Tag Archives: ayamushiro

Horikawa-in enjo awase 3

逢ふ事やこよひこよひとかよふまに空忘れして月日へにけり

au koto ya
koyoi koyoi to
kayou ma ni
sora wasureshite
tsukihi henikeri
I wonder will we meet
Tonight, maybe tonight, I think, and
While I’m on my way,
Forgetful of the skies,
Days and months have passed me by.

Kuninobu, the Minamoto Middle Counsellor
5

In reply.

あや莚をとなるまでも恋ひずしてまだきに床を忘るべしやは

ayamushiro
oto naru made mo
koizushite
madaki ni toko o
wasurubeshi ya wa
My patterned blanket
Lies far away, and yet
Lacking love
How swiftly my bed
Might you be able to forget?

Daishin, in service to His Former Majesty
6

Love IX: 25

Left (Tie)
出にける君が夜床の狭筵にひとり寝してや肌を触れまし

idenikeru
kimi ga yodoko no
samushiro ni
hitorineshite ya
hada o furemashi
Departed
Is he from our bed tonight, so
On his blanket
Should I sleep alone,
Might I touch his skin?

Kenshō
1129

Right
綾むしろ立ち寄る人はなけれどもあらましにのみ敷きてこそ待て

ayamushiro
tachiyoru hito wa
nakeredomo
aramashi ni nomi
shikite koso mate
To my patterned blanket
He has not
Drawn near, yet
In simple longing
Will I spread it and await him…

Lord Tsune’ie
1130

Both Left and Right together state: this seems somewhat jocular.

In judgement: the Left’s conception of starting with ‘departed’ (idenikeru), as the poem of a woman sleeping alone and finding traces of a the man who has left on the blanket, sounds extremely poor in style. On the other hand, if it is a man’s poem, has he come upon the traces of a woman after she has left? In any case, whichever it is the initial line is not good at all. The Right’s poem, with its ‘to my patterned blanket he has not drawn near, yet’ (ayamushiro tachiyoru hito wa nakeredomo), also appears to be a woman’s poem. The Left’s humour, and the Right’s longing, are both eccentric. The round must tie.