What can I say about the path to Waka Bay: immeasurable as the depths of the sea whose bed is impossible to plumb, and as distant as a myriad leagues across the waves—an ending none can know. Verily, it draws folks’ hearts as a net pulled in across the distant tideways, but the nature of its heart is as indeterminable as a drifting fisher boat. Just as what is named ‘beach grass’ on the isle of Ise, brushed by divine winds, and magnificent reeds around Naniwa are called stubby stalks in the Eastlands, so in addition to the same poem being received differently according to folks’ hearts, there may also be flaws among the jewels of diction or gold found among the pebbles, and to close oneself off on Mount Oshio, and only mention the high points of the River Yoshino, would be a source of grief at such as degradation of the Way; thus, in awe of the divine guardian of Way, and in deference to those who love it, have I allowed the shallow spring of my own words to express the waters of my foolish heart, that the sight of them may, perhaps, be of some effect, turning my night-robes inside out, time and time again, feeling the sleeves stiff with ice.
Category Archives: Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen
Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 75
Round Twenty-Five
Left (Win)
あやなしなたぶさにずずをとりながらおもふこころのかつみだるらむ
| ayanashi na tabusa ni zuzu o torinagara omou kokoro ni katsu midaruramu | How strange it is! Within my hand sundry bijoux I hold, yet still My heart and thoughts Are all confused… |
Jakunen
149
Right
なにごとをまつとはなしにながらへていつすみよしとおもふべきみぞ
| nanigoto o matsu to wa nashi ni nagaraete itsu sumiyoshi to omoubeki mi zo | Nothing in particular Have I to expect, but I live on; O, when, that ‘tis good to live Will I come to think? |
Suke
150
The poem of the Left’s final section, saying ‘My heart and thoughts / Are all confused’ seems extremely pleasant. However, then there is ‘Within my hand sundry bijoux’: ‘sundry bijoux’ is an expression of foreign origin and sounds like prose diction. The poem of the Left seems pleasant with its allusion in ‘O, when, that ‘tis good to live’, yet the final section seems lacking in technique. While the Left’s second line gives cause for concern, its final sequencing is truly charming and thus it should win.
Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 74
Round Twenty-Four
Left (Tie)
なにごとをまつとはなしにすみよしのかみにこころをかけぬまぞなき
| nanigoto o matsu to wa nashi ni sumiyoshi no kami ni kokoro o kakenu ma zo naki | Nothing in particular Have I to expect, but Sumiyoshi’s Deity within my heart Dwells not for no moments at all! |
Shōkaku
147
Right
いたづらにおいにけるかないにしへの人のうゑけむすぎならなくに
| itazura ni oinikeru naka inishie no hito no uekemu sugi naranaku ni | How brief it’s been, but I have grown old, though By ancient Folk a planted Cedar tree I’m not… |
Jakuchō
148
The conception of the Left’s poem, saying ‘Have I to expect, but’ sounds extremely charming, but the configuration of the poem of the Right, composing ‘Folk a planted / Cedar tree I’m not’ also appears pleasant. Thus, these tie.
Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 72
Round Twenty-Two
Left
おひやらぬいはねのまつはわれなれやひさしくよよにみどりなるかな
| oiyaranu iwane no matsu wa ware nare ya hisashiku yoyo ni midori naru kana | A spindly Pine growing in the crag-cracks Am I? Forever through the years I am stuck at green! |
Minamoto no Munenaga
143
Right (Win)
いけみづのいひいでずともおもひかねふかきうれへをかみはしるらむ
| ikemizu no ii’idezu tomo omoikane fukaki uree o kami wa shiruramu | As pond waters behind A sluice gate, I say nothing, yet I cannot help but wonder: The depths of my despair— Does the deity know it? |
Fujiwara no Noritsune
144
The conception of the Left’s poem, saying, ‘Forever through the years’ sounds pleasant, but I feel it’s a bit hackneyed, given the poem, ‘Solitary pinecone / Is green!’[1] The poem of the Right’s ‘As pond waters behind / A sluice gate, I say’ is also pedestrian, yet ‘The depths of my despair— / Does the deity know it?’ contains some conception. It’s a little better, I’d say.
[1] Composed when he had gone to the residence of Narisuke, the Chief Priest of Kamo, when drunk, was sorrowing that he had yet to be promoted. もみぢするかつらのなかにすみよしのまつのみひとりみどりなるかな momijisuru / katsura no naka ni / sumiyoshi no / matsu no mi hitori / midori naru kana ‘Among the scarlet-leaved / Katsura, / Sumiyoshi’s / Solitary pinecone / Is green!’ Kunimoto, the Governor of Tsu (GSIS XVII: 987)
Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 71
Round Twenty-One
Left (Tie)
かずならぬみこそおもへばうれしけれうきにつけてぞよをもいとはむ
| kazu naranu mi koso omoeba ureshikere uki ni tsukete zo yo o mo itowamu | Not even numbered among folk Am I, thinking that Fills me with joy, but All the cruelties of this world Make me wish to leave it. |
Asamune
141
Right
ながらへばかくてのみやははてむとてすぎにしかたはなぐさみもしき
| nagaraeba kakute nomi ya wa hatemu tote suginishi kata wa nagusami mo shiki | Should I live on, then Being simply as I am Would I reach my end, I wonder? In days gone by I had some hope of consolation… |
Kanetsuna
142
The sequencing of the Left’s ‘Am I, thinking that’ appears elegant. The Right, starting with ‘Would I reach my end, I wonder?’ sounds overly forceful, yet the conception of saying ‘in days gone by’ is still pleasant. Thus, once again, I make this a tie.
Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 70
Round Twenty
Left (Tie)
みのうさをわすれぐさこそきしにおふれむべすみよしとあまもいひけれ
| mi no usa o wasuregusa koso kishi ni oure mube sumiyoshi to ama mo iikere | The misery of my life I forget among the day lilies Growing on the shore— No wonder, Sumiyoshi is a pleasant place Say the fisherfolk, too! |
Kunisuke
139
Right
よをわたるみちをたがへてまどふかないづれのかたにゆきかくれまし
| yo o wataru michi o tagaete madou kana izure no kata ni yukikakuremashi | Passing through this world My path I have mistaken and Lost become! Which way should I go to hide myself away? |
Horikawa
140
The Left has the poem ‘For folk forget among the day lilies / Growing there, or so they say.’[1] in mind and its conception, drawing upon ‘The misery of my life’ is pleasant, I have to say. The Right has a charming configuration for such a poem, but its similarity to the poem by Lord Toshiyori, ‘Deep in depression on Mount Wabuka / On my path through the world / Have I mis-stepped’[2] means that I feel it sounds hackneyed, yet the final section ‘Which way should I’ and what follows, does sound moving. I should say that these tie.
[1] Composed and sent to someone he knew who had gone to Sumiyoshi. 住吉とあまはつぐともながゐすな人忘草おふといふなり sumiyoshi to / ama wa tsugu tomo / nagai su na / hito wasuregusa / ou to iu nari ‘Sumiyoshi is a pleasant place to stay, / So say the fisher-folk, yet / Do not stay there long, in Nagai; / For folk forget among the day lilies / Growing there, or so they say.’ Mibu no Tadamine (KKS XVII: 917)
[2] [One of] a hundred poem sequence on feeling regret and shame over one’s fate. わぶか山よにふるみちをふみたがへまどひつたよふ身をいかにせん wabukayama / yo ni furu michi o / fumitagae / madoitsu tayou / mi o ika ni sen ‘Deep in depression on Mount Wabuka / On my path through the world / Have I mis-stepped, and / Wandering lost, / O, what am I to do?’Minamoto no Toshiyori (Sanboku kikashū 1427)
Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 69
Round Nineteen
Left (Win)
やはらぐるひかりをたのむしるしにはこむよのやみをてらさざらめや
| yawaraguru hikari o tanomu shirushi ni wa komu yo no yami o terasazarame ya | The God has dimmed His light, but rely on it As a sign, I will, that In the darkness of the world to come He will surely shine… |
Dharma Master Yūsei
137
Right
かみにわれたのみをかけてまつなればすみよしにこそみをばやどさめ
| kami ni ware tanomi o kakete matsu nareba sumiyoshi ni koso mi oba yadosame | In the God, I Place my trust, and Await, with the pines, so At Sumiyoshi, surely, Will I make my lodging! |
Norimori
138
The Left’s poem does not have a particularly remarkable conception, but with that being said, while its flow appears smooth, the expression of its core sentiment is, indeed, moving. As for the poem of the Right, while ‘Place my trust, and / Await, with the pines, so’ seems charming, the elevated tone of the Left is slightly superior, I think.
Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 68
Round Eighteen
Left (Tie)
すみよしのきしかたのよにひきかへてはなさくまつのみともならばや
| sumiyoshi no kishikata no yo ni hikikaete hana saku matsu no mi tomo naraba ya | On Sumiyoshi’s Shore, for the coming world I would exchange— Waiting for blossom to bloom upon the pines— Myself, that’s what I long for… |
Koretsuna
135
Right
たのみこしかみのしるしにうきよをもすみよしとだにおもひなりせば
| tanomikoshi kami no shirushi ni ukiyo o mo sumiyoshi to dani omoinariseba | I have come to rely On a sign from the God, That this cruel world, too, Even become a pleasant place to dwell— Or so I have come to think… |
Suesada
136
Both the Left and Right this round only appear skilled in their use of diction. The poem on blossom probably needs a little more work, I think, but they really are about the same.
Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 67
Round Seventeen
Left (Win)
すみよしのなごのはまべにあさりしてけふぞしりぬるいけるかひをば
| sumiyoshi no nago no hamabe ni asarishite kyō zo shirinuru ikeru kai oba | At Sumiyoshi On Nago’s seashore Have I gathered shellfish, for Today, I know too well, that There is a point to life… |
Taifu
133
Right
なげかじなよはさだめなきことのみかうきをもゆめとおもひなせかし
| nagekajina yo wa sadamenaki koto nomi ka uki o mo yume to omoinase kashi | Do not fall to grief! Is this world uncertain and Nothing more? It’s cruelties, too, as but a dream Imagine! |
Sadanaga
134
The poem of the Left has a suitable conception for this match and its configuration, again, has a singular, simple style. The poem of the Right, too, has a singular, almost prosaic conception, yet beginning ‘nothing more?’ and then having ‘imagine!’ is a further instance of diction which completely abandons poetic norms. Indeed, I have to say the Left wins.
Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 66
Round Sixteen
Left (Win)
よにすめど人しれぬみやしをりするみやまがくれのたにのしたみづ
| yo ni sumedo hito shirenu mi ya shiorisuru miyamagakure no tani no shitamizu | Dwelling within this world, yet No one knows that ‘tis as if I Were marking a trail Hidden deep within the mountains To waters flowing on the valley floor… |
Hiromori
131
Right
あしからむなにはのことはかねてよりちかくてまもれすみよしのかみ
| ashikaramu naniwa no koto wa kanete yori chikakute mamore sumiyoshi no kami | Reaping reeds, should ill fortune come From Naniwa, in all things Just in case Ward me closely O, God of Sumiyoshi! |
Dharma Master Chikyō
132
The poem of the Right here, while it does draw on ‘reaping reeds at Naniwa’, in its phrasing sounds prosaic. As the Left’s ‘waters flowing on the valley floor’ seems to flow smoothly off the tongue, it wins.
