Tag Archives: hitogokoro

Entō ōn’uta’awase 9

Mountain Cherries

Round Nine

Left (Tie)

人心うつりはてぬる花の色に昔ながらの山の名もをし

hitogokoro
utsurihatenuru
hana no iro ni
mukashi nagara no
yama no na mo oshi
As a human heart
All faded are
The blossoms’ hues upon
Ever unchanged Nagara
Mountain—even its name brings regret.[1]

A Court Lady
17

Right

なぞもかく思ひそめけむ桜花やまとしたかく成りはつるまで

nazo mo kaku
omoisomekemu
sakurabana
yama toshi takaku
narihatsuru made
Why is it that I seem so
Absorbed in thought of
Cherry blossom that
The mountain higher
Has grown? [2]

Lord Ietaka
18

The Right’s poem mentioning ‘Grief as hard as felling trees upon a mountain higher’ has charming diction. As for the Left’s poem, while I have heard it strongly stated that using a ‘human heart’ is not diction that should be composed with these days, as this is not a poem for public circulation, for the moment I make this a tie.


[1] An allusive variation on KKS XV: 797.

[2] An allusive variation on KKS XIX: 1056.

Sahyōe no suke sadafumi uta’awase 16

Love on Meeting

Left (Win)

人ごころいまはかぎりになりぬればみるこそみぬにおとらざりけれ

hitogokoro
ima wa kagiri ni
narinureba
miru koso minu ni
otorazarikere
My human heart
Now has its bound
Reached, so
Seeing you compared to not
Is no worse!

31

Right

わかれてはのちぞかなしきにごりえのそこともしらぬありかとおもへは

wakarete wa
nochi zo kanashiki
nigorie no
soko to mo shiranu
arika to omoeba
Parting does
Later bring such sadness:
A muddy inlet’s
Depths leave me unknowing
Of where she is, so…

Mitsune
32

Love IX: 18

Left
いとはれて胸やすからぬ思をば人の上にぞ書きうつしつる

itowarete
mune yasukaranu
omoi o ba
hito no ue ni zo
kakiutsushitsuru
Being despised
And my unquiet heart
Filled with feelings
Upon her
I paint them out!

Kenshō
1115

Right (Win)
いかにせん絵にかく妹にあらねどもまこと少き人心かな

ika ni sen
e ni kaku imo ni
aranedomo
makoto sukunaki
hitogokoro kana
What am I to do?
A lady painted in a picture
She is not, yet
How lacking are
Her feelings!

Nobusada
1116

The Right state: what is the Left’s poem about? In appeal: it reflects Changkang, who, feeling a woman living next door was beautiful, painted her and was then able to meet her. The Left state: the Right’s poem has no faults to mention.

In judgement: I, too, was unsure of the meaning of ‘my unquiet heart filled with feelings upon her’ (mune yasukaranu omoi woba hito no ue ni zo), and after reading the Left’s response, I am still unclear. In general, in these cases it is customary to cite the source of such things, and to hear of such wide reading is interesting indeed, but this is simply, ‘it reflects Changkang, who, feeling a woman living next door was beautiful, painted her and was then able to meet her’, so it would be difficult to locate within the usual Three Histories; furthermore, I have no recollection of a person named in this Chinese manner, and so an ignorant old man like myself can only ask, who is this Nagayasu? More importantly, though, I do not feel the conception of this poem is particularly well-matched to the topic. The Right’s ‘a lady painted in a picture’ (e ni kaku imo) is a little over-explicit, but ‘how lacking are’ (makoto sukunaki) would seem to be in the style of the Kazan Archbishop, and as I feel this is easier to understand than Nagayasu, I make the Right the winner.