Tag Archives: hana

Daikōtaigōgū daijin kiyosuke-ason ke uta’awase 10

Round Ten

Left (Win)

よひのまぞ人をばまちしほととぎすあくるまでこそねられざりけれ

yoi no ma zo
hito oba machishi
hototogisu
akuru made koso
nerarezarikere
All night long
Did I await him once, but
T’is the cuckoo:
Even more until the dawn, that
Keeps me from my sleep!

Shun’e
19

Right

花はすぎ紅葉はまだき夏山にをりえてもなく時鳥かな

hana wa sugi
momiji wa madaki
natsuyama ni
oriete mo naku
hototogisu kana
The blossoms are past, and
Scarlet leaves have yet to come;
In the summer mountains
How lively sings
The cuckoo!

Kenshō
20

The Left’s poem certainly commands one’s interest.

Daikōtaigōgū daijin kiyosuke-ason ke uta’awase 08

Round Eight

Left (Tie)

うき世をば又なににかはなぐさめん花にさきだついのちともがな

ukiyo oba
mata nani ni ka wa
nagusamen
hana ni sakidatsu
inochi to mogana
In this cruel world
Is there yet anything else
To console me?
Before the blossoms’ departure
I would my life do the same…

Court Lady Taifu
15

Right

桜さく春の山風みねこせば雪ふりつもる谷のほそみち

sakura saku
haru no yamakaze
mine koseba
yuki furitsumoru
tani no hosomichi
When in cherry-blooming
Spring, the mountain breezes
Cross the peaks
Snow falls and piles high
Upon the narrow valley paths.

Moromitsu
16

Both poems are smooth, and on that basis, I would say that the Right is superior, but it has an archaic element, while the Left lacks anything unusual about it, so this is a tie of quality.

Daikōtaigōgū daijin kiyosuke-ason ke uta’awase 07

Round Seven

Cherry

Left (Win)

からくにの虎伏すのべににほふとも花の下にはねてぞ帰らん

karakuni no
tora fusu nobe ni
niou tomo
hana no shita ni wa
nete zo kaeran
Even in the land of Cathay, where
Tigers lie among the meadows—
Should they shine there, then
Beneath the blossoms
Would I sleep and then head home.

Lord Kiyosuke
13

Right

わぎもこがはこねの山のいと桜むすびおきたる花かとぞみる

wagimoko ga
hakone no yama no
itozakura
musubiokitaru
hana ka to zo miru
As my darling’s treasured
Box is Hakone Mountain, with
Weeping cherries
Bound, or
So the blossoms do appear to me.

Kenshō

14

Neither of these are bad, but because for the moment it has a stronger conception of affection for the blossom, the Left is superior.

Daikōtaigōgū daijin kiyosuke-ason ke uta’awase 06

Round Six

Left (Win)

梅の花をりてかざせば二月の雪は衣におつるなりけり

ume no hana
orite kazaseba
kisaragi  no
yuki wa koromo ni
otsuru narikeri
When plum blossom
I pluck and wear within my hair,
Second Month
Snows upon my robe
Do fall!

Masashige
11

Right

時ならぬ卯花ともやおもはましかきねの梅のかをらざりせば

toki naranu
u no hana tomo ya
omowamashi
kakine no ume no
ka orazariseba
Unseasonal
Deutzia blooms might
I think them?
Did the plum by my lattice fence
Fail to scent the air…

Atsuyori
12

The Left is not lacking in conception.

Daikōtaigōgū daijin kiyosuke-ason ke uta’awase 05

Round Five

Left (Tie)

にほふ香はいづれの梅もかはらねど色なる花ぞわきて身にしむ

niou ka wa
izure no ume mo
kawaranedo \
iro naru hana zo
wakite mi ni shimu
The fragrant scent of
Any plum
Varies not, yet
Those with scarlet hues
Especially pierce my breast!

Iemoto
9

Right

梅の花かをばたもとにしむれども色をばえこそうつさざりけれ

ume no hana
ka oba tamoto ni
shimuredomo
iro oba e koso
utsusazarikeri
The plum blossoms’
Scent into my sleeves
Has sunk, yet
Their hues, of all things,
Have shifted not!

Kūnin
10

I wish I could say that the Left is superior, but that is not the case, so a tie.

Daikōtaigōgū daijin kiyosuke-ason ke uta’awase 03

Plum

Round Three

Left (Tie)

あしがきのおくゆかしくもみゆるかな誰がすむ宿の梅の立えぞ

ashigaki no
oku yukashiku mo
miyuru kana
ta ga sumu yado no
ume no tachie zo
A fence of reeds and
Within, how charming
They appear!
Who is it dwells at this house of
Beckoning branches of plum?

Lord Kiyosuke
5

Right

ひばりあがる春の日ぐらし袖たれてかきねの梅の花みるわれは

hibari agaru
haru no higurashi
sode tarete
kakine no ume no
hana miru ware wa
Skylarks soar
In springtime all day long,
Dangling my sleeves, upon
The plum inside the lattice fence,
At the blossom gaze I…

Kenshō
6

The Left is in cliched style, while the final line of the Right is interrupted—a tie, I think.

Daikōtaigōgū daijin kiyosuke-ason ke uta’awase 01

Warblers

Round One

Left (Tie)

鶯のなく木の本にふる雪はは風に花のちるかとぞみる

uguisu no
naku ki no moto ni
furu yuki wa
hakaze ni hana no
chiru ka to zo miru
The warbler
Sings from in a tree, its roots
Covered by falling snow;
Breeze stirred by its wingbeats, blossom
Does seem to scatter.

Lord Kiyosuke
1

Right

うぐひすのなきて木づたふ梅がえにこぼるる露や涙なるらん

uguisu no
nakite kozutau
ume ga e ni
koboruru tsuyu ya
namida naruran
The warbler
Crying flits from
Branch to plum branch;
Has the dripping dew
His tears, perhaps, become?

Shun’e
2

Both Left and Right proceed smoothly, but what are we to make of the line ‘Crying flits’ in the Right’s poem? As this is also an expression which implies that dew is falling, these should tie.