なみだこそゆくへもしらねみわの崎さののわたりの雨の夕ぐれ
| namida koso yukue mo shirane miwa no saki sano no watari no ame no yūgure | Indeed, my tears Have no end, as By Miwa Point At Sano crossing falls The evening rain. |
473
Tag Archives: ame
Naidaijin-ke uta’awase 12
Round Twelve
Left (T – Win)
柞原紅ふかく染めてけり時雨の雨はいろなけれども
| hahasowara kurenai fukaku sometekeri shigure no ame wa iro nakeredomo | The oak groves Deeply scarlet Have been dyed, Though the rain shower Lacks any hue at all… |
Lord Shigemoto
23
Right (M – Win)
山里はならのから葉の散敷きてしぐれの音もはげしかりけり
| yamazato wa nara no karaba no chirishikite shigure no oto mo hageshikarikeri | My mountain retreat has The oaks’ withered leaves Scattered and spread around, so The sound of showers is all The more severe. |
Lord Tamezane
24
Toshiyori states: the ‘oak grove’ poem, saying that plants fade and autumn leaves are dyed by things like dew and frost is as unremarkable as saying that one’s sweetheart’s skirt trails down. The ‘mountain retreat’ poem has ‘the oaks’ withered leaves’ and this is problematic. It would certainly have been better to avoid using ‘withered leaves’. In addition, I wonder about saying ‘the sound of showers is severe’? I feel it would be better to use this when looking down on the stony valley gate from the high peak of Mount Arachi. The first poem is slightly superior.
Mototoshi states; the poems of Left and Right are about the same quality, but the Left’s poem lacks a conception of showers and is entirely a poem on scarlet leaves, so in the current context ‘oaks’ withered leaves’ is slightly superior.
Naidaijin-ke uta’awase 11
Round Eleven
Left
さごろもの袂はせばしかづけども時雨の雨は心してふれ
| sagoromo no tamoto wa sebashi kazukedomo shigure no ame wa kokoroshite fure | My night robe’s Sleeves are narrow: I cover myself, yet, O rain shower, Fall with care! |
Lord Toshitaka
21
Right (Both Judges – Win)
はつ時雨音信しより水ぐきの岡の梢の色をしぞ思ふ
| hatsushigure otozureshi yori mizuguki no oka no kozue no iro o shi zo omou | Since the first shower Came to call, Mizuguki Hill’s treetops’ Hues fill my thoughts… |
Lord Tokimasa
22
Toshiyori states: the poem on night robes has ‘Fall with care!’ – is this expressing regret over getting wet? In addition, there’s ‘I cover myself, yet’: it would have been preferable to have this element first. The poem on the ‘first shower’ is not that remarkable, yet it does sound smooth. ‘Hues fill my thoughts’ feels conspicuously old-fashioned, and yet composing using ‘Mizuguki’ seem superior.
Mototoshi states: what on earth is the poet doing saying his ‘night robe’ is ‘narrow’? In the Code of the Shijō Major Counsellor this is indicted to be a bad thing—‘a shallow poem with weighty words’! The poem of the Right has ‘Since the first shower / Came to call’ and I feel that this is how a poem on showers ought to be. Saying ‘Hill’s treetops’ / Hues fill my thoughts’ is a bit trite, but still charming, so this is superior, isn’t it.
Kinkai wakashū 333
Naidaijin-ke uta’awase 02
Round Two
Left (T – Tie; M – Win)
あやしくも時雨にかへる袂かなゐなの笠はらさして行けども
| ayashiku mo shigure ni kaeru tamoto kana ina no kasawara sashite yukedomo | How strange that From the shower I shelter Beneath my sleeves! Though into the umbrella of the dwarf-bamboo groves of Ina Is where I’m heading… |
A Court Lady
3
Right
ぬるれども嬉しくもあるか紅葉ばの色増す雨の雫とおもへば
| nuredomo ureshiku mo aru ka momijiba no iro masu ame no shizuku to omoeba | Soaked, yet Happy am I! For the scarlet leaves Take on brighter hues with these rain Drops, I feel… |
Lord Akikuni
4
Toshiyori states: The first poem’s section on ‘the umbrella of the dwarf-bamboo groves of Ina’ is well expressed, but then is ‘shower I shelter’ referring to clothing? The second poem can be read as meaning that the speaker is happily being soaked by raindrops standing beneath scarlet leaves on one particular day, but getting drenched by any old shower, even if it’s one which stains leaves scarlet is not something that would make one happy and, sounds tedious. Both poems sound vague, so they should tie.
Mototoshi states: ‘the shower I shelter / Beneath my sleeves’ is better than ‘Happy am I!’
Aru tokoro no shunjū mondō uta’awase
Question and Response Poetry Contest on Spring and Autumn held in a Certain Place[1]
It is entirely unclear whether this fragment of a match is an offcut of another event, such as Sadafumi uta’awase 貞文歌合 (dates unknown) or Tsurayuki uta’awase 貫之歌合 (939), in which case one can suppose the poems formed part of a larger consideration of the seasons. Another possibility, however, is that this is taken from a selection of his own poems by Ōshikōchi no Mitsune, with the final self-deprecatory comment being an indication of his unwillingness to take a view on the quality of his own work (Hagitani 1957, 233).
春にみなあひにし花の今日の雨に咲くをみるにぞ片負けぬべき
| haru ni mina ainishi hana no kyō no ame ni saku o miru ni zo katamakenubeki | In springtime, all The blossoms that I met, In the rain today I see a’blooming— Not completely inferior at all! |
1
こきまぜに花紅葉散るただ今は春秋ぞともいかがさだめむ
| kokimaze ni hana momijiba chiru tada ima wa haru aki zo to mo ikaga sadamemu | All mixed together Blossoms and scarlet leaves Scatter so now whether ‘Tis spring or autumn, How can I decide? |
2
I had thought to write down the winner and loser, but when, in my extreme ignorance, I tried judging, embarrassingly I was unable to do it. The poems are just as in the text. Incomprehensible untruths and all.
[1] Aru tokoro no shunjū mondō uta’awase 或所春秋問答歌合
Kyōgoku no miyasudokoro uta’awase 15
Original
こまなべてきみがみにくるかすがのはまつかさしげしあめにさはるな
| koma nabete kimi ga mi ni kuru kasugano wa matsukasa shigeshi ame ni sawaru na | Mounts aligned, My Lord has come to see Kasuga Plain, where The plentiful pinecones mean He’ll be untroubled by rain! |
43
Left (Win)
ぬれつつもあめにはゆかむまつかさのちとせのはるをもらさざらなむ
| nuretsutsu mo ame ni wa yukamu matsukasa no chitose no haru o morasazaranamu | Even dampened By the rain, let us go! For the pinecones Over a thousand years of springtimes Will surely not allow a single drip! |
44[1]
Right
かすがののまつかさだにもなかりせばあめふるさとにわれこましやは
| kasugano no matsukasa dani mo nakariseba ame furu sato ni ware komashi ya wa | If on Kasuga Plain Even pinecones Were there not, then, To the rainswept ancient capital Why would I come at all? |
45
[1] This poem is included in Ise-shū (107) with the headnote ‘From the time of the Kasuga Poetry Match’, implying that this is Ise’s work, even if she is not identified as the poet in the text here.
Kinkai wakashū 148
On hearing a cuckoo when I was alone on a night when it was raining heavily.
郭公なくこゑあやな五月やみきく人なしみあめは降りつつ
| hototogisu naku koe ayana satsuki yami kiku hito nashi mi ame wa furitsutsu | O, cuckoo, Giving call is strange, indeed, In the drizzling dark, For there is none to hear you, In the ever falling rain… |
Kinkai wakashū 86
SKKS XVI: 1491
When the moon was shining brightly, when a shower-filled sky had cleared.
五月雨の空だにすめる月影に涙の雨ははるるまもなし
| samidare no sora dani sumeru tsukikage ni namida no ame wa haruru ma mo nashi | Showers filled The sky, yet even they end with bright Moonlight, yet The rainfall of my tears Clears for not a moment. |
Akazome Emon
