Tag Archives: garden

Sengohyakuban uta’awase

Sengohyakuban uta’awase 1411

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Left

あすは又けふをばこぞといひすててをしみしものとおもひだにせじ

asu wa mata
kyō o ba kozo to
iisutete
oshimishi mono to
omoi dani seji		Tomorrow, once again
Will be as today
I’ll say easily and
All those things that I regretted-
I’ll not even think of them!

Lord Sueyoshi
2080

Right

ふゆのそらわびつつけふになりにけりあとなきにはのゆきとみながら

fuyu no sora
wabitsutsu kyō ni
narinikeri
ato naki niwa no
yuki to minagara		The winter sky is
Ever a source of grief-today
Has just turned out that way,
While my gardens trackless
Snow fills my gaze.

Ienaga
2081

Judgement: I wonder how the central ‘I’ll say easily’ leads in to the concluding section. The Right’s poem is a little better, I’d say.

San'I minamoto no hirotsune ason uta'awase

San’i minamoto no hirotsune ason uta’awase 16

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Cranes in a garden (庭上鶴馴)

Left

庭の面に人になれたるあしたづはよはひをきみにゆづるなるべし

niwa no omo ni
hito ni naretaru
ashitazu wa
yowai o kimi ni
yuzurunarubeshi		Upon this garden’s face stands,
Accustomed to folk,
A crane;
His years to my Lord
Will he bestow, no doubt!

A Court Lady
31

Right

千とせふるやどのけしきやしるからん汀のたづのなれにけるかな

chitose furu
yado no keshiki ya
shirukaran
migiwa no tazu no
narenikeru kana		Is it that a thousand years old
This dwelling does appear?
For to the muddy
Water’s edge the cranes
Have become accustomed!

A Court Lady
32

Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Love VIII: 12

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Left (Tie)
思ひかねうち寢る宵もありなまし吹だにすさめ庭の松風

omoikane
uchineru yoi mo
arinamashi
fuki dani susame
niwa no matsukaze		 Unable to bear the pains of love, and
Dozing through the night –
That happens sometimes;
O, just blow gently,
Breeze through the garden pines!

A Servant Girl
1043

Right
思ひかねながむれば又夕日さす軒端の岡の松もうらめし

omoikane
nagamureba mata
yūhi sasu
nokiba no oka no
matsu mo urameshi		 Unable to bear the pains of love,
When I gaze out, once more
The evening sun shines
Past my eaves, where on the hillside
Even the pines seem resentful…

Ietaka
1044

Same as the previous round.

In judgement: here we have ‘O, just blow gently’ (fuki dani susame), and the Right has ‘Past my eaves, where on the hillside’ (nokiba no oka no): these recollect the poems ‘in the depths of sleep I tread to you’ (uchinuru naka ni yukikayou) and ‘the beams strike the hillside through the pine needles’ (sasu ya okabe no  matsu no ha); both sound elegant. I make this round a tie.

Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Love VIII: 5

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Left
人待ちし庭の淺茅生茂りあひて心にならす道芝の露

hito machishi
niwa no asajū
shigeriaite
kokoro ni narasu
michishiba no tsuyu		 Awaiting him,
The cogon-grass in my garden
Has grown lush, indeed;
And I have taken to my heart
The dew that falls upon my lawn!

A Servant Girl
1029

Right (Win)
秋風になびく淺茅の色よりもかはるは人の心なりけり

akikaze ni
nabiku asaji no
iro yori mo
kawaru wa hito no
kokoro narikeri		 With the autumn wind
Waves the cogon grass,
Colours
Changing less than her
Heart’s passions…

Ietaka
1030

The Gentlemen of the Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults to mention. The Gentlemen of the Left state: the intial part of the Right’s poem is derived from an old poem, and so does the end!

In judgement: I wonder whether the cogon-grass (asajū), mentioned initially, is as clearly conceived as the ‘lawn’ (michishiba) mentioned at the end? The Right’s poem refers to ‘So full are my thoughts,  what am I to do? With the autumn wind’, but reverses the beginning and end of that poem; it is extremely old-fashioned in style, but pleasant as it is plainly intended to be understood as a variant of its model. Thus, the Right wins over the combination of ‘cogon-grass’ and ‘lawn’.

Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Love VI: 17

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Left.
いつも聞く物とや人の思らむ來ぬ夕暮れの秋風の聲

itsumo kiku
mono to ya hito no
omouramu
konu yūgure no
akikaze no koe		 Always do I hear
The same, is that what
He thinks?
This evening, when he has not come
Whispers the autumn wind.

A Servant Girl.
933

Right (Win).
心あらば吹かずもあらなん宵宵に人待つ宿の庭の松風

kokoro araba
fukazu mo aranan
yoiyoi ni
hito matsu yado no
niwa no matsukaze		 If you have any pity,
Then I would not have you blow
Night after night
While I wait for him, through my home’s
Garden pines, o, wind!

Nobusada.
934

Both Left and Right state: we can grasp the sense of the opposing poem.

In judgement: I am unable to tell what it is that ‘does not come one evening’ (konu yūgure). ‘Whispers the autumn wind’ (akikaze no koe) is also perhaps rather novel. The Right’s ‘Garden pines, o, wind!’ (niwa no matsukaze) sounds pleasant. It should win.