Plum-scented robes.
うめがかはわが衣手に匂ひきぬ花より過ぐる春の初かぜ
| ume ga ka wa wa ga koromode ni nioikinu hana yori suguru haru no hatsukaze | The fragrance of plum My sleeves has Come to scent, Carried from the blossom by The first breeze of spring. |
Kinkai wakashū 33
Tag Archives: first breeze
Autumn I: 4
Left.
岩間より漏り來る清水手にかけてまだ住む程ぞ秋の日數は
| iwama yori morikuru kiyomizu te ni kakete mada sumu hodo zo aki no hikazu wa |
From the cracks between the crags Pours pure water, Caught in my hands; Many yet remain Of the days of Autumn. |
307
Right.
音にのみ哀れを添へていかなれば袖に知られぬ秋の初風
| oto ni nomi aware o soete ikanareba sode ni shirarenu aki no hatsukaze |
From its sound alone Am I moved to feel, And yet My sleeves get no sense Of Autumn’s first breeze. |
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The Right say, ‘Despite the fact that it has become customary to say that coolness arrives with the beginning of Autumn, the Left’s poem, as if this were taken for granted, says the beginning of Autumn is hot! What of this?’
In response, the Left say, ‘First of all, it is taken for granted that the beginning of Autumn is hot! As is plain from “Fiery heat yet remains”. There is nothing problematic in suggesting in this topic that the beginning of autumn is hot!’
Shunzei wonders, ‘what to make of the Left’s “caught in my hands” (te ni kakete), but this is, indeed, a poem on lingering heat. As for the Right’s “From its sound alone am I moved to feel” (oto ni nomi aware o soete) – I wonder whether such a wind would really not be felt on the sleeves as well? The Left should win.’