Here’s the second video on the topics and images used in waka on the season of winter. This one covers: Topography (winter mountains, ice and icicles); Life(style) (being sealed in winter, blankets and bedding); and Events (the ceremony for the Recitation of the Buddhas’ Names (butsumyōe 仏名会)).
Tag Archives: blankets
Eikyū hyakushu 387
Eikyū hyakushu 12
Love IX: 30
Left (Win)
忘れずは馴し袖もやこほこほるらむ寝ぬ夜の床の霜のさむしろ
| wasurezu wa nareshi sode mo ya kōruramu nenu yo no toko no shimo no samushiro | If she should forget me not, Would those oh so familiar sleeves, too, Freeze solid? In bed on a sleepless night Frost forms on my chilly blankets… |
Lord Sada’ie
1139
Right
分てこそ中より塵は積もりぬれ恋の病に沈むさ筵
| wakete koso naka yori chiri wa tsumorinure koi no yamai ni shizumu samushiro | Split down The middle, dust Has piled up! Sunk in the sickness Of love upon this blanket! |
Lord Takanobu
1140
Left and Right together state: we find no faults to mention.
In judgement: the conception of being lost in thought of another’s sleeves ‘in bed on a sleepless night frost forms on my chilly blankets’ (nenu yo no toko no shimo no samushiro) is certainly elegant. The scene in the Right’s poem, with the blanket divided in half, with one covered with dust, and the other where the speaker lies lovesick, is distasteful and I do not find it appealing, so thus, the Left wins.
Love IX: 29
Left (Tie)
人待つと荒れ行く閨のさむしろに払はぬ塵を払ふ秋風
| hito matsu to areyuku neya no samushiro ni harawanu chiri o harau akikaze | Awaiting him in A dilapidated room’s Chill blankets, The dust I’ve left untouched is Brushed by the cloying wind of autumn. |
A Servant Girl
1137
Right
夜もすがら泪ながるる狭筵は払はぬ塵も積もらざりけり
| yomosugara namida nagaruru samushiro wa harawanu chiri mo tsumorazarikeri | All night long My tears flow upon My blanket, so Even the dust I’ve left untouched Does not pile up… |
Jakuren
1138
The Right state: we wonder about the appropriateness of the autumn wind blowing into a bedroom. The Left state: the Right’s poem has no faults to mention.
In judgment: while it does not sound as if there is a clear winner or loser between the ‘dust I’ve left untouched’ (harawanu chiri) used by both parties, why on earth should the autumn wind not blow into the Left’s bedroom? Really, there is no fault at all in saying that the wind will blow into a dilapidated bedroom! The Right has ‘dust I’ve left untouched’ flowing away with the speaker’s tears, and lacks any faults from beginning to end, but the configuration of the Left’s concluding ‘dust I’ve left untouched is brushed by the cloying wind of autumn’ is superior. The initial section of this poem is a little lacking, however, so both poems are equivalent and should tie.
Love IX: 28
Left
君とわが寝しさむしろの塵なれば形見がてらにうちも払はず
| kimi to wa ga neshi samushiro no chiri nareba katami ga tera ni uchi mo harawazu | My love and I Did sleep upon these blankets, so Even the dust there Is a memento – I cannot brush it away! |
Lord Suetsune
1135
Right (Win)
ひとり寝の床のさ筵朽ちにけり涙は袖をかぎるのみかは
| hitorine no toko no samushiro kuchinikeri namida wa sode o kagiru nomi ka wa | Sleeping solo on My bed’s blankets, They have rotted away; Tears on more than sleeves Have that effect… |
Ietaka
1136
The Right state: ‘did sleep’ (neshi) is particularly unimpressive. The Left state: ‘more than sleeves’ (sode o kagiru) is, perhaps, over-definite.
In judgement: in the Left’s poem, despite ‘did sleep upon these blankets’ (neshi samushiro) referring to something which definitely exists, it still sounds as if there is not much poetic expression in the poem. ‘Is a memento’ (katami ga tera) fails to resemble ‘for blossom viewing’ (hanami ga tera). As for the Right’s poem, I certainly would not say that ‘tears on more than sleeves have that effect’ (namida wa sode o kagiru nomi ka wa) is over-definite. It is somewhat difficult to make out on hearing, but the configuration is poetic, indeed, so the Right should win, it seems.