Tag Archives: Arashi

MYS I: 74

A poem composed by the deceased Emperor on the occasion of a visit to the Yoshino Palace.

み吉野の山のあらしの寒けくにはたや今夜も我が独り寝む

miyosino no
yama no arasi no
samukeku ni
pata ya koyopi mo
wa ga pitori nemu
Though in fair Yoshino
The storm-winds off the mountains
Feel so chill,
Yet again tonight
Will I sleep alone?

Emperor Monmu (683-707; r. 697-707)
文武

Saishō chūjō kuninobu no ie no uta’awase 13

Left (Win).
思ひあまりながむる空の掻き曇り月さへ我を厭ひつるかな

omoFi’amari
nagamuru sora no
kakikumori
tuki saFe ware wo
itoFituru kana
Filled full with love
The sky on which I turn my gaze
Is drowned in darkness;
Even the moon from me
Does shy!

The Consultant Middle Captain 宰相中将
[Minamoto no Kuninobu 源国信]
25

Right.
嵐吹く夜寒の里の寝覚めにはいとど人こそ恋ひしかりけれ

arasi Fuku
yo samu no sato no
nezame ni Fa
itodo Fito koso
koFisikarikere
Stom winds rage
Round my night-chilled home;
Starting from sleep
How much more do
I love her now…

The Minister of Justice 刑部卿
[Minamoto no Akinaka 源顕仲]
26

Love VII: 6

Left (Tie).
足引の山路の秋になる袖はうつろふ人のあらしなりけり

ashihiki no
yamaji no aki ni
naru sode wa
utsurou hito no
arashi narikeri
Leg wearying
Mountain trails in autumn
Have my sleeves become,
For she fades from my life, as
A departing storm…

Lord Sada’ie.
971

Right.
この世には吉野の山の奧にだにありとはつらき人に知られじ

kono yo ni wa
yoshino no yama no
oku ni dani
ari to wa tsuraki
hito ni shirareji
Within this world, were I
In the Yoshino mountains’
Heart, even so
That cruel
One would know it not!

Jakuren.
972

The Right state: the Left’s poem does not refer to a specific mountain – we wonder whether this is acceptable? In addition, ‘in autumn have my sleeves’ (aki ni naru sode) and ‘she…as a storm’ (hito no arashi) is difficult to understand. The Left state: the Right’s poem has no faults to indicate.

In judgement: in connection with the criticism made of the Left’s poem, I do not feel that it is always essential to refer to a specific mountain. The other matters are, indeed, difficult to understand. The underlying sense of the Right’s poem seems overly pretentious. It is reminiscent of the tales of Boyi and Shuqi, or of Jie Zhitui, and Mount Shouyang and Mount Mian. Really, it does put me in mind of the Four White-Headed Recluses of Mount Shang, where it says, ‘They emerged due to the plans of Zhang Liang, made for Huidi, who said, “Though I may lie down with the greybeards, enjoying Mount Shang myself, all, in the end, are people under Zhang Liang.”’ It is extremely difficult, in the end, to make these sentiments relevant to our own land. Thus, I find it inappropriate to accept the content of the Right’s poem. The Left’s poem has its faults, too, so cursorily, I make this round a tie.

GSIS VI: 379

Composed in the Tenth Month of Jōhō 3 [1076] when the reigning emperor had made a progress to the River Ōi to go hunting.

大井川ふるきながれを尋ねきて嵐のやまの紅葉をぞ見る

oFowigaFa
Furuki nagare wo
tadunekite
arasi no yama no
momidi wo zo miru
The River Ōi:
This ancient flow
Have I come to visit, and
Around the mount of storms,
Scarlet leaves I see!

Emperor Shirakawa
白河院

Love V: 30

Left (Tie).
故郷を出でしにまさる涙かな嵐の枕夢に別れて

furusato ni
ideshi ni masaru
namida kana
arashi no makura
yume ni wakarete
My home
I left in floods
Of tears;
The wild wind round my pillow
Breaks us apart in dreams…

Lord Sada’ie
899

Right.
東路の夜半の眺めを語らなん都の山にかゝる月影

azumaji no
yowa no nagame o
kataranan
miyako no yama ni
kakaru tsukikage
Upon the eastern roads
All night I turn my gaze –
Tell him that,
O moonlight, sinking
Toward the mountains round the capital!

Nobusada
900

Both Left and Right say they find no faults.

In judgement: the Left starts with ‘My home I left in floods’ (furusato ni ideshi ni masaru) and concludes with ‘the wild wind round my pillow breaks us apart in dreams’ (arashi no makura yume ni wakarete) – this is a form of words the quality of which I am entirely unable to convey with my own clumsy expressions, but the Right’s ‘O moonlight, sinking toward the mountains round the capital’ (miyako no yama ni kakaru tsukikage) is awash with a sense of tears, so it is most unclear which should win or lose. Both truly seem to reflect the conception of this topic ‘Love and Travel’ well. The poems have been so good every round that my brush is drenched with this old man’s tears, and I can find no other way to express it.