いづくにて世をばつくさむすがはらやふしみの里もあれぬといふものを
| izuku nite yo oba tsukusamu sugawara ya fushimi no sato mo arenu to iu mono o | Where, indeed, Should I live my life? For among the sedge beds The estate of Fushimi Lies in ruins…[i] |
690
[i] See: Topic unknown. いざこゝにわが世は經なむ菅原や伏見の里の荒れまくもおし iza koko ni / wa ga yo wa henamu / sugawara ya / fushimi no sato no / aremaku mo oshi ‘So, here / I will pass my days: / The sedge beds of / My estate at Fushimi are / All overgrown – so sad!’ Anonymous (Kokinshū XVIII: 981)
Round Five
Left (Tie)
うちきらしあまぎるそらと見しほどにやがてつもれる雪の白山
| uchikirashi amagiru sora to mishi hodo ni yagate tsumoreru yuki no shirayama | Suddenly concealed By mist, the skies I glimpsed and In a moment drifted Snow covered Shira Mountain with white. |
Controller’s Graduate
51
Right
としをへてふし見の山にふるゆきはとこめづらにもおもしろきかな
| toshi o hete fushimi no yama ni furu yuki wa tokomezura ni mo omoshiroki kana | Through all the passing years Upon Fushimi Mountain The falling snow Feels ever fresh And full of charm! |
Kerin’in Graduate
52
The poem of the Left’s ‘Suddenly concealed / By mist, the skies’ is a clear case of repeating the same meaning. In addition, ‘snow covered Shira Mountain’ is one which is snow-capped regardless of whether it’s summer or winter. It’s not a mountain where one would be startled at seeing it ‘suddenly concealed’. The poem of the Right says that ‘through all the passing years the estate at Fushimi…feels ever fresh’, which seems as if this poem is specifying a period when this applies. It’s certainly a bit of a reach to say that this would be charming, but it’s not incongruous. Thus, I make this a tie.
I am unable to grasp the sense of the Left poem’s ‘suddenly concealed’. If it had been ‘concealed with falling’ then that would be better. In addition, I don’t understand the final ‘snow covered Shira Mountain’ either. I would have preferred it if the order had been ‘Shira Mountain’s snow’, but putting the ‘snow’ first seems to lack fluency and so, regretfully I would change this.
The Right’s ‘Fushimi Mountain’ is difficult to understand. It seems that ‘estate’ is a more standard composition, and ‘mountain’ is a novel usage. Having ‘Fushimi’ ‘feel fresh’ is evidence of thought, but even so, ‘mountain’ is vague.
When a man who had long visited a woman at the house of the Sugawara Minister, ceased coming for a while, and then came once more.
菅原や伏見の里の荒れしより通ひし人のあともたえにき
| sugaFara ya Fusimi no sato no aresi yori kayoFisi Fito no ato mo taeniki |
Sedge fields lie Around the estate of Fushimi, All long overgrown; He who passed across them Has left no tracks at all… |
Anonymous
Left (Tie).
明方に夜はなりぬとや菅原や伏見の田居に鴫ぞ立ちける
| akekata ni yo wa narinu to ya sugawara ya fushimi no tai ni shigi zo tachikeru |
Is it that dawn Has come to break the night, That from the sedge-lined Fields of Fushimi The snipe have started? |
403
Right.
明ぬるか鴫の羽がき閨過ぎて袖に月もる深草の里
| akenuru ka shigi no hanegaki neya sugite sode ni tsuki moru fukakusa no sato |
Has dawn come? The snipe’s wingbeats Cross my bedchamber, Sleeves lit by lonely moonlight In the overgrown depths of Fukakusa… |
404
The Right state, ‘There is no precedent for the addition of “fields” (tai) to “sedge-lined Fushimi” (sugawara ya fushimi). In addition, using ya at the end of both the second and third lines is grating on the ear.’ The Left merely remark, ‘“Fukakusa” is now, perhaps more commonly associated with quail.”
Shunzei’s judgement: ‘In regard to the Right’s poem, although one would really like there to be a precedent, and there are doubtless rice fields in “sedge-lined Fushimi”, I do still feel that “fields” here is a little outre, is it not? While the Left’s “sleeved lit by lonely moonlight” (sode ni tsuki moru) is superlative, I would prefer “quail” to be associated with “Fukakusa”. If snipe call for a place name, it is not Fukakusa, but Yamada, I would think. Both poems are excellent, but with faults, and for this reason the round ties.’
Being in a place called Fushimi, someone composed this on the spirit of the place:
菅原や伏見の暮に見わたせば霞にまがふ小初瀬の山
| sugaFara ya Fusimi no kure ni miwataseba kasumi ni magaFu woFatuse no yama |
When from the sedge fields Of Fushimi at evening time I gaze across, A mere haze does seem The mount of Hatsuse! |
Anonymous
Left.
夕立はなごりも見えず晴にけりいづら小河の音ばかりして
| yūdachi wa nagori mo miezu harenikeri izura ogawa no oto bakarishite |
The evening shower Leaving no trace Has cleared; Where is the stream? Amidst the sound of trickling water… |
285
Right (Win).
初瀬山入日はさせど菅原や伏見の里は夕立の空
| hatsuseyama irihi wa sasedo sugawara ya fushimi no sato wa yūdachi no sora |
From Hatsuse Mountain The setting sun does shine, yet Above Sugawara and The estate of Fushimi Evening showers fill the sky. |
The Provisional Master of the Empress’ Household Office.
286
Neither Left nor Right has anything to say this round.
Shunzei simply says, ‘The Right’s “The estate of Fushimi evening showers fill the sky” is particularly fine. The Right must win.’
Left (Tie).
海渡る浦こぐ舟のいたづらに磯路を過てぬれし浪かな
| umi wataru ura kogu fune no itazura ni isoji o sugite nureshi nami kana |
Crossing the seas, Within the bay, rowing boats Futilely Past the rocky shore of fifty years, Wetted with waves of tears. |
191
Right (Tie).
あれまくや伏見の里の出がてにうきをしらでぞ今日にあひぬる
| aremaku ya fushimi no sato no idegate ni uki o shirade zo kyō ni ainuru |
All overgrown, My estate at Fushimi I Am unable to depart; In ignorance of the sadness of the world Have I come upon this day. |
192
A man, who had been visiting a woman in the house of the Sugawara Minister of the Right [Michizane], broke off their relationship, then wrote to her again; she replied:
| sugaFara ya Fusimi no sato no aresi yori kayoFisi Fito no ato mo taeniki |
The Sugawara Estate of Fushimi Is all overgrown, and Of him who used to come here Every single trace has gone! |
Anonymous
Topic unknown.
いざこゝにわが世は經なむ菅原や伏見の里の荒れまくもおし
| iza koko ni wa ga yo Fa Fenamu sugaFara ya Fusimi no sato no aremaku mo osi | So, here I will pass my days: The sedge beds of My estate at Fushimi are All overgrown – so sad! |
Anonymous
