Composed when he had gone to the Uji River.
朝ぼらけ宇治の川ぎり絶々にあらはれ渡る瀬々の網代木
| asaborake udi no kaFagiri taedae ni araFarewataru sese no aziroki |
At the dawn The mists across Uji River Fade in and out Drifting across The fishing nets in the rapids. |
Middle Councillor [Fujiwara no] Sadayori (995-1045)
中納言定頼
病葉の風のづてにも知らせばや思ひを須磨の暁の夢
| wakuraba no kaze no zute ni mo shiraseba ya omoi o suma no akatsuki no yume |
Fresh leaves Whispered by the wind Do, perhaps, reveal My love, at Suma In a dream at dawn. |
Fujiwara no Yoshitsune
沢田川真木のつきはしなかたえて霞ぞ渡る春の曙
| sawadagawa maki no tsugihashi nakadaete kasumi zo wataru haru no akebono |
At Sawada River The bridge of boards Has broken in the middle, and Only the haze does cross On this spring dawn. |
Left (Win).
戀詫びて我と眺めし夕暮も馴るれば人の形見がほなる
| koiwabite ware to nagameshi yūgure mo narureba hito no katamigao naru |
Suffering with love I have gazed Upon the evening dark, So used to it that it Has become your keepsake! |
Lord Sada’ie.
827
Right.
明ぼののあはればかりは忍ぶれど今日をば出でず春の夕暮
| akebono no aware bakari wa shinoburedo kyō oba idezu haru no yūgure |
The dawn’s Sadness, I do just Bear, but, oh, Today, it will never come – The evening in springtime! |
Nobusada.
828
The Right state: when one understands the purport of the Left’s poem, it comes as a revelation. The Left state: in the Right’s poem we are unable to grasp the sense of ‘it will never come’ (idezu). In addition, the conception of Love seems lacking.
In judgement: both poems ‘evenings’ are support by little diction, yet the conception of Love is profound, indeed, such that my own shallow knowledge finds it difficult to grasp. However, the Right’s ‘Today, it will never come’ (kyō oba idezu) certainly does seem difficult to comprehend. I would have to say that the Left’s ‘So used to it that it’ (narureba hito no) is marginally superior.
冬の夜の有明の月も塩の山指出の磯に千鳥なくなり
| fuyu no yo no ariake no tsuki mo shio no yama sashide no iso ni chidori nakunari |
A winter’s night At dawn, the moon on Mount Shio By the shore of Sashide does shine, and The plovers cry. |
Fujiwara no Ietaka
Left.
雲かゝり重なる山を越えもせず隔てまさるは明くる日の影
| kumo kakari kasanaru yama o koe mo sezu hedate masaru wa akuru hi no kage |
Trailed with cloud, The layered mountains I have not gone beyond, but What stands between us most is The light of the brightening sun. |
Lord Sada’ie.
801
Right (Win).
いさ命思ひは夜半に盡き果てぬ夕も待たじ秋の曙
| isa inochi omoi wa yowa ni tsukihatenu yūbe mo mataji aki no akebono |
I know not what’s to become of my life! All my thoughts of love in the hours of night Are quite exhausted, and I cannot wait for evening On this autumn dawn… |
Nobusada.
802
The Right state: from ‘Trailed with cloud’ (kumo kakari) to ‘The light of the brightening sun’ (akuru hi no kage), all is entirely unacceptable, is it not? The Left state: we wonder about the acceptability of ‘I know not what’s to become of my life’ (isa inochi).
In judgement: the Right have said that the Left’s poem is unacceptable from beginning to end, but can one really go so far as to say that? Furthermore, the Left query whether ‘I know not what’s to become of my life’, but I wonder whether I can recall this phrase being that bad. However, one is accustomed to saying that ‘this spring dawn’ (haru no akebono) is elegant, and although ‘this autumn dawn’ (aki no akebono) is a modern expression, the faults of the Left’s poem are particularly problematic, so the Right should win.
Left (Win).
月やそれほのみし人の面影を偲びかへせば有明の空
| tsuki ya sore honomishi hito no omokage o shinobikaeseba ariake no sora |
Was the moon her? So briefly glimpsed, her Face I bring to mind, but simply see The dawning sky… |
A Servant Girl.
791
Right.
夜もすがら苦しき戀に晴れやらぬ心迷いや明暗の空
| yomosugara kurushiki koi ni hareyaranu kokoro mayoi ya akegure no sora |
All night long From the pains of love Have I had no relief; Does the tumult in my heart reflect The shading of the dawning sky? |
Lord Tsune’ie.
792
The Right state: we find no faults in the Left’s poem. The Left state: the initial section of the Right’s poem sounds a little clumsy.
In judgement: both the Left’s ‘dawning sky’ (ariake no sora) and the Right’s ‘shading of the dawning sky’ (akegure no sora) sound pleasant, but the Left’s conception of commencing with ‘Was the moon her?’ (tsuki ya sore) and following it with ‘I bring to mind, but simply see the dawning sky’ (shinobikaeseba ariake no sora) appears particularly profoundly appropriate for the topic. Thus, the Left must win.
Left.
面影も別れに變る鐘の音にならひ悲しき東雲の空
| omokage mo wakare ni kawaru kane no oto ni narai kanashiki shinonome no sora |
That your face Is transformed to parting By the bell’s toll: How sad this custom From the eastern skies! |
Lord Sada’ie.
789
Right (Win).
暁の涙やせめてたぐふらん袖に落ち來る鐘の音かな
| akatsuki no namida ya semete tagūran sode ni ochikuru kane no oto kana |
At dawn, are My tears, forced to be Like them? Falling on my sleeves: The tolls of the bell! |
Nobusada.
790
The Right state: the sense of the Left’s poem is difficult to grasp on hearing. The Left state: the expression ‘forced to be’ (semete) seems out of place in the context of the Right’s poem.
In judgement: The Left’s poem, just as was said of Kisen’s poetry – that it was ‘obscure of diction and indefinite from beginning to end’ – seems to be in just such a style. The Right’s poem, while it does not, in fact, sound like a suitable context for ‘forced to be’ (semete), provides a profound conception in ‘falling on my sleeves’ (sode ni ochikuru). The Right should win.
Left.
つれなさの類までやはつらからぬ月をも愛でじ在明の空
| tsurenasa no tagui made ya wa tsurakaranu tsuki o mo medeji ariake no sora |
Heartless on parting are you, And just so is the Indifferent Moon – no more will I care for it! – In the sky at dawn. |
Lord Ari’ie.
787
Right (Win).
逢ふと見る情もつらし暁の露のみ深き夢の通い路
| au to miru nasake mo tsurashi akatsuki no tsuyu nomi fukaki yume no kayoiji |
We met, I saw, and How fond were you, but how cruel The dawn, when I was drenched with dew alone from The path of dreams… |
Lord Takanobu.
788
The Gentlemen of the Right state: if the Left allude to the poem ‘At the dawning / How cruel it seemed / To part’, then this poem refers to the cruelty of a lover, but their poem suggests that the moon is the cruel one. Is this appropriate? In response: ‘At the dawning / How cruel it seemed’ can also be interpreted as referring to the moon. The Gentlemen of the Left state: the Right use the diction ‘fond’ (nasake), but the sense of this does not follow in the poem.
In judgement: the Left builds on the poem which starts ‘At the dawning / How cruel it seemed / To part, but’ and then says more than the lover’s heartlessness, ‘The fading moon / Cared not at all.’ So, given that this is the case, it’s not really saying anything different from ‘No more will I care for the moon!’ As for the Right, it sounds as if the lover’s fondness appears in the ‘dream’ (yume), but the final section seems good. The Right’s poem is somewhat superior.
Left.
もの思ふ我心にもたぐへばやあはれを添ふる明暮の空
| mono’omou wa ga kokoro ni mo tagueba ya aware o souru akegure no sora |
Sunk in lonely thought Does my heart Match it? Traced with sorrow, is The sky at dawn. |
Lord Kanemune.
782
Right.
恨み詫びかへす衣のしるしだになき暁はいかが悲しき
| urami wabi kaesu koromo no shirushi dani naki akatsuki wa ikaga kanashiki |
In despite and sorrow, I reversed my garb, but To no effect; Thus, this dawn Is so much more sad… |
The Provisional Master of the Empress’ Household Office.
783
The Right state: the use of the question in the Left’s poem, means that the comparison is not made sufficiently forcefully. The Left state: we find no faults worth mentioning in particular in the Right’s poem.
In judgement: neither poem seems to have any qualities which make them worthy of a win, or a loss.