The Chrysanthemum Match held during the Reign of the Daigo Emperor[1]
Topic
Poets
秋すぎてのこれるきくはかみな月くもをわけてぞにほふべらなる
| aki sugite nokoreru kiku wa kaminazuki kumo o wakete zo niouberanaru | Autumn passes, and Lingering chrysanthemums In the Godless Month Seem to break apart the clouds With their glow. |
His Majesty’s Composition
1
霜がれになりはてぬともきくの花をる人たれととはばこたへむ
| shimogare ni narehatenu tomo kiku no hana oru hito tare to towaba kotaemu | Completely burned by frost They may have become, yet These chrysanthemum blooms, but Who was it plucked you, Should you ask, I wonder, would they reply? |
Ōn-kazashi
2
[1] Daigo ōntoki kiku awase 醍醐御時菊合
When His Majesty was recently retired, on a night when the moon was shining brightly, he sent this to him via a court lady.
すみのぼる月のひかりにさそはれてくものうへまでゆくこころかな
| suminoboru tsuki no hikari ni sasowarete kumo no ue made yuku kokoro kana | Clearly climbing The light of the moon Invites, Above the clouds, To go my heart! |
The Chancellor
Left (Win)
たまがきにひかりさしそふゆふづくよかみにたむくるかげにやあるらむ
| tamagaki ni hikari sashisouru yūzukuyo kami ni tamukuru kage ni ya aruramu | The jewelled fences, Trailed with light, On an early moonlit evening: Is this to the Deity an offering Of light, I wonder? |
Lord Fujiwara no Kunisuke
Supernumerary Senior Secretary of the Empress Household Office
Exalted Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade
39
Right
くもはらふあらしのみがく月にまたひかりをそふるあけのたまがき
| kumo harau arashi no migaku tsuki ni mata hikari o souru ake no tamagaki | Clouds swept away By the storm wind, polish The moon, so once more Light trails across The vermillion jewelled fences. |
Horikawa, from the Residence of the Former Chancellor[1]
40
The Left’s poem is extremely charming with the solicitousness it displays in the sequence ‘On an early moonlit evening: / Is this to the Deity an offering’, but it is truly regrettable that it does not use the full moon or that at the dawn. The Right’s poem focusses on ‘light trailing’ and, as I get the impression that I have heard this a lot recently, the earlier instances have said all there is to say here, so once more the overall style of the Left is superior.
[1] Zen-dajō daijin no ie Horikawa 前太政大臣家堀川
Left (Win)
すみよしのまつにとはばやおいがよにこよひばかりの月はみきやと
| sumiyoshi no matsu ni towaba ya oi ga yo ni koyoi bakari no tsuki wa miki ya to | To Sumiyoshi’s Pines I would ask, Through all the ancient ages of your lives, Is tonight, simply, The finest moon you’ve seen? |
Kyō, in service to the Regent’s Household[i]
29
Right
すみよしのうらさえわたる月みればまつのこかげぞくもりなりける
| sumiyoshi no ura saewataru tsuki mireba matsu no kokage zo kumori narikeru | When across Sumiyoshi’s Bay, so chill crossing The moon I see, The shadows from the pines are The only clouds. |
Lord Minamoto no Suehiro
Junior Fifth Rank, Upper Grade
Without Office[ii]
30
While the Left’s poem has no remarkable elements, I must say that the configuration of ‘tonight, simply’ is pleasant. As for the Right’s poem, in addition to it being quite commonplace, when composing about the brightness of the moon, to say that something is the only cloud, if you say that ‘the shadows from the pines are / The only clouds’ it certainly sounds as if that’s what they are at the very least [and thus imply that Sumiyoshi is cloudy, when the topic is the brightness of the moon], so I make the Left the winner.
[i] Sessho no ie no Kyō摂政家卿
[ii] San’i jūgoijō Minamoto ason Suehiro 散位従五位上源朝臣季広
Round Twelve
Left (Tie)
すみのぼる月のひかりにみがかれてくもりも見えずたまつしまひめ
| suminoboru tsuki no hikari ni migakurete kumori mo miezu tamatsu shimahime | Climbing clearly The moon’s light Polishes, so that No clouds appear above The divine Princess of Tamatsu Isle! |
Lord Fujiwara no Suetsune
Assistant Master of the Empress Household Office
Exalted Senior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade[1]
23
Right
すみよしのまつのこずゑにいる月はしづえのひまぞなほまたれける
| sumiyoshi no matsu no kozue ni iru tsuki wa shizue no hima zo nao matarekeru | At Sumiyoshi Into the treetops of the pines Has sunk the moon— The gaps ‘tween the lower boughs Will ever be awaited! |
Lord Fujiwara no Takanobu
Supernumerary Director of the Bureau of Horses, Right Division
Exalted Junior Fifth Rank, Upper Grade[2]
24
The conception of the Left’s poem of the moon’s light polishing Tamatsu Isle appears charming, but it would have been preferable to stop with ‘No clouds appear above / Tamatsu Isle’. Even though the poem wishes to say that ‘no clouds appear above’ her, the final use of ‘princess’ is a bit critical [for a poem mentioning a deity], isn’t it? As for the Right’s poem, while it does seem to have been composed with some attempt at conception, saying ‘Into the treetops of the pines / Has sunk the moon’ makes it sound as if the light can sink there, but this is what happens at the mountains’ edge, I feel. Thus, here we do have a reference to the moon over this particular shrine, while the Left is based on a reference to the Deity of Tamatsu Isle, and as both of these places are splendid, I hesitate to award a win or a loss and thus, once more, the round ties.
[1] Shōyon’ige-gyō chūgū no suke Fujiwara ason Suetsune正四位下行中宮亮藤原朝臣季経
[2] Jūgoijō-gyō uma no gonkami Fujiwara ason Takanobu 従五位上行右馬権頭藤原朝臣隆信
Round Three
Left (Win)
すみよしのまつのゆきあひのひまよりも月さえぬればしもはおきけり
| sumiyoshi no matsu no yukiai no hima yori mo tsuki sae nureba shimo wa okikeri | At Sumiyoshi, Pine boughs entwine, and Even from the gaps between Moonbeams drop Upon the fallen frost. |
Grand Dharma Master Shun’e[1]
5
Right
すみよしのまつのゆきあひの月かげはくもまにいづるここちこそすれ
| sumiyoshi no matsu no yukiai no tsukikage wa kumoma ni izuru kokochi koso sure | At Sumiyoshi, Pine boughs entwine, and The moonlight Emerges from between the clouds— That’s how it feels! |
Lord Fujiwara no Sanekuni
Supernumerary Middle Counsellor
Captain of the Palace Guards, Left Division
Exalted Senior Third Rank[2]
6
Both Left and Right, having the same conception contemplating ‘pine boughs entwine’, appear charming. ‘Emerges from between the clouds’ truly does sound as if it captures the moment, but the Left’s use of ‘even’ in ‘even from the gaps between’ show a deep knowledge of the world of poetry,[3] and thus, again, the Left wins.
[1] Daihōshi Shun’e 大法師俊恵
[2] Shōsan’i-gyō gonchūnagon ken saemon no kami Fujiwara ason Sanekuni 正三位行権中納言兼左衛門督藤原朝臣実国
[3] Shunzei is praising Shun’e for his knowledge of earlier poems. Shun’e’s work builds on: 夜やさむき衣やうすきかたそぎのゆきあひのまより霜やおくらむ yo ya samuki / koromo ya usuki / katasogi no / yukiai no ma yori / shimo ya okuramu ‘Is it the night’s chill, or / My scanty robe: / Where the ridge poles of My shrine / Entwine, from the gaps between / Frost does seem to fall.’ This poem is said to be by the deity of Sumiyoshi (SKKS XIX: 1855). By adding in ‘even’ (mo) to the phrase he has taken from the deity’s work, Shun’e adds to it, saying that frost falls not only from the gaps in the shrine roof, but also from between the pine boughs outside. Shunzei’s judgement acknowledges the deep knowledge of prior poetry needed for this type of usage.
