Flutes 笛
まきの戸をあけがたにても笛竹のこちくの声ぞ人だのめなる
| maki no to o akegata nite mo fuetake no kochiku no koe zo hito danomenaru | By my door of cedar wood At the edge of dawn A bamboo Flute’s notes denote A trustworthy man, indeed![1] |
Daishin
[1] An allusive variation on Kintō-shū 511.
Love Interrupted by a Single Night 隔一夜恋
笛竹のあなわづらはし一夜をもこぬをつらさのふしになせとや
| fuetake no ana wazurawashi hito yo o mo konu o tsurasa no fushi ni nase to ya | A bamboo flute – Unplayed, does suffer so; Even the space of a single night He does not come, does wrench and Knot – ‘Lie down and sleep!’ should I say that? |
Toshiyori
Left (Win)
笛竹の聲のかぎりをつくしても猶憂きふしやよゝに殘らん
| fuetake no koe no kagiri o tsukushitemo nao ukifushi ya yoyo ni nokoruran |
My bamboo flute’s Voice beyond its limits Might I push, and yet Still, would this sorrow Remain – even to the world to come? |
A Servant Girl
1091
Right
わが戀はまだ吹き馴れぬ横笛の音に立つれども逢かたもなし
| wa ga koi wa mada fukinarenu yokobue no ne ni tatsuredomo au kata mo nashi |
My love: like An unpractised Set of pipes Gives out discordant sounds, yet No chance is there to meet… |
Lord Takanobu
1092
Left and Right together state: no faults.
In judgement: the Right’s pipes would seem to sound very youthful, indeed! As for the Left, although I feel I have heard such a conception before, because for the life of me I cannot recall where, the style seems tasteful. The Left wins.
Left
笛竹のただ人ふしを契とてよよの恨を残せとや思ふ
| fuetake no tada hitofushi o chigiri tote yoyo no urami o nokose to ya omou |
A bamboo flute has But a single joint – and for but one night Did we join together, so Night after night of despair Did you think to leave behind? |
Lord Sada’ie
1089
Right (Win)
はるばると浪路分来る笛竹をわが恋妻と思はましかば
| harubaru to namiji wakekuru fuetake o wa ga koizuma to omowamashikaba |
Along the distant Sea-lanes, forging, came A bamboo flute: My own true love – If only I could think it that! |
The Supernumerary Master of the Empress’ Household Office
1090
The Right state: the Left’s poem lacks any faults to mention. The Left state: the Right’s poem has not faults to point out.
In judgement: ‘night after night of despair’ (yoyo no urami o) in the Left’s poem sounds profound, but in actual fact is quite prosaic. In the Right’s poem, ‘sea-lanes, forging, came a bamboo flute’ (namiji wakekuru takefue o) has, I think, the contemporary conception of ‘it has come forging through many waves’. It seems evocative. Thus, the Right must win.