Love
Left
恋といへばまづいでたちて春も皆ゆくらむ方も知らずもあるかな
| koi to ieba mazu idetachite haru mo mina yukuramu kata mo shirazu mo aru kana | This thing called love Has gone before, and The spring, too, no one It’s destination Knows at all! |
11
Right
年毎に花におくるるみにしあれば恋ひせぬ春のなきぞわびしき
| toshi goto ni hana ni okururu mi ni shi areba koisenu haru no naki zo wabishiki | Every single year Missing the blossom Is my sorry self, A springtime with no one to love Is there not, but still sad and lonely am I! |
12
The end of spring
Left
あだなりと世にいふ花は散らずしてすぎゆく春ぞかひなかりける
| adanari to yo ni iu hana wa chirazushite sugiyuku haru zo kainakarikeru | Faithless, does The world call blossom, Not scattering with The passage of spring, so What’s the point to it! |
9
Right
花もみなおのが散り散りはかなきを春を見すててゆくぞかなしき
| hana mo mina ono ga chirijiri hakanaki o haru o misutete yuku zo kanashiki | The blossoms, every one, Scatter themselves So fleetingly, and Heedlessly abandon spring, so Sad its departure is. |
10
Love
Left
わが恋は春のなかばになりにけり花のにほひに影やみゆると
| wa ga koi wa haru no nakaba ni narinikeri hana no nioi ni kage ya miyuru to | My love In the heart of spring Has come about: In the glow of blossom Can I see her face… |
7
Right
春はなほくるしかりけりさくら花いろのつきつつ恋のまされば
| haru wa nao kurushikarikeri sakurabana iro no tsukitsutsu koi no masareba | Spring is ever Full of pain: The cherry blossoms’ Hues exhausted, as My love is at its strongest… |
8
Round Six
Left (Win)
やへざくらふるきみやこににほへどもふりずもはなのめづらしきかな
| yaezakura furuki miyako ni nioedomo furizu mo hana no mezurashiki kana | Eightfold cherry Around the ancient capital Does glow, yet Unfallen and anew, the blossoms Are remarkable! |
Cell of Fragrant Cloud
11
Right
みやこいでてかりそめにこし山ざとの花に心のからめられぬる
| miyako idete karisome ni koshi yamazato no hana ni kokoro no karamerarenuru | Departing the capital On occasion I make my way To a mountain retreat where The blossoms my heart Have entangled. |
Cell of Compassionate Light
12
The Left’s poem is a clear example of the overlayed diction fault. As for the Right’s poem, saying ‘have entangled’ is extremely overblown diction. Whatever sort of poem it might be, this expression would be unacceptable, wouldn’t it! Was this, perhaps, composed with an imperfect understanding of the Kawara Minister’s poem? That goes ‘For the scented / Breeze has yet to blow…’[1] Perhaps this is a misreading of a character in the poem’s text?[i] The Left has the fault of overlayed diction, and the Right…[ii]
The Left’s poem is extremely charming. I do have to say that having both ‘ancient’ (furuki) and ‘unfallen’ (furizu) is a fault and yet, this should not be criticized excessively. The poem of the Right’s ‘On occasion I make my way’, too, does not seem as if the poet is visiting the blossom, and so is lacking in sentiment. The concluding ‘have entangled’ is a piece of overblown diction, although it is not the case that it does not appear in prior poetry,[2] but I still feel that it grates on the ear a bit.
[1] When he participated in an archery display, during the reign of the Jōgan emperor [Seiwa]. けふ桜しづくにわが身いざぬれむかごめにさそふ風のこぬまに kyō sakura / shizuku ni wa ga mi / iza nuremu / kagome ni sasou / kaze no konu ma ni ‘Today let cherry blossom / Droplets my body / Drench! / For the scented / Breeze has yet to blow…’ The Kawara Minister of the Left (GSS II: 56)
[2] 美知乃倍乃 宇万良能宇礼尓 波保麻米乃 可良麻流伎美乎 波可礼加由加牟 michi no e no / umara no ure ni / haomame no / karamaru kimi o / hagareka yukamu ‘At the roadside / The briar rose tips / By bean vines / Are entangled, but from you / My love, I must depart…’ Hasetsukabe no Tori (MYS XX: 4352)
[i] Mototoshi is suggesting that Sōen has misread kagome かこめ in Minamoto no Tōru’s famous earlier poem as karame からめ, which would have been possible if reading a handwritten text.
[ii] There is a lacuna in Mototoshi’s judgement here, but it is clear from what he has said that he disapproved of both poems this round and so it would have been a tie.
Round Five
Left (Win)
さくらやまはなのさかりに風ふけばこずゑをこして白波ぞたつ
| sakurayama hana no sakari ni kaze fukeba kozue o koshite shiranami zo tatsu | On the mount of Cherries So fine is the blossom that When the wind does blow, Passing o’er the treetops, Whitecaps arise! |
Controller’s Graduate
9
Right
この春ははなにこころのあくがれてこのもとにてもくらしつるかな
| kono haru wa hana ni kokoro no akugarete ko no moto nite mo kurashitsuru kana | This springtime By the blossoms my heart Is captivated, and Beneath the trees Does dwell! |
Kerin’in Graduate
10
Both Left and Right, in terms of diction, tone and style are superb with no faults at all. Thus, this is a tie.
The final section of the Left’s poem lacks fluency, yet it has conception. As for the Right’s poem, in order for one’s heart to be captivated by the blossom on every single treetop, one would need to be walking around. If one is resting peacefully beneath the trees, then one should say that one’s heart is captured. This section sounds erroneous, so the Left should win.
Round Four
Left (Win)
春の日をなほながかれとおもふかなはな見ることのあかぬこころは
| haru no hi o nao nagakare to omou kana hana miru koto no akanu kokoro wa | O, let the days of spring Still linger lengthily on, I wish! For Gazing on the blossom Has yet to sate my heart… |
Cell of the Fragrant Elephant
7
Right
ことしもやあだにちりぬる山ざくらさもあさましきはなのくせかな
| kotoshi mo ya ada ni chirinuru yamazakura sa mo asamashiki hana no kuse kana | This year, too, will You swiftly scatter, O, mountain cherry? That is a wretched Habit blossoms have! |
Cell of the Everlasting Truth
8
The poem of the Left’s final section is that of a pre-existing older poem.[i] The poem of the Right’s final section is deplorable. Even so, I make the Right the winner.
Both Left and Right are elegant. With that being said, the Left also sounds charming, while the Right’s concluding ‘habit!’, although it is not a major fault, grates on the ear a bit. This is another win for the Left.
[i] The ending of this poem in the texts of this match with Mototoshi’s judgements is different, with the final line being akanu kagiri wa (‘have yet to sate’). This means it closely resembles: Topic unknown. ゆきとまるところぞはるはなかりける花に心のあかぬかぎりは yukitomaru / tokoro zo haru wa / nakarikeru / hana ni kokoro no / akanu kagiri wa ‘To go and stay / A place in springtime / Have I none / For the blossoms, my heart / Have yet to sate completely.’ Sugawara no Tamenobu (GSIS I: 90). Kubota et al. (2018, 223) suggest that as we know that the version of the match that Toshiyori judged was produced later, this poem may have been revised in the light of Mototoshi’s judgement.
The middle of spring.[i]
Left
まづ立ちて過ぎにし春はかひもなしとまるは花ものどけからなむ
| mazu tachite suginishi haru wa kai mo nashi tomaru wa hana mo nodokekaranamu | For it first to have arisen and Then departed—to such a spring There is no point; If it stayed then the blossom, too, Might linger on. |
5
Right
さくら花にほふさかりをみるときは心も春のなかにこそいれ
| sakurabana niou sakari o miru toki wa kokoro mo haru no naka ni koso ire | Cherry blossom: When in glowing profusion I see, then My soul, too, spring’s Heart does enter! |
6
[i] Naka no haru 仲の春
Poems from a Chrysanthemum Match held by the Senior Courtier Gentlemen in the presence of His Majesty, 13th day of the Tenth Month, Engi 13.
Left
ちりはててはななきときのはななればうつろふいろのをしくもあるかな
| chirihatete hakanaki toki no hana nareba utsurou iro no oshiku mo aru kana | All scattered now, For such a brief time are These flowers here; The fading of their hues Is something I regret! |
Okikaze
1
しらくものうへにしうつるきくなればいたくをにほへはなとみるべく
| shiraku mo no uenishi utsuru kiku nareba itaku o nioe hana to mirubeku | A white cloud, Planted is this gleaming Chrysanthemum, so Bright, indeed, shining Does the bloom look to be… |
Suetada[i]
2
あきすぎてはなざかりなるきくのはないろにたぐひてあきやかへれる
| aki sugite hanazakari naru kiku no hana iro ni taguite aki ya kaereru | Autumn is past and The flowers richly blooming are Chrysanthemums: With their hues Autumn does return! |
Korenori
3
なみとのみうちこそみゆれすみのえのきしにのこれるしらぎくのはな
| nami to nomi uchi koso miyure suminoe no kishi ni nokoreru shiragiku no hana | Simply as waves Do they, indeed, appear! At Suminoe Lingering on the shore White chrysanthemum blooms. |
Korenori
4
わぎもこがひもゆふぐれのきくなればあかずぞはなのいろはみえける
| wagimoko ga hi mo yūgure no kiku nareba akazu zo hana no iro wa miekeru | My darling girl Both day and eve is As a chrysanthemum, so Never sated am I with this flower’s Hues I see. |
Korenori
5
きくのはなふゆののかぜにちりもせでけふまでとてやしもはおくらん
| kiku no hana fuyu no kaze ni chiri mo sede kyō made tote ya shimo wa okuran | Chrysanthemum blooms In the winter wind Scatter not; Is it that up to today is when Frost is said to fall? |
Korenori
6
かげさへやこよひはにほふきくのはなあまてるつきにかのそはるらん
| kage sae ya koyoi wa niou kiku no hana ama teru tsuki ni ka no sowaruran | Even their shape Fills tonight with a scented glow; Chrysanthemum blooms To the heaven-shining moon Seem to add their fragrance. |
Korenori
7
[i] Fujiwara no Suetada/Suenawa 藤原季縄 (?-919). Little is known of Suetada’s life, other than that he was apparently close to Ise 伊勢 and exchanged poems with her. The circumstances of his death, however, are recorded in Yamato monogatari, which relates that he fell ill in Engi 19 (919) when he held the position of Minor Captain in the Inner Palace Guards, Right Division (Ukonoe shōshō右近衛少将). On a day when he was due to be in attendance at the palace, he sent a message to Minamoto no Kintada 源公忠 (889-948), a Chamberlain and the Assistant Director of the Bureau of Housekeeping, to say that illness prevented his being there. Kintada replied that he should attend without fail on the day after tomorrow, but when that day came, Suetada sent him the following poem:
くやしくぞ のちにあはむと 契りける 今日をかぎりと 言はましものを
| kuyashiku zo nochi ni awamu to chigirikeru kyō o kagiri to iwamashi mono o | I am struck with bitterness! Once more would we meet Did I vow, but Today I meet my end— That is what I would say… |
SKKS VIII: 854
Concerned, Kintada ordered up a carriage and went immediately to Suetada’s residence, only to find he had died before he arrived. Greatly downcast, he returned to the palace and reported Suetada’s death to the emperor.
Round Thirty
Left (Tie)
玉をぬく真野の糸萩かたよりにおのれみだるる秋の夕暮
| tama o nuku mano no itohagi katayori ni onore midaruru aki no yūgure | Strung with gems The bush-clover twigs at Mano All align together In their own tangles On an autumn evening. |
Shō
59
Right
待ちわたる時や来ぬらん白露の玉しく庭の秋はぎの花
| machiwataru toki ya konuran shiratsuyu no tama shiku niwa no akihagi no hana | Has that long-awaited Time arrived, perhaps? When silver dewdrop Pearls will spread o’er the grounds From the autumn bush clover blooms… |
Nagatsuna
60
The poems of Left and Right have different diction, but the same configuration.
Round Three
Left (Win)
うきよにもはなのさかりになりぬればものおもふ人はあらじとぞ思ふ
| ukiyo ni mo hana no sakari ni narinureba mono’omou hito wa araji to zo omou | Even in this cruel world The blossoms in profusion Are, so Folk sunk in gloomy thought Are there likely not a one, I feel! |
Retired from the world on Mount Uji
5
Right
ちらざらむことこそはなのかたからめわびてはさてもしばしあらなむ
| chirazaramu koto koso hana no katakarame wabite wa sate mo shibashi aranamu | Not to scatter For the blossoms is a thing So hard— It may be painful, but still I would have them stay a while. |
Senior Assistant Minister Past Lecturer
6
I fail to understand—at all—why there should be a large number of people for whom the world is cruel. This is deeply unpleasant. In connection with this there’s an older poem which says ‘innumerable, my sorry self alone has caused these woes’.[i] The poem of the Right has ‘It may be painful, but still / I would have them stay a while’—if the blossoms have not yet scattered, then how can this still be painful? I cannot grasp the diction and reasoning of these two poems, so they tie.
The poem of the Left has some conception—it appears to be expressing sentiments that are natural. It’s extremely charming how it links with the conception of the old expression ‘the heart of spring’.[ii] However, the diction ‘feel/think’ [omou] appears in two places. I do feel that in terms of the sequencing of the phrasing, that’s certainly how it is, so it’s not a fault as such, but I would have preferred to see the second usage at the beginning of its line. As for the poem of the Right, from ‘painful’ to the end, it is immature. It doesn’t sound like a poem and resembles prosaic speech. Thus, I have to say the Left is the winner.
[i] Mototoshi appears to be misremembering this poem: Topic unknown. おほかたのわが身ひとつのうきからになべての世をも怨みつるかな ōkata no / wa ga mi hitotsu no / uki kara ni / nabete no yo o mo / uramitsuru kana ‘In general / My sorry self, alone, / Has caused these woes, but / Still all of this common world / I do despise!’ Tsurayuki (SIS XV: 953).
[ii] Toshiyori is referring to this poem from Kokinshū here: Composed at the Nagisa Palace when he saw the cherries in bloom. 世中にたえてさくらのなかりせば春の心はのどけからまし yo no naka ni / taete sakura no / nakariseba / haru no kokoro wa / nodokekaramashi ‘If, in this world of ours / All the cherry blossom / Disappeared / The heart of spring / Might find peace.’ Ariwara no Narihira (KKS I: 53).