Love and Rivers.
思ふ事水ぐき河にかき流し見れど渡の人に見せなん
| omou koto mizuguki kawa kakinagashi miredo watari no hito ni misenan | My feelings As overflowing rivulets Do race, and Though they will be plain, to the surrounding Folk shall I display them… |
Fujiwara no Tadamichi
Love Closely Nearby.
紅の裾引くほどの宿なれど色にいでなば人に知られじ
| kurenawi no suso Fiku Fodo no yado naredo iro ni idenaba Fito ni shirarezi | Her scarlet Hem could I tug upon, so close Do we dwell, yet If my passion’s hues were to show, I would folk did never know… |
Fujiwara no Kiyosuke (1104-1177)
藤原清輔
Left (Tie)
浪の上にうかれてすぐるたはれめも頼む人には頼まれぬかは
| nami no ue ni ukarete suguru tawareme mo tanomu hito ni wa tanomarenu ka wa | Atop the waves, and Carried along helplessly, Is even a pleasure girl To a loving man Unable to respond? |
Lord Kanemune
1143
Right
波の上に結ぶ契のはてよりも戀に沈まん身こそうかれめ
| nami no ue ni musubu chigiri no hate yori mo koi ni shizuman mi koso ukareme | Atop the waves Form bonds So brief – but more Drowned in love Am I, suffering so helplessly! |
Lord Takanobu
1144
Left and Right together state: we find no faults to mention.
In judgement: both poems are certainly focused on the topic, with ‘atop the waves’ (nami no ue) and ‘helplessly’ (ukareme). The round ties.
Left (Win)
住みなれし人はこずゑに絶えはてて琴の音にのみ通ふ松風
| suminareshi hito wa kozue ni taehatete koto no ne ni nomi kayou matsukaze |
Accustomed to his being here, Now, he comes not and from the treetops All that endures Are my zither’s strains, Blending with the pines. |
Lord Ari’ie
1103
Right
聞かじただつれなき人の琴の音にいとはず通ふ松の風をば
| kikaji tada tsurenaki hito no koto no ne ni itowazu kayou matsu no kaze o ba |
I will listen no more! To that cruel man’s Zither strains Heedlessly blending With the wind from off the pines… |
Nobusada
1104
The Right state: it sounds as if the man is enduring on the treetops. The Left state: ‘I will listen no more!’ (kikaji tada) is extremely coarse.
In judgement: while it may sound as if the man is enduring on the treetops in the Left’s poem, this is no more than a standard use of metaphorical expression, and the configuration of ‘accustomed to his being here, now, he comes not and from the treetops’ (suminareshi hito wa kozue ni) sounds fine, with the latter part of the poem also being elegant. The initial line of the Right’s poem has a conception of closing up the ears to block one’s auditory sense, which seems excessive. Clearly, the Left’s ‘my zither’s strains’ (koto no ne ni nomi) must win.
Left (Tie)
うらやましわがりこちくと笛の音を頼むる中の人は聞くらん
| urayamashi wagari kochiku to fue no ne o tanomuru naka no hito wa kikuran |
O, how I envious I am! To my house comes, a bamboo Flute’s strains – from A trustworthy, loving Man, it sounds… |
Lord Suetsune
1087
Right
より竹の君によりけんことぞ憂き一夜のふしに音のみ泣かれて
| yoritake no kimi ni yoriken koto zo uki hitoyo no fushi ni ne nomi nakarete |
Bamboo flotsam – That you should draw near Is cruel, indeed, for A single night together, brings Only the sound of weeping… |
Lord Tsune’ie
1088
‘Flotsam of bamboo’ (yoritake) and ‘comes, a bamboo’ (kochiku) are equally unsatisfying.
In judgement: ‘Flotsam of bamboo’ and ‘comes, a bamboo’ are of equal quality.
飛火野に萌え出でにける早蕨を焼くと聞きてや人の折るらむ
| tobuhino ni moeidenikeru sawarabi o yaku to kikite ya hito no oruramu |
On Tobuhi Plain Budded out The fresh bracken Will burn, I hear, or Might folk pick it? |
Higo, from the Residence of the Kyōgoku Regent
京極関白家肥後
Topic unknown.
ちちわくに人はいふともおりてきむわかはた物に白き麻衣
| titiwaku ni Fito Fa iFu tomo orite kimu wa ga Fatamono ni siroki asaginu |
At any rate Folk do say, Weave it, and we’ll try it on – Lying on my loom, A white coat of hemp! |
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
柿本人麻呂
The Chrysanthemum Match during the reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.
The Gentlemen of the Left. For the chrysanthemum in the initial round, Kotategimi, a young courtier lad, was dressed as a woman, and brought in the flower, hiding his face with it. A further nine blooms were planted in a suhama. The form of the suhama was certainly very charming. The chrysanthemums had their names written on long strips of paper, which were twined about them in places to show them to their best advantage.
Initial Round: a chrysanthemum from Minase in Yamazaki
うちつけに水瀬は匂ひまされるをり人からか花の常かも
| uchituke ni minase Fa nioFi masareru wori Fito kara ka Fana no tune kamo |
Suddenly Minase, with scent Superb is filled – Is it from a lady there, or Are the blooms ever so? |
1
Left
時鳥雲井の声を聞く人は心も空になりぞしにける
| Fototogisu kumowi no kowe wo kiku Fito Fa kokoro mo sora ni nari zo sinikeru |
A cuckoo From the clouds your call Folk hear, and Their hearts with the skies One do become! |
11
Right (Win)
小夜更けて起きて待たずば時鳥はつかなる音もいかで聞かまし
| sayo Fukete okite matazuba Fototogisu Fatukanaru ne mo ikade kikamasi |
A brief night dawns, and Had I not awaited to arise A cuckoo’s Momentary cry Somehow I might have heard… |
12
Left
鳴くになど驚かるらむ時鳥呼ぶ人毎にありと聞きつつ
| naku ni nado odorokaruramu Fototogisu yobu Fito goto ni ari to kikitutu |
Why does your song Startle me so O, cuckoo? All the folk you call Are there, do I ever hear… |
5
Right (Win)
知らねども答へやせまし時鳥元つ人てふ声を哀れと
| siranedomo kotaFe ya semasi Fototogisu moto tu Fito teFu kowe wo aFare to |
I know it not, yet I wonder will you reply, O, cuckoo? A familiar friend’s Voice is moving, indeed. |
6