Frogs (蛙)
たかせ舟のぼるほり江の水を浅み草がくれにてかはづなくなり
| takasebune noboru horie no mizu o asami kusagakure nite kawazu nakunari |
Skips Ascend the canal’s Shallow waters; Hidden in the grasses, The frogs are singing. |
Minamoto no Akinaka (1058-1138)
源顕仲
Tag Archives: Horie
Spring III: 20
Left.
追風にすだく河づのもろ聲も浪も寄り來る井手の川水
| oikaze ni sudaku kawazu no morogoe mo nami mo yorikuru ide no kawamizu |
Carried on the wind The swarming frogs’ Chorus, too, Comes with the waves To the waters of Idé. |
159
Right (Win).
漕ぎすぐる舟さへとよむ心地して堀江の河づ聲しきるなり
| kogisuguru fune sae toyomu kokochishite horie no kawazu koe shikirunari |
Rowed too far, Even the boat echoes, it does seem; The Horie frogs Crying all together. |
The Assistant Master of the Empress’ Household Office.
160
The Right remark that as the Left’s poem contains “carried on the wind” (oikaze ni), it would have been desirable for it to also contain “boat”. The Left content themselves with saying that the reference to “frogs crying” seems “bombastic”.
Shunzei judges, ‘It is as the Right have stated with regard to “carried on the wind.” “Comes with the waves” (nami mo yorikuru) and its associated section, too, sounds impressive, but is really not so. There is logic in the criticism of the Right’s poem for “frogs crying”, but this is how the Horie frogs sound. Thus, the Right should win.’