Blend with the pines
I had heard… |
Lord Takanobu
1100
The Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults to mention. The Left state: the Right’s poem is not bad.
In judgement: both Gentlemen’s ‘zithers’ (koto) appear to be equally elegant, and the Right has a fine final section. The Left seems pleasant in both the initial and latter sections. So, the Left wins.
Left
あはぬまは琴柱も知らずひく琴の聞きにくきまで音にや立ててむ
awanu ma wa
kotoji mo shirazu
hiku kono no
kikinikuki made
ne ni ya tatetemu |
Yet untuned, and
Ignorant of where to place the bridge,
Playing such a zither is
Hard to hear, as
Are my constant sobs, perhaps… |
Lord Kanemune
1097
Right (Win)
松風も琴のしらべに通ふなりわがひとり寝ぞ逢ふよしもなき
matsukaze mo
koto no shirabe ni
kayou nari
wa ga hitorine zo
au yoshi mo naki |
The wind in the pines, as
Zithers’ harmony
Does blend;
Yet I am sleeping solo, with
No cause to meet at all… |
Lord Tsune’ie
1098
The Right state: the Left’s poem is preposterous. The Left state: the Right’s poem has no faults to mention.
In judgement: the Left’s poem seems to be aping the style of the Left in the previous round. As for the Right’s poem, although ‘zithers’ harmony’ (koto no shirabe) sounds modern, it is in a standard style. It should win.
Left
恋妻はあらぬしらべしらべの琴の緒かあふことかたき音のみ絶えせぬ
koizuma wa
aranu shirabe no
koto no o ka
au koto kataki
ne nomi taesenu |
My beloved wife:
Is it that untuned are
Our zithers’ strings?
So there is no harmony, and
Only my sobs are ceaseless… |
Lord Suetsune
1095
Right (Win)
松風に通ふと聞きし琴の音も物思ふ時は身にぞしみける
matsukaze ni
kayou to kikishi
koto no ne mo
mono’omou toki wa
mi ni zo shimikeru |
The wind in the pines
Resembles, I had heard,
A zither’s strains that, too,
When sunk in gloomy thought
Dye one so deeply… |
Jakuren
1096
The Right state: saying ‘our zithers’ strings?’ (koto no o ka) is unsatisfactory. The Left state: if one is not depressed, would one not be deeply affected?
In judgement: the Left certainly sounds as if something is out of tune! The Right’s poem says that on hearing the wind pass through the pine trees, one would be affected. It sounds by no means distant from the topic. Thus, the Right wins.
Left (Tie)
昔聞く君が手馴れの琴ならば夢に知られて音をも立てまし
mukashi kiku
kimi ga tenare no
koto naraba
yume ni shirarete
ne o mo tatemashi |
Long ago, I heard
Your favourite
Zither play – if that were me, then
In your dreams I would be known, and
Make a sound most sweet within your sleep… |
Lord Sada’ie
1093
Right
わぎも子が心のひかぬ琴の音は我まつにこそ通はざりけれ
wagimoko ga
kokoro no hikanu
koto no ne wa
wa ga matsu ni koso
kayowazarikere |
My darling’s
Heartstrings are not tugged
By my zither’s strains, so
Though I pine for her
‘Tis of no use at all… |
The Supernumerary Master of the Empress’ Household Office
1094
The Right state: the Left’s poem gives the impression of being based on something – but what? The Left state: the Right’s poem has no faults to mention.
In judgement: there is nothing unusual about the Left’s poem. It simply seems to be in the conception of the Man’yōshū poem where, ‘a Japanese zither made from the wood of the parasol tree transforms into a maiden in a dream, and says “When will / The day come that / I shall sing / Making his lap / My pillow?”’ I also have the feeling that it is alluding to the subsequent poem, however. So, it is certainly not the case that it is not based on anything. The Right’s poem has ‘heartstrings are not tugged’ (kokoro no hikanu) and then the metaphorical ‘though I pine for her’ (wa ga matsu ni koso), so is certainly not lacking in conception either. They are equivalent and tie.
Left (Win)
笛竹の聲のかぎりをつくしても猶憂きふしやよゝに殘らん
fuetake no
koe no kagiri o
tsukushitemo
nao ukifushi ya
yoyo ni nokoruran |
My bamboo flute’s
Voice beyond its limits
Might I push, and yet
Still, would this sorrow
Remain – even to the world to come? |
A Servant Girl
1091
Right
わが戀はまだ吹き馴れぬ横笛の音に立つれども逢かたもなし
wa ga koi wa
mada fukinarenu
yokobue no
ne ni tatsuredomo
au kata mo nashi |
My love: like
An unpractised
Set of pipes
Gives out discordant sounds, yet
No chance is there to meet… |
Lord Takanobu
1092
Left and Right together state: no faults.
In judgement: the Right’s pipes would seem to sound very youthful, indeed! As for the Left, although I feel I have heard such a conception before, because for the life of me I cannot recall where, the style seems tasteful. The Left wins.
Left
笛竹のただ人ふしを契とてよよの恨を残せとや思ふ
fuetake no
tada hitofushi o
chigiri tote
yoyo no urami o
nokose to ya omou |
A bamboo flute has
But a single joint – and for but one night
Did we join together, so
Night after night of despair
Did you think to leave behind? |
Lord Sada’ie
1089
Right (Win)
はるばると浪路分来る笛竹をわが恋妻と思はましかば
harubaru to
namiji wakekuru
fuetake o
wa ga koizuma to
omowamashikaba |
Along the distant
Sea-lanes, forging, came
A bamboo flute:
My own true love –
If only I could think it that! |
The Supernumerary Master of the Empress’ Household Office
1090
The Right state: the Left’s poem lacks any faults to mention. The Left state: the Right’s poem has not faults to point out.
In judgement: ‘night after night of despair’ (yoyo no urami o) in the Left’s poem sounds profound, but in actual fact is quite prosaic. In the Right’s poem, ‘sea-lanes, forging, came a bamboo flute’ (namiji wakekuru takefue o) has, I think, the contemporary conception of ‘it has come forging through many waves’. It seems evocative. Thus, the Right must win.
'Simply moving and elegant'