Tag Archives: dusk

Love VI: 13

Left.
ひとり寢の憂き身になるゝ秋風をつれなき人の心ともがな

hitorine no
ukimi ni naruru
akikaze o
tsurenaki hito no
kokoro tomo gana
To sleeping alone
In desolation am I accustomed;
O, that the autumn wind were
My cruel love’s
Heart…

Lord Suetsune.
925

Right (Win).
夕まぐれ吹くる秋の初風は戀せぬ人も身にやしむらん

yūmagure
fukikuru aki no
hatsukaze wa
koisenu hito mo
mi ni ya shimuran
In the evening’s dusk
Comes blowing autumn’s
First breeze;
Will one who loves not
Be pierced as am I?

Lord Tsune’ie.
926

Both Left and Right together state: we have nothing we feel we should say.

In judgement: the final section of the Left’s poem is clichéd. I also wonder about the sound of ‘in desolation am I’ (ukimi). The Right’s poem has nothing particularly remarkable about it, but it should win

Love IV: 20

Left (Win).
玉ほこの道行き人も心ありて來んと頼めよこの夕卜には

tamahoko no
michi yukibito mo
kokoro arite
kon to tanomeyo
kono yūke ni wa
Jewelled spear straight
The road for this traveller:
If he longs for me,
Let it say, ‘Come with me!’,
This evening’s fortune!

Lord Kanemune.
819

Right.
逢ことを頼むる暮と思せば入相の鐘も嬉しからまし

au koto o
tanomuru kure to
omoiseba
iriai no kane mo
ureshikaramashi
‘We will meet,
On that you can rely, at dusk,’
He made me think, so
The sunset bell, too,
Does seem full of joy!

The Provisional Master of the Empress’ Household Office.
820

The Right state: evening fortune-telling and crossroad divination are different things. The Left state: the Right’s poem has no faults.

In judgement: both evening fortune-telling and crossroad divination are conducted in the evening, and with either one could wish ‘Let it say, “Come with me!”’ (kon to tanomeyo), so this does not seem to be a mistake does it? The Right has the fault of having both ‘We will meet’ (au koto o) and ‘sunset bell, too’ (iriai no kane mo). The Left should win.

Winter I: 24

Left.

宇津の山夕越え來れば霙降り袖ほしかねつ哀この旅

utsu no yama
yū koekureba
mizore furi
sode hoshikanetsu
aware kono tabi
Gloomy in the Utsu Mountains,
Crossing them at dusk
In a fall of sleet;
I cannot dry my sleeves,
On this lonely journey.

Kenshō.

527

Right.

今日も又交野の御野に霙してかはく間もなき狩衣かな

kyō mo mata
katano no mino ni
mizore shite
kawaku ma mo naki
karigoromo kana
Today once more
On the royal hunting grounds at Katano
Sleet falls;
No time at all to dry
My hunter’s garb…

Lord Tsune’ie.

528

The Right find no faults with the Left’s poem. The Left merely say that the Right’s poem sounds old-fashioned [furumekashi].

Shunzei’s judgement: ‘The Left’s ‘I cannot dry my sleeves, on this lonely journey’ (sode hoshikanetsu aware kono tabi) has a strong sound of loneliness about it [sabite wa kikoehaberu], but there is a lack of anything connected to utsu no yama in this poem. In The Tales of Ise where it says ‘By Utsu Mount in reality‘ (utsu no yamabe no utsutsu ni mo), it does not seem that sleet was falling. If there is no reason for including utsu no yama to express the sense of sleet falling, there are many other places which could have been used to express a lonely journey. As there is no reason for including it, formally [sama de] there is a lack of connection to it. The Right’s katano no mino, too, as in the poem ‘To lend lodging to keep me dry, is there no one‘ is about hail, though hawking does take place there, so the poem does sounds slightly charming [sukoshi okashiku kikoyu]. Both Left and Right use utsu no yama and katano no mino, respectively, unnecessarily – anywhere would have done as well. Both poems are equal for this reason.’

SKS VIII: 270

Composed when she was abandoned by Ōe no Kin’yori.

夕暮はまたれしものを今はただ行くらむ方を思ひこそやれ

yuFugure Fa
mataresi mono wo
ima Fa tada
yukuramu kata wo
omoFi koso yare
The dusk
Was what I awaited once, but
Now only
Where you’re going
Dwells in my thoughts.

Sagami