Left.
古の人を聞くにも秋の夜の窓打つ雨はさびしかりけり
inishie no
hito o kiku ni mo
aki no yo no
mado utsu ame wa
sabishikarikeri |
Long ago
The ladies, I hear,
On autumn nights
With rain beating ‘gainst the window
Were lonely, as am I… |
Lord Kanemune.
367
Right.
軒近き松の風だにある物を窓打ち添ふる秋の村雨
noki chikaki
matsu no kaze dani
aru mono o
mado uchisouru
aki no murasame |
Close by my eaves,
Waiting, with the wind through the pines,
Striking,
The window, beaten by
Autumn showers. |
Ietaka.
368
The Right complain, ‘In the Left’s poem, the poet seems to hear of the appearance of “long ago ladies”, but what is it that he hears – one would usually expect more, would one not?’ The Left have no criticisms of the Right’s poem.
Shunzei broadly agrees: ‘The Left’s poem, in saying “ladies, I hear” would certainly seem to be recollecting the concubines at the court of Xuanzong, but I wonder if this is clearly enough expressed in the poem? The Right’s final section “The window, beaten by Autumn showers” (mado uchisouru aki no murasame) sounds particularly fine. Thus, the Right wins.’
On autumn nights.
秋の夜を打崩したる咄かな
aki no yo o
uchikuzushitaru
hanashi kana |
The autumn night
Breaks into silence
Chattering voices. |
(21st day, Ninth Month, 1694)
Composed on the moon as a friend over many autumns at the poetry competition in the Poetry Office on the evening of the 15th of the Eighth Month.
たかさごの松もむかしになりぬべしなをゆくすゑは秋のよの月
takasago no
matsu mo mukashi ni
narinubeshi
nao yukusue wa
aki no yo no tsuki |
The Takasago
Pines will in the past
Recede, no doubt;
Still into the future passes
The moon on Autumn nights. |
The Monk Jakuren
寂蓮
Sent to a man who returned home, saying she had been slow to open her gate.
長しとて明ずやはあらむ秋の夜は待てかし槇のと計をだに
nagasi tote
akezu ya Fa aramu
aki no yo Fa
mate kasi maki no
to bakari wo dani |
It lasts long, they say,
Without a hint of light, I think?
On an Autumn night
Wait awhile! Until my cedarwood
Door opens, at least! |
Izumi Shikibu
和泉式部
Composed when a man whom she had promised to meet about the 20th of the month said it was a long time to wait.
君はまだ知らざりけりな秋の夜の木の閒の月は廿日にぞ見る
kimi Fa mada
sirazarikeri na
aki no yo no
ko no ma no tuki Fa
Fatuka ni zo miru |
You don’t yet
Know it, do you?
On an autumn night
Between the trees the moon
May fleetingly be seen. |
Izumi Shikibu
和泉式部
Composed on an occasion when people were gathered in the Thunder Court and composing poems in praise of autumn nights.
かくばかりをしと思ふ夜をいたづらにねてあかすらむ人さへぞうき
kaku bakari
osi to omoFu yo wo
itadurani
nede akasuran
Fito saFe zo uki |
On such a
Wonderful night,
Spent idly
Sleepless, the dawn
Pains one all the more. |
Ōshikōchi no Mitsune (Fl. 898-922)
凡河内躬恒
'Simply moving and elegant'