From the poetry match at Tsurayuki’s house in the Second Month, Tengyō 2 – The end of summer.
むかしより思ふ心はみな月のみそぎの神ぞ空にしるらん
| mukashi yori omou kokoro wa minazuki no misogi no kami zo sora ni shiruran | For a long time now, Yearning has filled my heart: In the Sixth Month The purifying deity Seems to know it well, within the skies. |
Anonymous
Round Four
Left (Both Judges – Win)
こひわぶる君が雲ゐの月ならば及ばぬ身にも影はみてまし
| koiwaburu kimi ga kumoi no tsuki naraba oyobanu mi ni mo kage wa mitemashi | So cruel in your love, My lord, above the clouds The moon were you, then Though it reaches me not I wish your light to see… |
Lady Kazusa
55
Right
いのるらん神のたたりはなさるとも逢ふてふ事に身をばけがさじ
| inoruran kami no tatari wa nasaru tomo au chō koto ni mi oba kegasaji | You seem to pray for it, and Even should a deity’s taboo This break, A meeting Would be no pollution, I feel… |
Lord Akinaka
56
Toshiyori states: the first poem makes a person into the moon, and is different in sense from the poem in the Tentoku poetry match which also uses ‘Though it reaches me not’. The second poem appears to be one written after becoming close to another—if that’s what the composition is about, then it should include an element from a prior poem for precedent. Then again, one could compose like this as a response to a prayer received from a man’s residence, in which case it would resemble something sent between people who have yet to meet. It loses.
Mototoshi states: saying ‘My lord, above the clouds / The moon were you, then’ appears an elegant sequence. I wonder if it was composed with the poem by Nakatsukasa in a poetry match in Tenryaku, where she uses ‘above the clouds, the moon’? While the ‘beloved light’ in this poem is very well depicted, here the diction seems stilted. As for the Right, up to ‘You seem to pray for it, and /Even should a deity’s taboo’ is acceptable, but ‘A meeting / Would be no pollution, I feel’ is extremely difficult to understand. Would a meeting, of whatever sort, be a cause of pollution? It really makes me feel as if something like ‘ditch’ was going to be dropped in! Neither has a charming conception, yet ‘above the clouds, the moon’ is slightly better in the present context.
Round Twenty-Four
Left (Tie)
なにごとをまつとはなしにすみよしのかみにこころをかけぬまぞなき
| nanigoto o matsu to wa nashi ni sumiyoshi no kami ni kokoro o kakenu ma zo naki | Nothing in particular Have I to expect, but Sumiyoshi’s Deity within my heart Dwells not for no moments at all! |
Shōkaku
147
Right
いたづらにおいにけるかないにしへの人のうゑけむすぎならなくに
| itazura ni oinikeru naka inishie no hito no uekemu sugi naranaku ni | How brief it’s been, but I have grown old, though By ancient Folk a planted Cedar tree I’m not… |
Jakuchō
148
The conception of the Left’s poem, saying ‘Have I to expect, but’ sounds extremely charming, but the configuration of the poem of the Right, composing ‘Folk a planted / Cedar tree I’m not’ also appears pleasant. Thus, these tie.
Round Twenty-Two
Left
おひやらぬいはねのまつはわれなれやひさしくよよにみどりなるかな
| oiyaranu iwane no matsu wa ware nare ya hisashiku yoyo ni midori naru kana | A spindly Pine growing in the crag-cracks Am I? Forever through the years I am stuck at green! |
Minamoto no Munenaga
143
Right (Win)
いけみづのいひいでずともおもひかねふかきうれへをかみはしるらむ
| ikemizu no ii’idezu tomo omoikane fukaki uree o kami wa shiruramu | As pond waters behind A sluice gate, I say nothing, yet I cannot help but wonder: The depths of my despair— Does the deity know it? |
Fujiwara no Noritsune
144
The conception of the Left’s poem, saying, ‘Forever through the years’ sounds pleasant, but I feel it’s a bit hackneyed, given the poem, ‘Solitary pinecone / Is green!’[1] The poem of the Right’s ‘As pond waters behind / A sluice gate, I say’ is also pedestrian, yet ‘The depths of my despair— / Does the deity know it?’ contains some conception. It’s a little better, I’d say.
[1] Composed when he had gone to the residence of Narisuke, the Chief Priest of Kamo, when drunk, was sorrowing that he had yet to be promoted. もみぢするかつらのなかにすみよしのまつのみひとりみどりなるかな momijisuru / katsura no naka ni / sumiyoshi no / matsu no mi hitori / midori naru kana ‘Among the scarlet-leaved / Katsura, / Sumiyoshi’s / Solitary pinecone / Is green!’ Kunimoto, the Governor of Tsu (GSIS XVII: 987)
Round Eleven
Left
ねざめしてうきよをおもひあはすればまどろむゆめにかはらざりけり
| nezameshite uki yo o omoi awasureba madoromu yume ni kawarazarikeri | When I awake, with This cruel world my thoughts Occupying, The dream that filled my doze Differed not at all… |
Hyōenokami
121
Right (Win)
すみのえのうきにおひたるしをれあしをなみひきたてよかみのめぐみに
| suminoe no uki ni oitaru shiore’ashi o nami hikitateyo kami no megumi ni | In Suminoe’s Muddy waters grows, Languishing, a reed: O, waves, lift it upright! To receive the deity’s blessing… |
Lord Michichika
122
The poem of the Left appears to have an elegant sequence, saying, ‘This cruel world my thoughts / Occupying’, but the speaker does not appear to be particularly thinking of themselves—they are simply reflecting on the transience of this world and that’s how it is. The poem of the Right begins with ‘In Suminoe’ and then has ‘Muddy waters grows’, linking the particular shore with the content. The Right should win.
Round Eight
Left
よのなかをうみわたりつつとしへぬることはつもりのかみやたすけむ
| yo no naka o umiwataritsutsu toshi henuru koto wa tsumori no kami ya tasukemu | In this mundane world, An endless sea of suffering, Have my years gone by; Might Tsumori’s Deity save me, I wonder? |
Dharma Master Shun’e
115
Right (Win)
いへのかぜわがみのうへにすずしかれかみのしるしをあふぐとならば
| ie no kaze wa ga mi no ue ni suzushikare kami no shirushi o augu to naraba | My house’s breeze of fortune To my sorry self I would bring cool, if For a sign from the God I were to seek… |
Lord Sanekuni
116
The Left’s conception is charming, beginning with ‘An endless sea of suffering’ and following this with ‘Might Tsumori’s / Deity save me, I wonder?’, but ‘endless sea of suffering’ does not sound like acceptable diction. The Right’s conception of ‘For a sign from the God / I were to seek’ sounds charming, so I make it the winner.
Left (Tie)
まつかぜにふけゆく月のすみのえはなみのよるこそたちまさりけれ
| matsukaze ni fukeyuku tsuki no suminoe wa nami o yoru koso tachimasarikere | The wind through the pines Blows late upon the moon At Suminoe, where The night’s breaking waves Rise strikingly! |
Novice Jakunen[1]
49
Right
しもならで月もるよひやかたそぎのゆきあはぬひまもかみはうれしき
| shimo narade tsuki moru yoi ya katasogi no yukiawanu hima mo kami wa ureshiki | That ‘tis not frost, but The moon, dripping at night Through the ridge poles Unmatched gaps, Does the Deity feel joy? |
Suke, from the Residence of the Former Minister of the Right[2]
50
The Left poem’s ‘Blows late upon the moon / At Suminoe’ sounds pleasant, but there have been recent poems, such as ‘Brings waves–that / I would tell you!’[3] and ‘Simply with the waves / Did seem to draw near with the night’[4] and while the initial section of the poem here differs, basing a poem on this is not that unusual, I think. The tone of the Right’s poem is charming, but it does not seem likely that the Deity would feel joy simply at the moon coming through the gaps in His ridgepoles. The Deity’s power is limitless and wards eighty isles beyond Sumiyoshi—indeed, there is nowhere in Tsumori’s shore or Sumiyoshi beach, above the waves or in the shad of the pines that it does not reach. I have discussed ridgepoles earlier. Nevertheless, the configuration of the poem isn’t bad, so these should tie, I think.
[1] Shami Jakunen 沙弥寂念
[2] Zen-udaijin no ie no Suke前右大臣家佐
[3] 人しれぬ思ひありそのはま風に浪のよるこそいはまほしけれ hito shirenu omoi ariso no hamakaze ni nami no yoru koso iwamahoshikere ‘Unknown to all / My passion burns—toward a rocky / Beach the breeze / Brings waves–that / I would tell you!’ Middle Captain Toshitada (Horikawa-in enjo awase 17/KYS (2) 468/500)
[4] Composed when he was asked by people in the capital what the moon had been like, when he had returned there, after going to Akashi to gaze upon it, at a time when it was particularly bright. 有明の月もあかしの浦風に波ばかりこそよるとみえしか ariake no tsuki mo akashi no urakaze ni nami bakari koso yoru to mieshika ‘The dawntime Moon’s brightness, with Akashi’s / Beach breezes / Simply with the waves / Did seem to draw near with the night…’ Taira no Tadamori (KYS (2) III: 216/KYS (3) III: 212)
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
さえわたる月のひかりやすみよしのまつのはしのぎふれるしらゆき
| saewataru tsuki no hikari ya sumiyoshi no matsu no ha shinogi fureru shirayuki | So chill The moon’s light, that Sumiyoshi’s Pines’ needles seem weighed down With fallen snow. |
Grand Dharma Master Yūsei[i]
37
Right (Win)
月のすむなにはのうらのけしきにはかみのこころもたえずやあるらむ
| tsuki no sumu naniwa no ura no keshiki ni wa kami no kokoro mo taezu ya aruramu | The moon rising above The bay of Naniwa— At the scene Even the Deity’s heart Must be unable to endure… |
Lord Fujiwara no Norimori
Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade
Without Office[ii]
38
The poem of the Left appears pleasant in configuration and sequencing, but it lacks any profundity of thought and simply seems to flow easily. The Right’s poem appears to have some conception, managing to follow ‘Having a sensitive heart: / To such a one would I show / The land of Tsu’[1] and also seems to sound as if it conveys the sense of the old poem about a man finding the bay of Naniwa unbearably fine[2]. With that being said, expanding this to the Deity’s heart as well is charming. Thus, the Right wins.
[1] Sent to someone’s residence, when he was in Tsu province around the beginning of the year. こころあらむ人にみせばやつのくにのなにはわたりのはるのけしきを kokoro aramu / hito ni miseba ya / tsu no kuni no / naniwa watari no / haru no keshiki o ‘I would to a sensitive / Soul show / The land of Tsu / Around Naniwa— / Truly, the scenery of spring!’ Dharma Master Dōin (GSIS I: 43)
[2] Composed as a spring poem, when he presented a hundred-poem sequence. 心なきわが身なれども津の国の難波の春にたへずも有るかな kokoro naki / wagami naredomo / tsu no kuni no / naniwa no haru ni / taezu mo aru kana ‘Insensitive / Is my sorry self, yet / In the land of Tsu / Naniwa in springtime is / Unbearably fine!’ Fujiwara no Suemichi (SZS II: 106/Kyūan hyakushu 413)
[i] Daihōshi Yūsei大法師祐盛
[ii] San’i jūgoige Fujiwara ason Norimori 散位従五位下藤原朝臣憲盛
Left (Tie)
ゆきもあはぬちぎのかたそぎもる月をしもとやかみのおもひますらむ
| yuki mo awanu chigi no katasogi moru tsuki o shimo to ya kami no omoimasuramu | Fail to entwine do The chiliad of trees, while from the ridge poles Drips the moon— ‘Tis frost, perhaps, does the Deity Deign to wonder? |
Lord Taira no Tsunemasa
Supernumerary Director of the Bureau of Horses, Left Division
Governor of Awaji
Exalted Fifth Rank, Lower Grade[i]
27
Right
しろたへのゆきかとみればかぜさえて月ぞしづるるすみよしのまつ
| shirotae no yuki ka to mireba kaze saete tsuki zo shizururu sumiyoshi no matsu | White as mulberry cloth, I wonder, if ‘tis snow, I see— In the chill wind The moon slips from The pines of Sumiyoshi… |
Lord Minamoto no Nakatsuna
Governor of Oki
Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade[ii]
28
The configuration of the Left appears elegant, but the expression ‘chiliad of trees’ was said to be impermissible by Lord Mototoshi in his judgement on a poetry competition held in a certain place. The final section, too, seems to require a bit more thought [because it’s insulting to the deity]. As for the Right, the conception of wondering if the moon’s light shining through the trees is snow slipping off them is charming, but I do wonder about the sound of ‘the moon slips’ as a piece of diction. The initial ‘white as mulberry cloth’, too, sounds like it needs further thought [because this is not used to modify ‘snow’], so these should tie.
[i] Shōgoige-gyō sauma gon-kami ken awaji no kami Taira ason Tsunemasa正五位下行左馬権頭兼淡路守平朝臣経正
[ii] Jūgoige-gyō oki no kami Minamoto ason Nakatsuna 従五位下行隠岐守源朝臣仲綱