Hon’in sadaijin-ke uta’awase

Shinpen kokka taikan no.9
Heian-chō uta’awase taisei no.19
Title本院左大臣家歌合
Romanised TitleHon’in sadaijin-ke uta’awase
Translated TitlePoetry Contest at the House of the Hon’in Minister of the Lef
Alternative Title(s)Hon’in sadaijin tokihira senzai awase 本院左大臣時平前栽合 (‘Garden Contest held by Tokihira, Hon’in Minister of the Left’)
DateAutumn, Engi 5-8 [905-908]
Extant Poems20
SponsorFujiwara no Tokihira 藤原時平 (871-909)
Identifiable Participants
JudgementsN
Topicspinks (nadeshiko なでしこ); silver grass (susuki すすき); reaping silver grass (かるかや); maidenflowers (ominaeshi をみなへし); orchids (rani らに); bush clover (hagi はぎ); mountain orange (yamatachibana 山立花); scarlet leaves (momiji もみぢ); bamboo (take たけ); asters (shioni しをに); evergreens (tokiwagi ときはぎ); gentians (rindō りむだう)

This is the oldest extant example of a senzai awase 前栽合, a contest where examples of different types of plants were compared and appreciated. These events could be relatively informal, with a group of close friends sitting together at someone’s house looking out at the grounds and admiring the plants in the garden; or very elaborate, with plants specially grown for the occasion and presented in manufactured settings. Poems were often composed to accompany the enjoyment of the plants, but these were less frequently judged than was the case in other uta’awase.

We know nothing of the details of this contest, other than that it was sponsored by Tokihira during the period when he was Minister of the Left (905-908) and, given the plants and content of the poems, it would seem to have been an autumn contest.

Fubokushō XXIV: 11156

From a poetry contest at Sadafun’s house.

みねはもえふもとはこほるふじ川のわれもうき世を住みぞわづらふ

mine Fa moe
Fumoto Fa koForu
FuzigaFa no
ware mo ukiyo wo
sumi zo waduraFu
At the peak it burns and
At the foot does freeze:
The Fuji River, just as
I, too, in this cruel world
Live and suffer.

Fukayabu

This is the sole surviving poem from ‘Sadafumi’s Poetry Contest‘.

Sadafumi uta’awase

Shinpen kokka taikan no.
Heian-chō uta’awase taisei no.18
Title貞文歌合
Romanised TitleSadafumi uta’awase
Translated TitleSadafumi’s Poetry Contest
Alternative Title(s)
DateYear unknown
Extant Poems1
SponsorTaira no Sadafun 平定文
Identifiable ParticipantsKiyowara no Fukayabu
JudgementsN
Topics

The only record of this contest is a single poem in Fubokushō (XXIV: 11156) with the headnote ‘From a poetry contest at Sadafumi’s house’ (sadafumi no ie uta’awase 定文家歌合). While this is a variant title used for the earlier ‘Poetry Contest held by Sadafumi, Assistant Captain of the Outer Palace Guards, Left Division‘, the poem here does not occur in that competition’s text, nor is its topic suited to the other contest Sadafun is known to have held, and thus it seems more likely that this is from another, minor contest.

Fubokushō XVIII: 7269

Same as the previous poem.

わたの海にふるしら雪は消えながら波の心にさむさをぞそむ

wata no umi ni
Furu sirayuki Fa
kienagara
nami no kokoro ni
samusa wo zo somu
Across the broad sea sweep
Falls white snow;
It vanishes, yet
The waves’ hearts are
Dyed with cold.

Anonymous

Fubokushō XVIII: 7268

On waves chilled to the heart due to snow, from the poetry contest at Sadafun’s house, Engi 6.

ふる雪に波の心もさむからしかざがくれとやへたにたちよる

Furu yuki ni
nami no kokoro mo
samukararashi
kazagakure to ya
Feta ni tachiyoru
With the falling snow
The waves’ hearts, too,
Must be so cold;
Do they seek shelter from the wind
Breaking on the shore?

Anonymous

Uhyōe shōjō sadafumi uta’awase 6

A wave of chill in the heart due to snow (依雪波心寒)

Left

わだづもにふるしら雪は消えながら波の心にさむさをぞそむ

wadadumi ni
furu sirayuki Fa
kienagara
nami no kokoro ni
samusa wo zo somu
Across the broad sea sweep
Falls white snow;
It vanishes, yet
The waves’ hearts are
Dyed with cold.

10

Right (Win)

ふる雪に波の心もさむからし風とかくれやへたにだによる

furu yuki ni
nami no kokoro mo
samukarashi
kaze to kakure ya
Feta ni dani yoru
With the falling snow
The waves’ hearts, too,
Must be so cold;
Do they hide from the wind
Rushing to the shore?

11[1]


[1]Minor variants on these poems appear in Fubokushō (XVIII: 7269) and (XVIII: 7268).

Uhyōe shōjō sadafumi uta’awase 5

Gazing at snow on the mountain pines in the morning (秋山望松雪)

Left

おりもせず雲もかからぬ山のはに松の上なる雪をこそみれ

ori mo sezu
kumo mo kakaranu
yama no Fa ni
matu no uFe naru
yuki koso mire
Not descending
The clouds cling not
To the mountains’ edge where
Upon the pines
I clearly see the snow.

8

Right

山のはのさやかに照れる朝には松にかかれる雪もみえける

yama no Fa no
sayaka ni tereru
asita ni Fa
matu ni kakareru
yuki mo miekeru
The mountains’ edge is
Brightly shining
In the morning:
Clinging to the pines
I can see the snow.

9

Fubokushō XXIV: 11387

Same as the previous poem.

紅のはちすうきたるみどりぬにしら波たてばこきまぜの花

kurenawi no
Fatisu ukitaru
midorinu ni
siranami tateba
kokimaze no Fana
Scarlet,
The lotus floats upon
The green marsh, but
When the whitecaps rise
All jumbled will the flowers be…

Anonymous

Fubokushō XXIV: 11386

Scarlet lotus flowers floating on marsh water, from the poetry contest at Sadafun’s house, Engi 6

みどりぬにうきたるはちすくれなゐにみづにごるなり波たつなゆめ

midorinu ni
ukitaru hatisu
kurenawi ni
midu nigorunari
nami tatu na yume
Upon the green marsh
Floats a lotus
Its scarlet
Stains the waters –
O, rise not, you waves!

Anonymous

Uhyōe shōjō sadafumi uta’awase 4

Scarlet lotus flowers floating on marsh water (緑沼紅蓮浮)

Left (Win)

みどりぬにうきたるはちすくれなゐにみづにごるなり波たつなゆめ

midorinu ni
ukitaru hatisu
kurenawi ni
midu nigorunari
nami tatu na yume
Upon the green marsh
Floats a lotus
Its scarlet
Stains the waters –
O, rise not, you waves!

6

Right

紅のはちすうきたるみどりぬにしら波たてばこきまぜの花

kurenawi no
Fatisu ukitaru
midorinu ni
siranami tateba
kokimaze no Fana
Scarlet,
The lotus floats upon
The green marsh, but
When the whitecaps rise
All jumbled will the flowers be…

7[1]


[1]These poems are included in Fubokushō (XXIV: 11386) and (XXIV: 11387).