Left
神南備のもりによをへて鳴く鹿はすぎゆく秋ををしみとめなん
| kamunabi no mori ni yo o hete naku shika wa sugiyuku aki o oshimi tomenan | In sacred Forests spending his nights The belling stag The passing autumn, Regretfully, does seem to stay! |
7
Right (Win)
こゑたててなくしかばかりをしめどもすぎゆく秋はとまらざらまし
| koe tatete naku shika bakari oshimedomo sugiyuku aki wa tomarazaramashi | Belling out The crying stag is, simply, Filled with regret, yet Autumn, passing by, I would not have linger on! |
8
Left
なが月はこしひよりこそをしまるれいまはかぎりの秋とおもへば
| nagatsuki wa koshi hi yori koso oshimaru ima wa kagiri no aki to omoeba | The longest month’s[i] Days have passed, indeed, so How I regret the thought that Now the bounds of Autumn have been reached… |
5
Right (Win)
とふ人もなきものゆゑにあぢきなくいはんまもなくをしき秋かな
| tou hito mo naki mono yue ni ajikinaku iwan ma mo naku oshiki aki kana | Visiting folk are There none, so In my tedium, Needless to say, How I regret the autumn! |
6
[i] Nagatsuki 長月 (‘longest month’) was an alternate name for the Ninth Month of the lunar calendar, which was the final month of the season of autumn.
Left (Win)
あだなりと人やみるらん年毎にとまらぬあきををしむこころは
| ada nari to hito ya miruran toshigoto ni tomaranu aki o oshimu kokoro wa | Deceitful does it Appear to her? Every single year When autumn lingers not, that My heart is filled with regret… |
3
Right
よそ人も秋はをしきを浅茅生のむべもこゑごゑ鹿やなくらん
| yosobito mo aki wa oshiki o asajū no mube mo koegoe shika ya nakuran | Does even a stranger Feel regret in autumn, when From among the cogon grass, Indeed, the belling of The stags seems to sound? |
4
Regretting the passage of autumn
Left (Win)
としごとにとまらぬ秋としりながらをしむ心のこりずもあるかな
| toshigoto ni tomaranu aki to shirinagara oshimu kokoro no korizu mo aru kana | Every single year Autumn will not linger I know, yet That my heart regrets this Is something I do not dislike! |
1
Right
をしといひてうみへもさそへとびわたるいづれかあきのわたりなるらん
| oshi to iite umie mo sasoe tobiwataru izure ka aki no watarinaruran | Filled am I with regret, for The seashore beckons, and ‘Twill fly across— When will autumn Pass by, I wonder? |
2
| Shinpen kokka taikan no. | 12 |
| Heian-chō uta’awase taisei no. | 24 |
| Title | 陽成院歌合 延喜十三年九月 |
| Romanised Title | Yōzei-in uta’awase engi jūsan-nen kugatsu kokonoka |
| Translated Title | Former Emperor Yōzei’s Poetry Contest (9th day of the Ninth Month, Engi 13) |
| Alternative Title(s) | |
| Date | 9/9/ Engi 延喜 13 [11.10.913] |
| Extant Poems | 46 |
| Sponsor | Emperor Yōzei |
| Identifiable Participants | N |
| Judgements | N |
| Topics | Regretting the passage of autumn |
This is a relatively small-scale contest with forty-six poems sponsored by Emperor Yōzei 陽成 (869-949; r. 876-884) in 913. It was a privately organised and sponsored event, similar to Yōzei’s earlier contest on ‘Summer Insects’ held in the summer of this, or the previous, year. The extant texts have twenty-three rounds for forty-six poems in total, but as this is an unusual number of rounds for a contest, and given that it is listed in the contents of the early twelfth century compendium of poetry matches, Waka’awase shō 和歌合抄as having thirty rounds, it seems likely that a number of rounds have been lost over the centuries. The contest lacks any indications of judgements, nor are the names of the poets recorded, which is another indication of its nature as a private entertainment, rather than an official event, but it is remarkable among contemporaneous uta’awase for its singular focus on a single topic, and thus the way the poets explore it from a range of varying perspectives.
For a folding screen depicting a large number of travellers lying beneath blossom.
木のもとにやどりはすべし桜花ちらまくをしみ旅ならなくに
| ko no moto ni yadori wa subeshi sakurabana chiramaku oshimi tabi naranaku ni | Beneath this tree Let me lodge a while, for The cherry blossoms’ Scattering I do regret, so I’ve no cause to journey on my way… |
For a folding screen depicting a large number of travellers lying beneath blossom.
いましはと思ひし程にさくらばなちる木のもとに日数へぬべし
| ima shi wa to omoishi hodo ni sakurabana chiru ko no moto ni hikazu henubeshi | ‘Now, for sure, I’ll—’ I did think, but Cherry blossom Scattered from the trees, and beneath, Without arising, must I pass my time! |
On visiting the blossom.
はなをみん年もおもはでこし我ぞふかき山路に日数へにける
| hana o min to shi mo omowade koshi ware zo fukaki yamaji ni hikazu henikeru | To view the blossom I had no thought, but Here I am Deep upon the mountain trails Passing day after day. |
On an occasion when I had many people compose on the same conception.
さくらばなさきちるみれば山里に我ぞおほくの春はへにける
| sakurabana saki chiru mireba yamazato ni ware zo ōku no haru wa henikeru | When the cherry blossoms’ Early scattering I see, That in this mountain retreat I have many a Springtime spent, I know. |
For a folding screen painting of gazing at blossom at a mountain retreat.
時の間とおもひてこしを山ざとに花みるみるとながゐしぬべし
| toki no ma to omoitekoshi o yamazato ni hana mirumiru to nagaishinubeshi | But briefly Did I think to be In this mountain retreat, but In gazing, ever gazing at the blossom Have I lengthily tarried here! |
