A poem from the Poetry Competition held in the reign of the Kanpyō Empress.
谷風にとくる氷のひまごとに打いづる波や春のはつ花
tanikaze ni
tokuru koFori no
Fimagoto ni
uti’iduru nami ya
Faru no FatuFana |
In the valley’s breezes
Does melt the ice, and
From every crack
Do burst waves – are these
The first blooms of spring? |
Minamoto no Masazumi
源当純
Composed as a poem on blossom.
桜咲く比良の山風吹くままに花になりゆく志賀の浦浪
sakura saku
Fira no yamakaze
Fuku mama ni
Fana ni nariyuku
siga no uranami |
Cherries flower on
Hira Mountain while
Breezes blow
All turned to blossom are
The waves on Shiga’s shore. |
Middle Captain of the Inner Palace Guards, Left Division, [Fujiwara no] Yoshitsune
左近中将良経
夏衣薄きかひなく秋待てば木の下風のやまず吹かなむ
natugoromo
usuki kaFinaku
aki mateba
ko no sitakaze no
yamazu Fukanamu |
My summer garb is
Thin, but to no effect, so
I will wait for autumn, then
Beneath the trees the breezes
Will blow ceaselessly! |
Left (Win).
夏山のこずゑも高く鳴蝉は中なか聲ぞかすかなりける
natsu yama no
kozue mo takaku
naru semi wa
nakanaka koe zo
kasukanarikeru |
In the summer mountains
Treetop high
The cicadas sing, yet
If anything, their songs
More distant have become. |
Lord Kanemune.
297
Right.
秋近き木木の梢に風越えて下葉にうつる蝉の聲ごゑ
aki chikaki
kigi no kozue ni
kaze koete
shitaba ni utsuru
semi no koegoe |
Autumn draws near, and
The trees’ tops are
Brushed by breezes;
Shifted to the lower leaves are
The cicadas’ songs. |
Ietaka.
298
The Right state the Left’s poem has nothing problematic about it. The Left wonder whether there is any evidence that cicadas move in response to wind.
Shunzei remarks, ‘The Right’s poem is, indeed, lacking in evidence. However, could it not be that cicadas would feel a sense of danger from the wind and move to a tree’s lower leaves? The Left’s poem is elegant, though, and must win.’
'Simply moving and elegant'