Tag Archives: Ari’ie

Spring II: 3

Left (Win)

うちむれてなれぬる人の心をば野邊の霞もへだてやはせん

uchimurete
narenuru hito no
kokoro o ba
nobe no kasumi mo
hedate ya wa sen
To a gathering
Of friendly folk
With hearts all in accord,
The haze across the fields
Will be no hindrance, at all.

Lord Ari’ie.

65

Right.

梓弓春の日ぐらし引つれているさの原にまとゐをぞする

azusayumi
haru no higurashi
hikitsurete
irusa no hara ni
matoi o zo suru
A catalpa bow:
Spring, all day long,
Drawn out
Upon Irusa Plain
Let’s music make!

Lord Tsune’ie.

66

The Right have nothing special to say about the Left’s poem, but the Left grumble that the Right’s seems to be more on the theme of bows, than ‘field pleasures’, and add that they ‘fail to understand’ the reason why Irusa Plain has been singled out, among all the plains in Japan.

Shunzei, however, says that this criticism is ‘completely unjustified’ and that the Right’s poem is ‘strictly in accord’ with the theme of ‘field pleasures’. He goes on to praise the use of association in the poem, with azusa yumi, ‘catalpa bow’, associating with haru (‘spring’, but also ‘draw (a bow)’), hiki (‘pull’), iru (‘shoot (a bow)’) and mato (‘target’). Moving on to the Left’s poem, he says that the final stanzas seem ‘particularly good’, and that it would ‘do a disservice’ to the composition of poetry if he awarded a victory based on association alone, so the Left’s poem must be the winner.

Spring I: 26

Left.

心ある射手の舎人のけしきかな玉敷く庭に鞆音ひゞきて

kokoro aru
ite no toneri no
keshiki kana
tama shiku niwa ni
tomone hibikite
Souls stirred,
The archers, guardsmen all,
Are a sight
Within the gem-strewn gardens,
As bowstring snaps to bracer!

Lord Ari’ie.

51

Right (Win).

梓弓引く手ばかりはよそなれど心にいるは雲の上人

azusayumi
hiku te bakari wa
yoso naredo
kokoro ni iru wa
kumo no uebito
A catalpa bow:
Drawn simply by the hand,
Distant, it is, yet
Letting fly, within their hearts, are
The folk above the clouds…

Jakuren.

52

The Right team remark here that they were ‘unable to grasp’ the first line of the Left’s poem, possibly suggesting a judgement that kokoro aru, which I’ve translated here as ‘Souls stirred’, and which refers to the ability to be moved emotionally by phenomena, or events, was an unsuitable expression for mere ‘guardsmen’. The Left team state bluntly that the reference to ‘the folk above the clouds’ was ‘unsuited to this rite’, meaning the New Year archery contest, in which members of the higher nobility, the ‘folk above the clouds’, did not participate.

Spring I: 22

Left (Tie).

春日野の野邊の草葉やもえぬらんけさは雪間の淺緑なる

kasugano no
nobe no kusaba ya
moenuran
kesa wa yukima no
asamidori naru
On Kasuga Plain
Has the field grass
Begun to sprout?
This morning, the patches ‘tween the snow
Are palely green…

Lord Ari’ie

43

Right (Tie).

花をのみ待らん人に山里の雪間の草の春を見せばや

hana o nomi
matsuran hito ni
yamazato no
yukima no kusa no
haru o miseba ya
Blossoms, alone,
Awaiting – to those folk,
My mountain retreat,
With grasses growing ‘tween the snow,
In springtime would I show…

Ietaka

44

Neither team has any comments to make about the other’s poem.

Shunzei remarks tha the use of no in the Left’s poem is ‘repetitious’. The Right’s phrasing ‘My mountain retreat,/With grasses growing ‘tween the snow’ (yamazato no yukima no kusa) was ‘certainly unusual’, but the poem was ‘appealing’. However, the Left’s poem is successful in evoking Kasuga Plain, and hence it is ‘difficult to judge it lacking’. Thus, a tie is the fairest result.

Spring I: 17

Left.

山川の氷のくさびうちとけて石にくだくる水の白波

yamakawa no
kōri no kusabi
uchitokete
ishi ni kudakuru
mizu no shiranami
The mountain stream’s
Icy wedges
Are melting;
Broken on the rocks
In white-capped waves of water.

Lord Ari’ie

33

Right (Win).

春風に下ゆく浪の數見えて殘ともなき薄氷かな

harukaze ni
shita yuku nami no
kazu miete
nokoru tomonaki
usukōri kana
With the breath of spring,
Flowing beneath, waves
In numbers can be seen;
Hardly any remains – just
A coating of ice.

Ietaka

34

Neither team have any comments to make about the other’s poem.

Shunzei remarks that the opening of the Left’s poem seems ‘old-fashioned’ (and hence is cliched). The conclusion is splendid, but would have been improve by the substitution of ‘crags’ (iwa) for ‘rocks’ (ishi). The Right’s poem, in the spirit of clarifying the numbers of waves of water flowing under a thin sheet of ice, ‘seems exceptional’, and so the latter poem is ‘slightly superior.’

Spring I: 11

Left (Tie).

天の原春とも見えぬながめかなこぞのなごりの雪の明ぼの

ama no hara
haru tomo mienu
nagame kana
kozo no nagori no
yuki no akebono
Upon the plain of Heaven
Of Spring there is no sign
In sight:
A memento of the year that’s gone,
Snowfall with the dawning.

Lord Ari’ie

21

Right (Tie).

なごりには春の袂も冴えにけり霞より散る雪のけしきに

nagori ni wa
haru no tamoto mo
saenikeri
kasumi yori chiru
yuki no keshiki ni
The memento
Also upon my springtime sleeves
Stands clear:
Drifting from the haze,
A scene of snow.

Nobusada

22

In this round the Right team have no criticisms to make of the Left’s poem, but the Left query beginning a poem with ‘memento’, as the audience then immediately wonder, ‘A memento of what?’

Shunzei comments that the Left’s poem starts extremely well, but that, even though ‘in sight’ (nagame kana) has been frequently used in poetry recently, its spirit has yet to be fully determined, and so including it here must be considered a mistake. Furthermore, the concluding line, ‘snowfall with the dawning’ (yuki no akebono), has also been much used in recent poetry. As for the Right’s poem, he feels it ends extremely well, but echoes the criticism of the Left about the beginning. Thus, the best result for this round is a tie.

Spring I: 3

Left (Win).

初春のけふはかしこきみことのりのべよと千世のしるしぞ置く

hatsu haru no
kyō wa kashikoki
mikotonori
nobeyo to chiyo no
shirushi zo oku
At the start of spring
Today, the awesome
Imperial Word
Announce! For a thousand generations
The signs are placed.

Lord Ari’ie
5

Right.

諸人の立ちゐる庭のさか月に光もしるし千代の初春

morobito no
tachi’iru niwa no
sakazuki ni
hikari mo shirushi
chiyo no hatsuharu
Where the courtier crowds
Sit and stand within the gardens,
Upon the wine cups
Light is e’en a sign, of
A thousand generations, at the start of spring.

Ietaka
6

Neither team finds any fault in the other’s poem this round.

Shunzei’s judgement: The conception [kokoro] of the Left’s ‘Announce! For a thousand generations the signs are placed’ (nobeyo to chiyo no shirushi zo oku) is fine [yoroshiku haberubeshi]. The configuration of the Right’s poem, too, is splendid [sugata wa yū ni haberu], but ‘wine cups’ (sakazuki) seems rather abrupt. ‘Light’ (hikari) could beimagined as coming from the moon, but its origin is not entirely clear. Thus, as a result, the Left must win.