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Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Autumn III: 21

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Left (Win).

とけて寢ぬ夢路も霜に結ぼゝれ先知る物は片敷きの袖

tokete nenu
yumeji mo shimo ni
musubōre
mazu shiru mono wa
katashiki no sode		 Falling into sleep
Even my dreams are with frost
Filled, and
First to know it are
My lonely sleeves…

Lord Sada’ie.

461

Right.

秋の野の千草の色も枯れあへぬに露置きこむる夜半の初霜

aki no no no
chigusa no iro mo
kare’aenu ni
tsuyu okikomuru
yowa no hatsujimo		 The autumn fields
Myriad hues
Cannot be completely covered
When drenched with dew,
First frost at midnight.

The Provisional Master of the Empress’ Household Office.

462

The Right state that the Left’s poem is ‘difficult to understand completely’ [tashikani kokoroegatashi]. The Left find no fault with the Right’s poem.

Shunzei’s judgement: The Left’s ‘even my dreams are with frost’ (yumeji mo shimo ni) sounds pleasant [yoroshiku kikoehaberu]. The Right’s ‘drenched with dew’ (tsuyu okikomuru) is elegant in configuration [sugata wa yū ni kikoehaberu], but it is unclear: is it dew turned to frost being drenched by dew? The Left must win.

Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Autumn III: 9

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Left.

秋ぞかし岩田の小野のいはずとも柞が原に紅葉やはせん

aki zo kashi
wata no ono no
iwazutomo
hahaso ga hara ni
momiji ya wa sen		 It’s Autumn!
At Iwata-no-Ono,
Needless to say,
The oak groves, all,
Are turning to scarlet leaves.

Lord Ari’ie.

437

Right.

薄く濃くことは變れど柞原梢にこぞる秋の色かな

usuku koku
koto wa kawaredo
hahasowara
kozue ni kozoru
aki no iro kana		 First dark, then light
They change, yet,
Upon the oak groves’
Treetops gather
All the hues of autumn…

The Provisional Master of the Empress Household Office.

438

The Right find no fault with the Left’s poem. The Left state that they find ‘gather’ (kozoru) ‘grating on the ear’ [kikiyokarazu] and ‘clumsy’ [tezutsu].

Shunzei’s judgement: Starting a poem with ‘It’s Autumn!’ is a usage of diction which I must hope will be considered charming [kotobazukai okashikaran to shokiseru narubeshi]! The Right’s ‘treetops gather’ (kozue ni kozoru) is somewhat unexpected wording [sukoshi wa omoikakenu kotoba ni wa haberedo], yet one cannot call it ‘clumsy’. So, with nothing superlative or at fault with either poem, the round ties.

Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Autumn III: 3

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Left.

下枝までかゝれる蔦は紅葉して錦を張るは和田の笠松

shizue made
kakareru tsuta wa
momijishite
nishiki o haru wa
wada no kasamatsu		 The lowest branches
All festooned with ivy
Turning scarlet,
All in brocade are
The parasol pines at Wada.

Lord Suetsune.

425

Right (Win).

絶え間なくかゝれる蔦の色づけば紅葉を囲ふ墻根とぞみる

taema naku
kakareru tsuta no
irozukeba
momiji o kakou
kakine to zo miru		 There’s not a break
In the festooning ivy,
Taking on its hue:
Enveloped with scarlet leaves
Fenced around, it seems…

The Provisional Master of the Empress’ Household Office.

426

The Right state that the initial line in the Left’s poem, ‘the lowest branches’ (shizue made), fail to connect with the poem’s conclusion. The Left state that the Right’s poem is ‘pedestrian’ [tsune no koto], but have no other criticisms.

Shunzei’s judgement: Both poems are on ‘ivy’, with the Left referring to parasol pines covered in brocade, and the Right a fence joined with scarlet leaves. In conception, neither is unpleasant [kokoro, onoono, okashikarazaru ni arazu]. However, the final section of the Left’s poem is seems to be particularly lacking in poetic qualities [kotoni utashina naki ni nitari]. It would have been better had the Right avoided the artifice of the Left’s festooned parasols [kasahari nado wa sede] and simply mentioned ‘a fence, seemingly surrounded with scarlet leaves’ [momiji o kakouran kakine]. Nevertheless, it should win.

Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Autumn II: 25

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Left (Win).

眺めやる心のはては廣澤の池より遠ちに出る月影

nagameyaru
kokoro no hate ha
hirosawa no
ike yori ochi ni
izuru tsukikage		 Gazing out
My heart goes
From Hirosawa
Pond somewhere far away
With the moonlight…

Lord Suetsune.

409

Right.

廣澤の池には沈む月影の音羽の山に立ちのぼる哉

hirosawa no
ike ni wa shizumu
tsukikage no
otowa no yama ni
tachinoboru kana		 Into Hirosawa
Pond sinks
Moonlight:
Above Mount Otowa
Does it rise again?

The Provisional Master of the Empress’ Household Office.

410

The Right can find no fault with the Left’s poem this round. The Left, on the other hand, say that the Right’s poem, ‘is more redolent of Otowa Mountain than Hirosawa Pond’.

Shunzei’s judgement: The Right seem to be gazing too far away. The Left must win.

Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Autumn II: 19

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Left.

薦枕高瀬の淀に立つ鴫の羽音もそそやあはれかくなり

komo makura
takase no yodo ni
tatsu shigi no
haoto mo soso ya
aware kaku nari		 Pillowed on a mat of rush
Where the Yodo meets Takase
The starting snipe
With rustling wingbeats
Draw in my melancholy.

Kenshō.

397

Right (Win).

あはれさは萩吹く風の音のみか有明の月に鴫も鳴なり

awaresa wa
hagi fuku kaze no
oto nomi ka
ariake no tsuki ni
shigi mo nakunari		 Melancholy is not
In the wind upon the bush clover’s
Sigh alone but
With the moon at break of dawn
The snipe a’crying.

The Provisional Master of the Empress Household Office.

398

The Right state that the Left’s poem is based on a misinterpretation of the song ‘The Spreading Moon Rises’, and this has led to the usage of ‘mat of rush’. Furthermore, in the absence of expressions such as ‘bush clover’ or ‘new grown rice’, ‘rustling’ lacks a context. The Left merely state that the initial section of the Right’s poem ‘does not sound attractive’.

Shunzei’s judgement: The gentlemen of the Right have already stated the issue with ‘rush mat’. As for ‘rustling’, I have already suggested that it was unsuitable in the earlier poem on bush clover in the topic of ‘Autumn Evenings’, and it is unfeasible to think that one could go so far as to use it in reference to ‘wing beats’. In regard to the Right’s poem, the initial line, indeed, sounds poor, and the central ‘alone but’ is also regrettable, but even so, it wins the round.

Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Autumn II: 14

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Left.

あはれかな遠の山田にさ夜更けてはのかに引板の音斗する

aware kana
ochi no yamada ni
sayo fukete
honoka ni hita no
oto bakari suru		 O, how sad!
From the distant mountain fields
As the night draws in
Comes faintly the bird-clapper’s
Sound, and nothing more…

Lord Suetsune.

387

Right (Win).

いづくより秋のあはれを誘ひ來て稲葉に風の吹續くらん

izuku yori
aki no aware o
sasoikite
inaba ni kaze no
fukutsuzukuran		 Where is it from that,
Autumn sadness
Is invited in?
Over the rice-stems the wind
Blows on and on…

The Master of the Empress’ Household Office.

388

The Right state that they are left wondering why, by the first line of the Left’s poem. The Left have no criticisms of the Right’s poem.

Shunzei’s judgement: The Left faintly hears the sound of a bird clapper from distant mountain fields. The Right’s poem is a from a dwelling among the fields. Moreover, ‘blows on and on’ (fukitsuzuku) is forceful, indeed. It must win.

Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Autumn II: 9

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Left.

秋といへばさらでも物の悲しきに夕風立ちぬ高円の宮

aki to ieba
sarademo mono no
kanashiki ni
yūkaze tachinu
takamato no miya		 Speaking of the autumn,
Or even if we’re not, true
Sadness is in
The evening breeze
At the palace of Takamato.

Kenshō.

377

Right.

物ごとに秋はあはれを分ねども猶限りなき夕間暮かな

monogoto ni
aki wa aware o
wakanedomo
nao kagirinaki
yūmagure kana		 Everything
About the autumn is moving
Without exception, but
Most of all, it is
The early evening.

The Provisional Master of the Empress Household Office.

378

The Right complain that ‘there is no specific linking expression in the poem with the palace at Takamato’; while the Left criticise the Right’s poem for ‘mentioning “everything” at the beginning, but then simply concluding with “early evening”.’

Shunzei’s judgement: while it is true that there is no specific link with ‘the palace at Takamato’ in the Left’s poem, is it not the case that it is a location redolent with sadness? The Right’s poem recalls ‘Everything/Is sadness/In the scarlet leaves’, and thus does not need to say more than this. However, we need to consider the concluding section ‘early evening’ (yūmagure kana). Just like ‘the palace at Takamato’, it lacks connection. The round must tie.

Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Autumn II: 3

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Left.

秋の夜は窓打つ雨に夢覺めて軒端にまさる袖の玉水

aki no yo wa
mado utsu ame ni
yume samete
nokiba ni masaru
sode no tamamizu		 On an autumn night
Rain beating ‘gainst my widow
Wakes me from my dreams,
Falling from the eaves,
Yet many more are the droplets on my sleeves.

Lord Ari’ie.

365

Right.

見る夢も窓打つ雨に驚きて枕に秋の哀をぞ知る

miru yume mo
mado utsu ame ni
odorokite
makura ni aki no
aware o zo shiru		 Dreaming,
Rain beating ‘gainst my window
Starts me awake;
Upon my lonely pillow, autumn’s
Sharp sadness do I feel.

The Provisional Master of the Empress’ Household Office.

366

Neither team has any criticisms of the other’s poem this round.

Shunzei agrees: ‘Both poems are superb in both style and form and, in addition, the initial sections are generally similar, but in terms of the concluding sections, the Left’s is slightly deeper. Thus, the Left wins.’

Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Autumn I: 26

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Left.

百草の花もいかにか思ふらんあな情なの今朝の野分や

momokusa no
hana mo ika ni ka
omouran
ana nasakena no
kesa no nowaki ya		 A myriad of grasses’
Bloom: o what
To think?
How heartless was
The gale this morning!

Lord Kanemune.

351

Right (Win).

吹亂る野分の風の荒ければ安き空なき花の色色

fukimidaru
nowaki no kaze no
arakereba
yasuki sora naki
hana no iroiro		 Blown into confusion by
The gale’s gusts
So fierce;
No respite to bloom
For any of the blossoms!

The Provisional Master of the Empress’ Household Office.

352

Neither Left nor Right can find anything to remark upon this round, and say as much.

Shunzei states, ‘“How heartless” (ana nasake na) is, indeed, an intriguing choice of words. The Right’s “blown into confusion” (fukimidaru) is reminiscent of the Tamakazura’s poem in Genji and all the more charming for it, is it not? Furthermore, the Left’s “blooms: o what” (hana mo ika ni ka) and the Right’s “no respite to bloom” (yasuki sora naki) are of equivalent quality, but the Left’s “myriad of grasses” lacks a linking term. Including “blown into confusion” makes the Right’s poem slightly superior, I would say.’

Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Autumn I: 23

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Left (Win).

ひとり寢る葦の丸屋の下露に床を傡べて鶉鳴く也

hitori nuru
ashi no maruya no
shimo tsuyu ni
toko o narabete
uzura nakunari		 Sleeping singly
In a reed-roofed hut,
Dripped with dew,
Beside my bed
The quails are crying.

A Servant Girl.

345

Right.

秋風に靡く尾花の夕露や鶉が閨の雨と散るらむ

akikaze ni
nabiku obana no
yūzuyu ya
uzura ga neya no
ame to chiruramu		 In the autumn breeze
Flutter fronds of silvergrass,
Scattering dewdrops
On the quails’ roost –
How like rain…

The Provisional Master of the Empress’ Household Office.

346

The Right state that the Left’s poem has no faults. The Left state that, ‘“On the quails’ roost – how like rain” (uzura ga neya no ame) suggests that this is what it actually is.’

Shunzei disagrees: ‘It is not the case that uzura ga neya no ame definitely implies that it is actually rain, particularly with the scene set by dew on silvergrass. However, “beside my bed” (toko o narabete) is particularly attractive in expression. It should win.’