Blankets
来たれども薄紅の厚衾色によりせば寒からましを
| kitaredomo usukurenai no atsubusuma iro ni yoriseba samukaramashi o |
He has come, yet To my pale crimson Bedding When the hues of passion come I would that it were cold… |
Tadafusa
Tag Archives: Bedding
Eikyū hyakushu 388
Blankets
君こばと埴生の小屋の床の上に麻布小衾引きてこそをれ
| kimi koba to hanyu no koya no toko no ue ni asade kobusuma hikite koso ore |
“If you should come…” I say, and In my meagre hut From atop my bed My hempen bedding I draw back! |
Minamoto no Toshiyori
源俊頼
Eikyū hyakushu 386
Blankets
冬寒み霜冴ゆる夜は明けぬれど麻の衾ぞぬがれざりける
| fuyu samumi shimo sayu yo wa akenuredo asa no fusuma zo nugarezarikeru |
How cold the winter, and Chill the frost this night; It lightens, yet My hempen bedding I have not stripped off… |
Minamoto no Akinaka
源顕仲
Kokin rokujo V: 3331
庭に立つ麻布小衾今宵だに妻よしこせぬ麻ち小衾
| niFa ni tatu asade kobusuma koyoFi dani tuma yosikosenu asati kobusuma |
Standing in the grounds, Hemp, turned meagre bedding, but Even on this night My wife will not draw near My hempen bedding! |
Kokin rokujo V: 3330
厚衾和やが下に寝たれども妹とし寝ねば肌寒しも
| atubusuma nagoya ga sita ni netaredomo imo to si neneba FadaFe samusi mo |
Piled high, my bedding, and Soft beneath Where I lie in sleep, yet I sleep not with my darling, so My skin feels a chill… |
Love V: 28
Left (Win).
旅寢する我をば床の主にて枕に宿る小夜の面影
| tabinesuru ware oba toko no aruji nite makura ni yadoru sayo no omokage |
When sleeping on my travels I of my bedding Am master! Lodging by my pillow is A face from a night too brief… |
Lord Ari’ie
895
Right.
まどろまぬその夜な夜なを數ふれば夢路も遠き草枕哉
| madoromanu sono yona yona o kazoureba yumeji mo tōki kusamakura kana |
Unable to even doze Night after night I count them up, and The path of dreams gets more Distant from my grassy pillow. |
Lord Takanobu
896
The Right state: the Left’s poem seems fine. The Left state: we find no faults to mention.
In judgement: the Right’s ‘the path of dreams gets more distant’ (yumeji mo tōki) sounds elegant, but the Left’s poem has already been assessed as ‘fine’ in the comments by the gentlemen of the Right. This round I will leave the judgement in their hands and make the Left the winner.
Winter II: 24
Left.
引きかくる閨の衾の隔てにも響きは變る鐘の音かな
| hikikakuru neya no fusuma no hedate ni mo hibiki wa kawaru kane no oto kana |
Drawn up beneath The covers in my bedchamber, and With them between The echo is somehow different When the bells chime… |
587
Right (Win).
雪の夜の思ふばかりも冴えぬこそ閨の衾のしるしなりけれ
| yuki no yo no omou bakari mo saenu koso neya no fusuma no shirushi narikere |
It is a snowy night I know, yet There is no chill: The covers in my bedchamber Have that effect! |
588
The Gentlemen of the Right state: why have the ‘bell’ (kane) here? The Gentlemen of the Left state: the Right’s poem has no faults.
Shunzei’s judgement: the Left’s poem, having the poet buried beneath his bedclothes, which alter the sound of the bell recollects a composition on the ‘bell at the Temple of Bequeathed Love’. Nevertheless, the Gentlemen of the Right have asked, ‘Why have the bell here?’, and they are right to do so. The Right’s poem, on how the feeling of cold on a chill, snowy night vanishes briefly, exactly conveys the ‘bedding’s effect’ (fusuma no shirushi). Thus, it is without fault. I must make the Right the winner.
Winter II: 23
Left (Win).
埋火のあたりの円居飽かぬ間は夜床の衾よそにこそ見れ
| uzumibi no atari no matoi akanu ma wa yodoko no fusuma yoso ni koso mire |
A charcoal fire-pit, And friendly folk gathered around: While I would not have it end My night time bedding Seems of little point! |
585
Right.
片敷きの袖冴え渡る冬の夜は床に衾の甲斐も無きかな
| katashiki no sode saewataru fuyu no yo wa toko ni fusuma no kai mo naki kana |
Just my single Sleeve is so chill On this winter’s night, The blankets on my bed Seem to do no good at all… |
586
The Gentlemen of the Right state: we wonder about the use of ‘bedding of little point’ (fusuma yoso ni)? The Gentlemen of the Left state: we find no faults in the Right’s poem.
Shunzei’s judgement: Both poems are on ‘bedding’ (fusuma), with the Left saying that it seems of little purpose at a gathering around a charcoal fire-pit, and the Right, that it seems to be thin when the cold comes. So, we go from it doing no good, even if you do have it on, to it being pointless when you are happy and warm. What point are these poems trying to make, I wonder? The Left should win.
Winter II: 22
Left.
伎倍人のまだら衾は板間より霜置く夜半の名にこそ有けれ
| kiehito no madarabusuma wa itama yori shimo oku yowa no na ni koso arikere |
The Kie folk’s Motley-coloured coverlet: From between the boards The falling midnight frost has Given that name to mine! |
583
Right.
冴ゆる夜は天つ乙女もいかならん風もたまらぬ麻手小衾
| sayuru yo wa ama tsu otome mo ika naran kaze mo tamaranu asade kobususma |
On this chill, clear night The maidens of the Heavens, too, How must they feel? Unable to avoid the wind, With only a meagre hempen blanket! |
The Provisional Master of the Empress’ Household Office.
584
The Gentlemen of the Right state: we don’t understand the reference to ‘Kie Folk’ (kiehito). In response, the Gentlemen of the Left state: it occurs in the Man’yōshū. We have nothing more to say than that.
Shunzei’s judgement: although various remarks have been made about ‘Kie Folk’, and it has been said that it occurs in the Man’yōshū, it is not acceptable to simply say that and then say nothing more. It does appear to be something which it is acceptable to extract from the Man’yōshū and compose with, though. The Right’s poem, too, with its conception of frost falling on a ‘meagre hempen blanket’ (asade kobususma) is in a Man’yō style [fūtei]. It is also certainly the case that it is not unreasonable for the Left to have used ‘motley-coloured coverlet’ (madarabususma). The Round should tie.
MYS IV: 524
[One of] three poems sent to Lady Ōtomo of Sakanoue by Fujiwara no Maro, the Master of the Capital Offices.
蒸し衾なごやが下に伏せれども妹とし寢ねば肌し寒しも
| mushibusuma nagoya ga sita ni puseredomo imo to si ineba pada si samusi mo |
My ramie cloth bedding is Soft, and beneath it I lie, yet My love, I sleep without you, so My skin does feel the chill…. |
Fujiwara no Maro