ゆく末のちとせをこめて春霞たつたの山に松風ぞふく
| yukusue no chitose o komete harugasumi tatsuta no yama ni matsukaze zo fuku | The future for A thousand years contained within The haze of spring: On the mount of Tatsuta The wind blows through the pines![i] |
661
[i] See: Topic unknown. ゆかむ人こん人しのべ春がすみたつたの山のはつさくら花 yukamu hito / kon hito shinobi / harugasumi / tatsuta no yama no / hatsu sakurabana ‘Folk who go / And those who come, secretly do dwell upon / The haze of spring / Over Mount Tatsuta’s / First flowering cherry blossoms.’ Middle Counsellor Yakamochi (Shinkokinshū I: 85)
On the conception of felicitation.
ひめしまの小松がうれにゐるたづは千とせふれども年おいずけり
| himeshima no komatsu ga ure ni iru tazu wa chitose furedomo toshi oizukeri | Among Himeshima’s[i] Pine seedling shoots Rest cranes: A thousand year may pass, yet They’ll not age through the years.[ii] |
655
[i] Himeshima 姫島 (‘Princess Isle’) was a small island which is believed to have lain in the mouth of the Yodo River where it entered the inland sea south of modern Osaka. Due to changes in topography and the river’s course since ancient times, however, its exact location is now unknown.
[ii] See: [One of] two poems composed to express his grief and sorrow by Kawabe no Miyahito when he saw the coffin of a young girl in the pine groves of Himeshima in Wadō 4 [711]. 妹之名者 千代尓将流 姫嶋之 子松之末尓 蘿生万代尓 imo ga na wa / chiyo ni nagaremu / himeshima no / komatsu ga ure ni / kokemusu made ni ‘This maiden’s name / Will drift down a thousand ages / Until Himeshima’s / Pine seedling shoots are / Choked with hanging moss.’ (Man’yōshū II: 228)
Poetry Match held by Noritada, Confucian Tutor to the Heir Apparent[i]
Topics
Poets
Judge
Sweet-flags in the Valley
Left
たにふかみたづねてぞひくあやめぐさちとせあるべきくすりとおもへば
| tani fukami tazunete zo hiku ayamegusa chitose arubeki kusuri to omoeba | Deep within the valley Seek and pick Sweet-flags! For a thousand years longevity Will their draught bring, I feel… |
1
Right
たにふかみおふるあやめのながきねはひきかつ人もあらじとぞおもふ
| tani fukami ouru ayame no nagaki ne wa hiki katsu hito mo araji to zo omou | Deep within the valley Grow sweet-flags— So long their roots that A skillful picker Is there none, I feel! |
2
Nine-knotted sweet-flags grow in valleys atop rocks, so every year on this day, folk gather together and pick sweet-flag roots to make medicine from them, so one should compose as though cupping the water of this conception in one’s hands. The overall impression of the Right’s poem, while it may be something encountered occasionally, is that it shows ignorance of the conception of the topic and only refers to how long the roots are—it loses, but there may be some depth there.
こころあさきみぎはにおふるあやめぐさひきどころなきものにざりける
| kokoro asaki migiwa ni ouru ayamegusa hikidokoro naki mono ni zarikeru | Conception shallow Right by the water’s edge a’growing Are sweet flags: There’s no value in picking Such things! |
Judge 1
[i] Tōgū gakushi noritada uta’awase 東宮学士義忠歌合
Round Four
Left
うちむれていはねにねざすこまつばのきぎのちとせはきみぞかぞへむ
| uchimurete iwane ni nezasu komatsuba no kigi no chitose wa kimi zo kazoemu | Crowding At the crags’ foot, roots stretching, The dwarf pines’ needles with The trees’ thousand years— My Lord may count them all! |
Cell of the Fragrant Elephant
63
Right (Win)
たとふべきものこそなけれ君がよははまのまさごもかずなからめや
| tatoubeki mono koso nakere kimi ga yo wa hama no masago mo kazu nakarame ya | A suitable metaphor Is there none, at all! My Lord’s reign: Even the fair sands on the shore Would not exceed its number… |
Cell of Everlasting Truth
64
Both of the Left poem’s expressions, ‘crowding’ and ‘dwarf pines’ needles’, seem to sound awkward. ‘Crowding’ is used of cranes, while it would have been preferable to say ‘the needles of the dwarf pines’. The poem of the Right is not especially charming, but it is in a familiar style, so I feel that ‘the fair sands’ number’ is superior.
I feel that ‘crowding’ is better applied to human beings. Perhaps there’s a conception here of looking down on each and every one? This is a mistake, isn’t it? In addition, what is ‘dwarf pines’ needles’? Maybe the poet is trying to say ‘the needles of the dwarf pines’? Is there a prior poem as precedent? It’s a piece of awkward-sounding diction! The Right’s poem appears straightforward, but without errors.
Round Three
Left[i]
君が代は神にぞいのる住之江の松の千年をゆづれとおもへば
| kimi ga yo wa kami ni zo inoru suminoe no matsu no chitose o yuzure to omoeba | My Lord’s reign: To the gods I pray, that Suminoe’s Pines their thousand years Pass on—that is my hope… |
Retired from the World
61a
きみがへむやちよのかずはあめにますとよをかひめの神やしるらん
| kimi ga hemu yachiyo no kazu wa ame ni masu toyo’okahime no kami ya shiruran | That my Lord will endure The number of eight thousand ages— Residing in the heavens, The Goddess of the Eternal Hills, The deity, knows well, no doubt! |
Retired from the World
61b
Right (Win)
君がよはつきじとぞおもふ春の日の御笠の山にささむかぎりは
| kimi ga yo wa tsukiji to zo omou haru no hi no mikasa no yama ni sasamu kagiri wa | My Lord’s reign Will never fade, I feel! While in spring the sun Upon Mikasa Mountain Shines down… |
Senior Assistant Minister Past Lecturer
62
Both Left and Right have neither strengths nor weakness in their diction and sense, but I feel that ‘While in spring the sun / Upon Mikasa Mountain / Shines down’ is a bit more dependable at present than ‘Suminoe’s / Pines their thousand years’.
It is certainly not the case that there are no dubious elements about the Left’s poem. As ‘eight thousand ages’ is a definite number, what is it that the Goddess of the Eternal Hills is expected to know? If this is something in the deity’s hands, then it should be, ‘does not even know the number’. I’m sure the Goddess herself would ask what she’s expected to know. The Right seems stronger.
[i] There are different poems by Eien this round in different versions of the text of the contest. As can be inferred from the judgements, Mototoshi saw the first poem and Toshiyori the second. This strongly suggests that Mototoshi’s judgements were circulated before the text of the contest was submitted to Toshiyori, and Eien revised his poem this round as a result (Kubota et al. 2018, 308).
Felicitations
Round One
Left
みどりなるまつかげひたすいけ水にちよのすみかとみゆるやどかな
| midori naru matsukage hitasu ikemizu ni chiyo no sumika to miyuru yado kana | Evergreen The pine tree’s shapes sink Into the pond waters— A residence for a thousand ages Does that dwelling seem! |
Lord Dainagon
57
Right (Win)
ちとせともいろにはいでていはし水ながれむほどは君がよなれば
| chitose to mo iro ni wa idete iwashimizu nagaremu hodo wa kimi ga yo nareba | For a thousand years or more Does its hue emerge— Spring waters from the rocks Might flow as long as My Lord’s reign will be, so… |
Lord Chūnagon
58
What on earth might be the colour of the Left poem’s ‘pine tree’s shapes sink’ and the Right poem’s ‘thousand years’ hue’? When one talks about ‘hue’ that means ‘scarlet’ and, in addition, it’s used of blossoms or autumn leaves. I have yet to see wisteria colouring the water in numerous private collections. The two poems are about the same, but the Right is marred by a series of faults.
The Left’s ‘shapes sink’ is extremely vague. ‘Sink’ means to submerge an object in water. One could certainly compose about a pine tree’s branches sinking, but how can we accept ‘shapes sink’ to mean an object’s reflection from beneath the water in the absence of a poem as precedent? The end is extremely, charming, though.
The poem of the Right doesn’t have anything special about it. It’s a pedestrian affair which doesn’t seem to show much evidence of thought. How are we to distinguish between a poem which is hackneyed but lacking any faults and one which is vague?
Round Thirteen
Left (Tie)
われもいかでよにながらへてすみよしのまつのちとせのゆくすゑもみむ
| ware mo ikade yo ni nagaraete sumiyoshi no matsu no chitose no yukusue mo mimu | Somehow, I, too, Would endure in this world, that Sumiyoshi’s Pine’s thousand years End I would see! |
Masahira
125
Right
たとへけむなみはわがみにあらはれぬこぎゆくふねのあとはほかかは
| tatoekemu nami wa wagami ni arawarenu kogiyuku fune no ato wa hoka ka wa | Might I compare The waves, which on my sorry self Have made their mark, with A boat rowing out, leaving A wake, or if not that then what? [1] |
Chikashige
126
The Left seems to be imagining something very unrealistic. The Right has the poem ‘To what should I compare it? / Just as dawn is breaking’ in mind, and appears to have the charming conception of sorrowing over the face of Grand Duke Jiang appearing in the waves on the Wei River, but ‘if not that then what?’ sounds a bit overblown. With that being said, the Left feels like a plea for good fortune, and the Right evokes impermanence. The matters are only distantly connected, and thus in terms of faults and merits they are equal.
[1] An allusive variation on: Topic unknown. 世の中をなににたとへむあさぼらけこぎゆく舟のあとのしら浪 yo no naka o / nani ni tatoemu / asaborake / kogiyuku fune no / ato no shiranami ‘This mundane world: / To what should I compare it? / Just as dawn is breaking, / A boat rows out / Whitecaps in its wake.’ Novice Mansei (SIS XX: 1327)
