On spring, from among the hundred poem sequence for the Poetry Contest in 1500 Rounds.
明けやらぬ谷の戸過ぐる春風にまづさそはるるうぐひすの声
| akeyaranu tani no to suguru harukaze ni mazu sasowaruru uguisu no koe | No bright opening for The valley’s door, though the passing Breeze of spring First invites The warbler’s song…[i] |
5
[i] See: Sent on the 1st day of the Fourth Month, when Kintō, Captain of the Outer Palace Guards, Right Division had been in seclusion for a while. 谷の戸をとぢやはてつる鶯のまつにおとせではるもすぎぬる tani no to o / toji ya wa hatetsuru / uguisu no / matsu ni otosede / haru mo suginuru ‘Is the valley’s door / Firmly shut, for / The warbler, / Awaited, makes no sound as / Spring wears on?’ The Minister of the Left (Shūishū XVI: 1064)
Spring Breeze
Left (Tie)
やまがはのみかさまされりはるかぜにたにのこほりはとけにけらしも
| yamagawa no mikasa masareri harukaze ni tani no kōri wa tokenikerashi mo | The mountain stream’s Spate is at its height; Before spring breezes The valleys’ ice Has melted, it seems! |
3[i]
Right
やまがはのながれまさるははるかぜにたにのこほりを吹きてとくらむ
| yamagawa no nagare masaru wa harukaze ni tani no kōri o fukite tokuramu | The mountain stream is Flowing high: The breeze of spring Upon the valleys’ ice Blows and melted it, I think… |
Tadami
4
[i] This poem is included in Shoku goshūishū (I: 39), attributed to Kanemori, with the headnote ‘A poem from the Poetry Match held by the Reikeiden Junior Consort’.
くらゐ山木だかくならん松にのみやほ万代と春風ぞふく
| kuraiyama kodakaku naran matsu ni nomi yaoyorozuyo to harukaze zo fuku | On Mount Kurai[i] Tall will become the pines trees ‘Simply wait Eight million ages,’ whispers The gusting breeze of spring! |
662
[i] Mount Kurai (kuraiyama 位山), lies in what is now northern Gifu prefecture, and is one of the peaks in the Hida Mountains (hida sanmyaku 飛騨山脈), also known as the Northern Alps, stretching through north central Honshu. Its use here, however, is purely because kurai 位, was homophonous with the word for ‘court rank’. As matsu 松 (‘pine tree’) was also homophonous with matsu 待つ (‘wait’), the poem is a dual play on words
Topics
| Cherry | Cuckoos | Moon | Snow | Felicitations |
Poets
| Left | Right |
| Lord Dainagon [Kōkaku] | Lord Chūnagon [Kyōen] |
| Lord Saburō | Ushigimi |
| Retired from the world on Mount Uji [Eien] | Senior Assistant Minister Past Lecturer [Kakuyo] |
| Cell of the Fragrant Elephant [Shin’ei] | Cell of the Everlasting Truth [Tanshū] |
| Controller’s Graduate [Shinkei] | Kerin’in Graduate [Yūzen] |
| Cell of Fragrant Cloud [Shōchō] | Cell of Compassionate Light [Sōen] |
| Lady Kazusa | Lady Shikibu |
Judge
Mototoshi
Former Director of the Bureau of Carpentry, Toshiyori[i]
Cherry
Round One
Left
みやまにはしひがかざをれはやけれどふもとのはなはことしさくめり
| miyama ni wa shii ga kaza’ore hayakeredo fumoto no hana wa kotoshi sakumeri | Deep within the mountains, Brushwood is broken by the wind So swiftly, yet In the foothills the blossom Will bloom this year, it seems.[ii] |
Lord Dainagon
1
Right
ちるはなをさそふとみつるはる風のうはのそらにもすててけるかな
| chiru hana o sasou to mitsuru harukaze no uwa no sora ni mo sutetekeru kana | The scattered blossoms Look to be beckoned by The spring breezes, Even high up in the skies To be abandoned! |
Lord Chūnagon
2
I would say there’s no reason to say that the poem of the Left is superb, yet it does have a little bit of interest. The poem of the Right’s ‘Even high up in the skies /To be abandoned!’ completely fails to exceed vulgar diction. Thus, I make the Left the winner.
The poem of the Left’s ‘Brushwood is broken by the wind’ and so forth cannot be called ordinary and is an extremely charming use of diction. However, if the branches are broken and lost, then it would appear difficult for them to bloom, yet the addition of ‘yet’ to ‘swiftly’ gives the impression that there are branches remaining, thus following this with ‘Will bloom this year, it seems’ appears clumsy.
The poem of the Right has nothing remarkable about it, and no particular errors. Even so, because except in exceptional circumstances, the Left must win the first round, I make the Left the winner.
[i] This match was initially judged by Fujiwara no Mototoshi, but at some point after this, one of the participants, Sōen, submitted an ‘Appeal’ (chinjō) claiming these were unfair, and Toshiyori was asked to re-judge the match. The result is that there are two manuscript traditions for this event, one with Mototoshi’s judgements and one with Toshiyori’s. I am including both sets of judgements here.
[ii] The end of winter-beginning of the Twelfth Month. みやまにははやまのあらしあらげなりしひのかざをれいくそかかれり miyama ni wa / hayama no arashi / aragenari / shii no kaza’ore / ikuso kakareri ‘Deep within the mountains / Across the timber slopes the storm wind / Rages; / Brushwood is broken by the wind / O’er countless tens of trees.’ Sone no Yoshitada (Yoshitada-shū 342)
