Monkeys 猿
三度てふ声だにきけばよそ人に物おもひまさるねをぞ嗚くなる
| mitabi chō koe dani kikeba yosobito ni mono’omoi masaru ne o zo nakunaru | When three times That call I hear, A stranger in Deepest depression is Crying out! |
Tadafusa
Tag Archives: call
Love VIII: 29
Left (Win)
つらからん中こそあらめ萩原やした松蟲の聲をだに問へ
| tsurakaran naka koso arame hagiwara ya shita matsumushi no koe o dani toe |
Cold will Our bond, no doubt, become, but Among the bush clover Eagerly awaiting, the bell-cricket’s Call is all that I would ask… |
A Servant Girl
1077
Right
夜もすがら人まつ蟲の鳴く聲を我身の上によそへてぞ聞く
| yo mo sugara hito matsu mushi no naku koe o wa ga mi no ue ni yosoete zo kiku |
All through the night A cricket pines – The song it sings Upon myself does Seem to dwell – or so it sounds… |
Lord Tsune’ie
1078
The Gentlemen of the Right state: we have no reason to mention any faults in the Left’s poem. The Gentlemen of the Left state: the Right’s poem is pedestrian.
In judgement: both poems refer to ‘bell crickets’, with the Left saying, ‘our bond, no doubt, become’ (naka koso arame), then ‘call is all that I would ask’ (koe o dani toe), and ‘eagerly awaiting, the bell cricket’ (shita matsumushi) – all of these are extremely difficult to grasp, however, the Right’s poem is pointlessly pedestrian. So, the Left wins.
Love VIII: 14
Left (Tie)
人心常は卯月の時鳥ことかたらはん聲を聞かばや
| hito kokoro tsune wa uzuki no hototogisu koto kataran koe o kikaba ya |
Her heart is Ever chill; O, for the Fourth Month Cuckoo To tell me With a gentle song! |
Lord Suetsune
1047
Right
足引の遠山鳥の一聲は我つまながらめづらしき哉
| ashihiki no tōyamadori no hitogoe wa ware tsumanagara mezurashiki kana |
Leg-wearying The distant mountain pheasant’s Call is Even for his mate A rare thing, indeed! |
Lord Tsune’ie
1048
The Gentlemen of the Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults. The Gentlemen of the Left state: the initial part of the Right’s poem has an antiquated feel.
In judgement: the Left’s ‘cuckoo’ (hototogisu) and the Right’s ‘mountain pheasant’ (yamadori) are of the same level.
GSS X: 621
Sent to a woman.
天の戸をあけぬあけぬと言ひなして空鳴きしつる鳥の声かな
| ama no to o akenu akenu to iinashite sora nakishitsuru tori no koe kana |
“The gates of Heaven Are open! Are open!” Cries A song from the sky In a bird’s call… |
Anonymous
MYS XVII: 4007
A poem to lament that his feelings of sadness were proving impossible to abate as the time of his return to the capital grew near.
我が背子は玉にもがもな霍公鳥声にあへ貫き手に巻きて行かむ
| wa ga seko pa tama ni mogamona pototogisu kowe ni apenuki te ni makite yukamu |
You, my friend, are As a jewel; On a cuckoo’s Call would I thread you, and Go clasping you in hand… |
Ōtomo no Yakamochi
The above poem was presented by Ōtomo sukune Yakamochi to Secretary Ōtomo sukune Ikenushi. 30th day of the Fourth Month.
Love IV: 27
Left.
來ぬ床は明る頼みもなき物をひまや白むと待ぞあやしき
| konu toko wa akuru tanomi mo naki mono o hima ya shiromu to matsu zo ayashiki |
An unvisited bed, Of light has No hope, but Brightening through my bedroom door Is what I am awaiting – how strange… |
Lord Kanemune.
833
Right (Win).
頼めつゝ更けゆく夜半を歎きても鳥の音をやは待あかしつる
| tanometsutsu fukeyuku yowa o nagekitemo tori no ne o ya wa matsu akashitsuru |
Time and again he’d say he’d come, and Through the deepening night I’d grieve, but Is it now for the first bird call That I have awaited the dawn? |
Lord Takanobu.
834
The Right state: ‘Unvisited bed’ (konu toko) sounds as if it is the bed doing the visiting. The Left state: we do not feel that the Right’s poem expresses its intended sense fully.
In judgement: I feel it sounds better to say that ‘through the deepening night’ (fukeyuku yowa) ‘is it now for the first bird call’ (tori no ne o ya wa) that one waits, rather than that one is in ‘an unvisited bed’ (konu toko) waiting for ‘brightening through my bedroom door’ (hima ya shiromu).