Love and tales.[i]
| wakarenishi mukashi wa tsuyu ka asajiwara ato naki nobe ni akikaze zo fuku | Since they were parted, Were those ancient times dewdrop brief? Across the cogon grass Upon the trackless plain The autumn wind is blowing! |
546
[i] The ‘tale’ here is the Song of Everlasting Woe about the doomed love between Yang Guifei and Emperor Xuanzong
On waiting for love through the years, when folk had composed poetry.[i]
故郷のあさぢが露にむすぼほれひとりなく虫の人をうらむる
| furusato no asaji ga tsuyu ni musubōre hitori naku mushi no hito o uramuru | At this ancient estate The cogon grass by dew Is held fast, as All alone a single insect cries, Hating that man… |
513
Round Two
Left (Win)
ならしばのたびのいほりにおとづれてしぐれもいまぞやまめぐりする
| narashiba no tabi no iori ni otozurete shigure mo ima zo yama megurisuru | Oak boughs make My traveller’s hut, where I am visited by the sound of Showers—they, too, now Are on pilgrimage through the mountains.[1] |
Shōkaku
53
Right
たびごろもうらがなしかるあさぢふによはのしぐれよいかにせよとぞ
| tabigoromo uraganashikaru asajū ni yowa no shigure yo ika ni seyo to zo | In my traveller’s garb and Sad at heart among The clumps of cogon grass, O, midnight shower, Tell me, what I am I to do?[2] |
Jakuchō
54
While both Left and Right sound pleasant, I make the Left the winner, because it sounds slightly more moving at present, with a traveller’s hut being visited by showers.
[1]Alluding to: Composed when caught in a shower, while making a pilgrimage to one hundred temples in Higashiyama. もろともに山めぐりするしぐれかなふるにかひなき身とはしらずや morotomo ni / yamamegurisuru / shigure kana / furu ni kainaki / mi to wa shirazu ya ‘Together with me / On my mountain pilgrimage are / The showers! / ‘Tis pointless to fall / On my sorry self, don’t you know!’ Master of the Left Capital Office Michimasa (SKS IV: 149)
[2] Alluding to: 旅ごろもうらがなしさにあかしかね草の枕は夢もむすばず tabigoromo / uraganashisa ni / akashikane / kusa no makura wa / yume mo musubazu ‘In my traveller’s garb / My heart-sickness / I cannot lift, for / My grassy pillow / Brings no dreams, at all…’ Hikaru Genji (Genji monogatari 223)
