結ぶ手の袂涼しくなりゆくは泉に秋のすむにやあるらむ
| musubu te no tamoto suzushiku nariyuku wa izumi ni aki no sumu ni ya aruramu | Cupped, my hands; How cool my sleeves Are becoming Is it that by a spring that autumn Does seem to dwell? |
Yōen/Eien (1048-1125)
永縁
Tag Archives: aki
Love X: 23
Left (Tie)
我恋はしげきみ山の山人のさすがにえしもこりはてぬ哉
| wa ga koi wa shigeki miyama no yamabito no sasuga ni e shimo korihatenu kana | My love is Lush as a tree in the mountains’ heart; The mountain men with Their hatchets cannot even Begin to fell it! |
Ari’ie
1185
Right
秋かけてつま木こり積む山人ももゆる思の程は知らじな
| aki kakete tsumagi koritsumu yamabito mo moyuru omoi no hodo wa shiraji na | Into autumn Gathering piles of kindling Even a mountain man, The burning fires of my passion Can hardly know… |
Jakuren
1186
The Right state: in the Left’s poem, ‘hatchets’ (sasuga) fails to match properly. The Left state: the Right’s poem lacks faults to indicate.
In judgement: indeed, in the Left’s poem ‘hatchets’ does not sound like it matches properly. The Right’s poem has the initial ‘into autumn’ (aki kakete), but the conception of autumn does not sound necessary here. They are of the same quality.
Love VIII: 30
Left (Tie)
忘れじの契うらむる故郷の心も知らぬ松蟲の聲
| wasureji no chigiri uramuru furusato no kokoro mo shiranu matsumushi no koe |
Never will I forget you – Despairing of that vow At home All unknowing of my feelings Comes a bell cricket’s cry… |
Lord Sada’ie
1079
Right
來ぬ人の秋のけしきやふけぬらん恨みによはる松蟲の聲
| konu hito no aki no keshiki ya fukenuran urami ni yowaru matsumushi no koe |
He comes not, so Is all seeming done, as autumn Does wear on? How I envy the weakening Bell cricket’s song… |
Jakuren
1080
Left and Right: both poems are equally admirable.
In judgement: the Left’s poem, with ‘all unknowing of my feelings comes a bell cricket’s cry’ (kokoro mo shiranu matsumushi no koe) is fine. The Right, with ‘is all seeming done, as autumn does wear on’ (aki no keshiki ya fukenuran), is too, so both Left and Right do truly move the heart, do they not? I have no way of distinguishing superior from inferior here, so thus must make the round a tie.
Love VIII: 28
Left (Win)
あはれにぞ鳴あかすなる蛬われのみしぼる袖かと思ふに
| aware ni zo nakiakasunaru kirigirisu ware nomi shiboru sode ka to omou ni |
How sad it is – Crying with the dawn is The cricket, though I alone am wringing Out my sleeves, I feel. |
Lord Suetsune
1075
Right
露深きあはれを思へきりぎりす枕の下の秋の夕暮
| tsuyu fukaki aware o omoe kirigirisu makura no shita no aki no yūgure |
Deep in dew and Sad, I wish you were, O, cricket, Beneath my pillow On this autumn evening… |
Nobusada
1076
The Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults we can mention. The Gentlemen of the Left state: our feelings are the same as those of the Right
In judgement: both Left and Right are on ‘crickets’ (kirigirisu) and their configuration and diction sound equally elegantly beautiful. I feel that the Right, with ‘deep in dew and sad, I wish you were’ (tsuyu fukaki aware o omoe), is somewhat lacking in the conception of the poet’s own love, but the Left, with ‘I alone am wringing out my sleeves, I feel’ (ware nomi shiboru sode ka to omou ni), has an excellent conception of love, so I must state that the Left is the winner.
Love VIII: 27
Left (Win)
蟲の音も秋を限りと恨むなりたえぬ思やたぐひなるらん
| mushi no ne mo aki o kagiri to uramu nari taenu omoi ya tagui naruran |
The insects’ cries do Mark the bounds of autumn With despair; Are endless thoughts of love To be my only fellow? |
Lord Kanemune
1073
Right
夏蟲もうら山しきは秋の夜の露にはもえぬ思ひなりけり
| natsumushi mo urayamashiki wa aki no yo no tsuyu ni wa moenu omoi narikeri |
The fireflies are A source of envy, On an autumn night When dewfall damps down The fires of my passion… |
Ietaka
1074
The Gentlemen of the Right: the Left’s poem has no faults to mention. The Gentlemen of the Left state: we wonder about the appropriateness of ‘dewfall damps down’ (tsuyu ni wa moenu).
In judgement: the Left’s poem has been stated to be without fault by the gentlemen present. In the Right’s poem, I wonder if saying, ‘dewfall damps down’ is meaning nothing burns in autumn? On the matter of using the term ‘summer insects’ (natsumushi) to refer to fireflies, I do wonder whether it is appropriate to imply with one’s composition that there are no such insects in autumn. Although in the Collection of Poems to Sing Aloud, fireflies occur in the Summer section, among the same collection’s Chinese poems there is ‘in the dark before dawn innumerable fireflies start from the autumn grasses’. Furthermore, in Pan Anren’s ‘Rhapsody on Autumn Inspirations’ he says, ‘Glittering fireflies shine by the palace gate, and crickets sing from the eaves of the fence’. Even though there are countless cases of Autumn fireflies, how can one have composed suggesting that there are not? Thus, the Left wins.
Love VIII: 24
Left (Tie)
この比の心の底をよそに見ば鹿鳴く野邊の秋の夕暮
| kono koro no kokoro no soko o yoso ni miba shika naku nobe no aki no yūgure |
Of late Of the depths of my heart Were you to catch a distant glimpse: A stag belling in the meadow On an autumn evening… |
A Servant Girl
1067
Right
暮れかゝる裾野の露に鹿鳴きて人待つ袖も涙そふ也
| kurekakaru susono no tsuyu ni shika nakite hito matsu sode mo namida sou nari |
Twilight Drapes dewfall on the mountains’ skirts, With a stag’s sad cry; Awaiting him, my sleeves, too, Are wet with tears. |
Nobusada
1068
Left and Right together: we find no faults to mention.
In judgement: it would be impossible to ever exhaust the overtones of feeling in ‘a stag belling in the meadow on an autumn evening’ (shika naku nobe no aki no yūgure) in the Left’s poem; in the Right’s poem the configuration and conception of ‘awaiting him, my sleeves, too, are wet with tears’ (hito matsu sode mo namida sou nari) is richly evocative. I find it extremely hard to put both poems down, so this round, again, is a tie of quality.
MYS X: 2231
On wind.
萩の花咲きたる野辺にひぐらしの鳴くなるなへに秋の風吹く
| pagi no pana sakitaru nobe ni pigurasi no nakunaru nape ni aki no kaze puku |
Bush clover blooms Flowering in the fields where While the evening cicadas Sing Blows the autumn wind. |
Anonymous
MYS VII: 1364
On blossom.
見まく欲り恋ひつつ待ちし秋萩は花のみ咲きてならずかもあらむ
| mimakupori koitutu matisi aki pagi pa pana nomi sakite narazu kamo aramu |
Longing to see, and Yearning have I awaited The autumn bush clover: In flower only does it bloom – Will no more come of it that that… |
Anonymous
MYS VIII: 1600
[One of] two poems by Palace Attendant Ishikawa no Hironari.
妻恋ひに鹿鳴く山辺の秋萩は露霜寒み盛り過ぎゆく
| tumagopi ni sika naku yamabe no aki pagi pa tuyu simo samumi sakarisugiyuku |
Loving his bride A stag cries on the mountains’ edge where The autumn bush clover Chill with dew Has passed its best. |
Ishikawa no Hironari
石川広成
Love VII: 26
Left.
人心緒絶えの橋に立かへり木の葉降りしく秋の通ひ路
| hito kokoro odae no hashi ni tachikaeri ko no ha furishiku aki no kayoiji |
Our hearts On the broken bridge at Odae Do stand; Fallen leaves swept along The autumn paths back and forth… |
Lord Sada’ie.
1011
Right.
思はずに緒絶えの橋と成ぬれどなを人知れず戀わたるかな
| omowazu ni odae no hashi to narinuredo nao hito shirezu koi watarukana |
Unthinkingly To the broken bridge of Odae Have we come, yet Still, unknown to all, Might our love make a crossing? |
Lord Tsune’ie.
1012
The Gentlemen of the Right state: we wonder about the purpose of ‘fallen leaves swept along’ (ko no ha furishiku) in the Left’s poem. The Gentlemen of the Left state: the Right’s poem is pedestrian.
In judgement: Both the poems of the Left and of the Right use ‘bridge of Odae’ (odae no hashi) which is tasteful. The Left’s ‘fallen leaves swept along’ must be following Ise Monogatari. The gentlemen of the Right must surely be pretending ignorance! The poem of the Right, too, has an elegant total configuration, but ‘unknown to all’ (hito shirezu) is at odds with the emotional overtones. Thus the Left’s ‘fallen leaves swept along the autumn paths back and forth’ is better. I make it the winner.