Left.
我戀は布留野の道の小笹原いく秋風に露こぼれ來ぬ
wa ga koi wa
furuno no michi no
osasawara
iku akikaze ni
tsuyu koborekinu |
My love is as
The path to Furuno through
The bamboo groves:
With the coming of the autumn winds
An endless fall of dewdrops. |
Lord Ari’ie.
779
Right.
戀そめし心はいつぞ石上宮この奧の夕暮の空
koi someshi
kokoro wa itsu zo
isonokami
miyako no oku no
yūgure no sora |
When did this love
First touch my soul?
The ancient
Capital’s heart, gazing
At the evening skies. |
Nobusada.
780
The Right wonder with it sounds appropriate for the Left’s poem to end with kinu. The Left say that the Right’s ‘Capital’s heart’ (miyako no oku) is a vague expression.
In judgement: ‘The faults of both poems this round are so minor as not to be worth criticism. The Left’s ‘path to Furuno through the bamboo groves’ (furuno no michi no osasawara) followed with ‘the coming of the autumn winds an endless fall of dewdrops’ (iku aki kaze ni tsuyu koborekinu) sounds particularly fine [yoroshiku koso kikoe]. I wonder whether the Right’s ‘ancient’ (Isonokami) followed by ‘capital’s heart’ (miyako no oku) is really that vague? People who make such criticisms must not read poetry in the same way as this old fool. What a sad situation this is! However, the round is a good tie.’
Left.
龍田姫今はの比の秋風に時雨をいそぐ人の袖かな
tatsuta hime
ima wa no koro no
aki kaze ni
shigure o isogu
hito no sode kana |
Princess Tatsuta,
At this time, now,
With the autumn winds
Does hurry along the showers
Upon folks’ sleeves. |
A Servant Girl.
479
Right.
あはれなる身のたぐひとも思来し秋も今はの夕暮の空
awarenaru
mi no tagui tomo
omoikoshi
aki mo ima wa no
yūgure no sora |
How sad
Am I and so, too,
I’d thought was
Autumn, now ended
With the evening skies. |
Nobusada.
480
The Right state that ‘hurry along the showers’ (shigure o isogu) is lacking in technique [jutsu nashi]. The Left merely say that the Right’s poem ‘isn’t bad.’
Shunzei’s judgement: Both poems use ‘now’ (ima wa) in their diction [kotoba], in conjunction with a powerful [sechinaru] conception [kokoro] of regretting autumn’s passing. Nevertheless, the Gentleman of the Left has said the Right’s poem ‘isn’t bad’ and the Gentleman of the Right has said that of the Left ‘lacks technique’. I feel, however, that the initial conception ‘Princess Tatsuta, at this time, now’ (tatsuta hime ima wa) does not refer only to autumn [but could be used for winter, too]. The Right’s ‘Autumn, now ended with the evening skies’ (aki mo ima wa no yūgure no sora) is also somewhat lacking in technique, is it not? Thus, the round lacks a clear winner, or loser.
Left (Tie).
世の中を思ふ軒端の忍草いく代の宿と荒れかはてなん
yo no naka o
omou nokiba no
shinobugusa
iku yo no yado to
are ka hatenan |
The everyday world stands
In my thoughts, as beneath my eaves,
The ferns, each one a frond of memory:
How many ages has my dwelling stood,
Now falling to desolation? |
177
Right (Tie).
たまゆらの露も涙もとゞまらずなき人こふる宿の秋風
tamayura no
tsuyu mo namida mo
todomarazu
nakibito kōru
yado no akikaze |
Gemlet
Dewdrops and tears both,
Stay not;
She who is gone loved so
This house, brushed by autumn winds… |
178
Topic unknown.
山風はふけどふかねど白浪のよするいはねはひさしかりけり
yama kaze wa
fukedo fukanedo
shira nami no
yosuru iwane wa
hisashikarikeri |
The Autumn winds
May blow or not, yet
The whitecaps
Dash against the crags,
Enduring forever. |
Ise
伊勢
Topic unknown.
ちとせふるおのへの松は秋風の聲こそかはれいろはかはらず
chi tose furu
onoe no matsu wa
aki kaze no
koe koso kaware
iro wa kawarazu |
A thousand years aging,
The pines upon the peak,
In the Autumn winds
Give inconstant tongue,
Colours unchanging. |
Mitsune
躬恒
Topic unknown.
み吉野の象山かげにたてる松いく秋かぜにそなれきぬらん
miyosino no
kisayama kage ni
tateru matu
iku aki kaze ni
sonarekinuran |
At fair Yoshino
In the shade of Kisa moutain
Stands a pine:
How many Autumn winds
Have brought you to this pass, I wonder. |
Sone no Yoshitada
曾禰好忠
'Simply moving and elegant'