The year after his son Fukutari had died after planting some sweet-flags in the stream of their garden, when he saw them growing up.
しのべとやあやめもしらぬ心にもながからぬよのうきにうゑけん
| sinobe to ya ayame mo siranu kokoro ni mo nagakaranu yo no uki ni uweken | That I would remember him The sweet flags, too, know not, but In their hearts, as well, I wonder, That he was not long in this world, Has a seed of sorrow been planted? |
The Awata Minister of the Right
Sent with something to Dharma Master Sosen[i] when he was away.
| oki tsu nami yasoshima kakete sumu chidori kokoro hitotsu to ikaga tanomamu | The waves out in the offing Break o’er the eighty islets, where Plovers dwell— Our hearts as one: How can I trust that? |
607
[i] Sosen 素暹 (?-1263) did not take orders until 1245-46, some twenty-six years after Sanetomo’s assassination in 1219, so at the time of this poem’s composition, he would still have been known by his secular name, Tō no Taneyuki 東胤行.Taneyuki, like his father, Shigetani 重胤 (1177?-1247?) was a close attendant of Sanetomo, and he continued this service after the latter’s death, eventually serving Kujō Yoritsune 九条頼経 (1218-1256), Kujō Yoritsugu 九条頼嗣 (1239-1256) and Prince Munetaka 宗尊(1242-1274), the fourth, fifth and sixth Kamakura shoguns, respectively, although Shigetani took orders following Sanetomo’s death. Both father and son were known as waka poets, with Sosen having twenty-two poems in imperial anthologies from Shokugosenshū.
Maidenflowers
Left
あきかぜはふかずもあらなむをみなへししるもしらぬもおもふこころは
| akikaze wa fukazu mo aranamu ominaeshi shiru mo shiranu mo omou kokoro wa | Even should the autumn breeze Fail to blow, O, maidenflower, still Those who know you and know you not, Would hold you in their hearts… |
Taira no Yasū
5
Right (Win)
をみなへしおひたるのべにふきかかるあきののかぜにみをやそへまし
| ominaeshi oitaru nobe ni fukikakaru aki no nokaze ni mi o ya soemashi | Maidenflowers Growing in the meadows Brushed by the blowing Autumn wind o’er the fields— O, how I wish it trailed over me, too… |
Tomo no Tadanori
(or in some texts Toshizane)
6
Moon
Round One
Left (Tie)
月きよみながむる人の心さへ雲井にすめる秋の夜はかな
| tsuki kiyomi nagamuru hito no kokoro sae kumoi ni sumeru aki no yowa kana | The moon, so pure, that Gazing folk feel Their very hearts Clearly in the heavens On an autumn midnight! |
Lord Shige’ie
49
Right
のこるべきかきねの雪は先消えてほかはつもるとみゆる月かな
| nokorubeki kakine no yuki wa mazu kiete hoka wa tsumoru to miyuru tsuki kana | It should be lingering On my brushwood fence, but the snow First vanishes, then Piling up elsewhere Appears moonlight! |
Lord Yorimasa
50
The Left seems extremely commonplace, and simply ending ‘autumn midnight’ feels incomplete. As for the Right, what does it mean to say that ‘the snow upon my brushwood fence first vanishes’? Might it mean that because of the fence’s shadow, the moon’s light cannot be seen? It really sounds as if the poet has gone too far in his quest for unusual expressions. Then there’s ‘piling up elsewhere’ along with ‘autumn midnight’—neither of these sound superior, so it’s impossible to say which poem is.
Round Thirty-Five
Left
われが身はさそふ水まつ浮草のあとたえぬとも誰かたづねん
| ware ga mi wa sasou mizu matsu ukigusa no ato taenu to mo tare ka tazunen | O, my sorry self— Pining for the water’s invitation A hapless waterweed, am I; And even should my tracks end here, Is there any who would seek me still? |
Masashige
69
Right
うきながら今はとなればをしき身をこころのままにいとひつるかな
| ukinagara ima wa to nareba oshiki mi o kokoro no mama ni itoitsuru kana | Deep in depression Should now be my time, ‘Twould be that my sad self, In my heart of hearts, I did despise! |
Lord Kiyosuke
70
Both are straightforwardly charming.
Left (Tie)
あふことのきみにたえにしわがみよりいくらのなみだながれいでぬらむ
| au koto no kimi ni taenishi wa ga mi yori ikura no namida nagare’idenuramu | My meetings with You, my lord, have ceased, and From my flesh What a torrent of tears Flow out! |
Ise
59
Right
きみこひのあまりにしかばしのぶれどひとのしるらんことのわびしさ
| kimi koi no amari nishikaba shinoburedo hito no shiruran koto no wabishiki | Loving you Beyond all measure, I kept it secret, yet That folk seem to know Is a cause of heartache. |
Tsurayuki
60
On hearing His Highness, the Prince of the Right remark in irritation that the Left’s poem had appealed to His Majesty’s heart, His Majesty composed
ゆきかへりちどりなくなるはまゆふのこころへだてておもふものかは
| yukikaeri chidori naku naru hamayū no kokoro hedatete omou mono ka wa | Going back and forth Plovers cry from The beach among the spider lilies Do their hearts distinguish Do you think? |
His Majesty
61
Left (Win)
はるがすみたちしかくせばやまざくらひとしれずこそちりぬべらなれ
| harugasumi tachishi kakuseba yamazakura hito shirezu koso chirinuberanare | If the spring haze Has risen to conceal The mountain cherries, Then, indeed, will no one know When they have seemed to scatter! |
Tsurayuki
9
Right
たのまれぬはなのこころとおもへばやちらぬさきよりうぐひすのなく
| tanomarenu hana no kokoro to omoeba ya chiranu saki yori uguisu no naku | Untrustworthy are The blossoms’ hearts I do think, so While they are unscattered Will the warbler sing. |
Okikaze
10[i]
Both of these are the same—they tie.[ii]
[i] This poem is included in Shinshūishū (XI: 1549), attributed to Okikaze, with the headnote, ‘From Former Emperor Uda’s Poetry Contest’. It is also included twice in Kokin rokujō (I: 31) and (VI: 4395): in both cases the poem is attributed to Okikaze, but the first instance lacks a headnote, while the second is classified as a ‘Warbler’ poem. Finally, it is also included in Mandaishū (II: 254), again attributed to Okikaze, but this time with the headnote, ‘Topic unknown’.
[ii] Given that the Left’s poem here is marked as winning, presumably Uda means that both poems are equally worthy of a win—that is, that this is a yoki ji, a ‘tie of quality’.
