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みなせ河有りて行く水なくはこそつひにわが身をたえぬと思はめ
| minasegaFa arite yuku midu naku Fa koso tuFi ni wa ga mi wo taenu to omoFame | Just as the waterless River Minase Is there with running rivulets Not a one, then At the end, I, as a channel buoy, Can endure no more, I feel – and yet… |
Anonymous
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Empress Dowager during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.
君こふる涙の床にみちぬれば身をつくしとぞ我はなりぬる
| kimi koFuru namida no toko ni mitinureba mi wo tukusi to zo ware Fa narinuru | Loving you With tears my bed Has completely filled, so A channel buoy, exhausted, Have I become. |
Fujiwara no Okikaze
数ならで世に住江のみをつくしいつを待つともなき身なりけり
| kazu narade yo ni sumie no mi o tsukushi itsu o matsu tomo nakimi narikeri | Countless are The generations spent at Sumie, with The channel buoys: exhausted What should I await but To be dead. |
Master of the Left Capital Office Toshiyori
15
In reply
ながれてもあふせは絶えじ住江の身をつくしてもくちはててなん
| nagaretemo ause wa taeji sumie no mi o tsukushitemo kuchihatetenan | Flowing on, yet The rapids’ meetings will not cease; At Sumie with The channel buoys, you may be exhausted, but Would you rot away… |
Kazusa, in service to the Empress
16
Left (Tie).
聞きわたるありなれ河の水にこそ影を傡べて住まゝほしけれ
| kikiwataru arinaregawa no mizu ni koso kage o narabete sumamahoshikere |
Echoes cross The Arinare River’s Waters; Bringing to mind the face Of the one I would be with… |
Kenshō
985
Right.
涙川逢ふ瀬も知らぬみをつくし丈越す程になりにけるかな
| namidagawa ause mo shiranu miotsukushi take kosu hodo ni narinikeru kana |
A river of tears: I know no way for us to meet, so The channel buoys, my soul, Are flooded over – That is how they be! |
Nobusada
986
The Gentlemen of the Right state: we are not accustomed to hearing the expression ‘Arinare River’ (arinaregawa), and the ending of the poem is old-fashioned. The Gentlemen of the Left state: ‘are flooded over’ (take kosu hodo) sounds excessively modern.
In judgement: ‘Arinare River’ is unusual, and the final section of the Left’s poem is certainly old-fashioned. The ‘river of tears’’ (namidagawa) ‘channel buoys’ (miotsukushi) do seem to be enduring an excess of water, don’t’ they! The round should tie.
Left (Win).
浪ぞ寄る来てもみるめはなき物を浦見馴れたる志賀の里人
| nami zo yoru kitemo mirume wa naki mono o urami naretaru shiga no satobito |
The waves roll in, Approaching yet, seaweed Have I none And accustomed to despair am I Like one dwelling in Shiga… |
A Servant Girl.
761
Right.
君故に涙の川に揺らさるるみをつくしともなり果てねとや
| kimi yue ni namida no kawa ni yurusaruru miotsukushi tomo narihatene to ya |
For your sake In a river of tears I am afloat; Though I am not a channel buoy, Is that how I am to reach my end? |
Lord Tsune’ie
762
The Right state: the Left’s initial line is unsatisfactory. The Left state: the Right’s central line is also unsatisfactory.
In judgement: it is not just that the Right’s central line is unsatisfactory. A channel buoy, planted in a river and rotting away is quite a commonplace occurrence. For something to be ‘afloat’ (yurasaru), you would need to refer to flotsam, either of wood or bamboo. The Left should win.
Left (Tie).
和歌の浦やなぎたる朝のみをつくし朽ちねかひなき名だに殘らで
| waka no ura yanagitaru asa no miotsukushi kuchine kainaki na dani nokorade |
At Waka Bay In the calm of morning, The channel buoys stand: exhausted I crumble, not even my useless Name remaining to me. |
183
Right (Tie).
思ひかね我夕暮の秋の日に三笠の山はさしはなれにき
| omoikane ware yūgure no aki no hi ni mikasa no yama wa sashihanareniki |
I cannot think on it more: Here, in my evening, Autumn days, Mikasa Mountain is Far away, indeed… |
184