Poems composed on the ninth day of the Third Month, at the end of spring, when on the way to the village of Furue to oversee the distribution of seed rice to the poor, and observing blossom by the roadside. Poems composed at places of interest and put together.
A poem composed on seeing a tree upon the crags when passing the point at Shibutani. The tree was a tsumama.
礒の上のつままを見れば根を延へて年深からし神さびにけり
iso no upe no
tumama wo mireba
ne wo papete
tosi pukakarasi
kamu sabinikeri | When upon the stony shore
A hardy evergreen I see,
Roots extending
The length of its years,
How venerable it is! |
Ōtomo no Yakamochi
大伴家持
From the beach at Ajiro in Ise.
磯に咲く網代の小菊汐間は玉とぞ求めむ波の下草
iso ni saku
aziro no wogiku
shiFokaFi Fa
tama to zo tomemu
nami no sitagusa |
Blooming on the rocks
Ajiro’s tiny chrysanths
Between the tides are
Gems that I would seek,
Weeds beneath the waves… |
9
Composed thinking of something.
礒の上に立てるむろの木ねもころに何しか深め思ひそめけむ
iso no kami
tateru muro no ki
nemokoro ni
nani sika pukame
omopisomeken |
Upon the cliff
Stands a juniper tree
So gently, but
Somehow deeply
Have I begun to love her. |
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
柿本人麻呂歌集
Left (Win).
與謝の海の沖つ潮風浦に吹けまつなりけりと人に聞かせん
yosa no umi no
oki tsu shio kaze
ura ni fuke
matsunarikeri to
hito ni kikasen |
By the sea at Yosa,
Tidewinds on the offing,
Blow across the bay!
That I am waiting without end,
Tell him! |
A Servant Girl
983
Right.
浪かくるさしでの磯の岩根松ねにあらはれてかはくまもなし
nami kakuru
sashide no iso no
iwane matsu
ne ni arawarete
kawaku ma mo nashi |
Waves beat
Upon the shore at Sashide, where
The pine trees on the crags
Roots are bared and
Never dry for but a moment. |
The Supernumerary Master of the Empress’ Household Office
984
The Right state: the Left’s poem lacks any faults. The Left state: the Right’s poem is pedestrian.
In judgement: the configuration of the Left’s ‘Blow across the bay!’ (ura ni fuke) and its links with the preceding and subsequent lines, sounds charming. The Right’s poem is stylistically elegant, but the poem more closely resembles a poem on the topic of ‘Love and Pine Trees’. Thus, the Left wins.
Left (Win).
思ヘどもまだ見ぬ程は滿つ潮に入りぬる磯のためしだになし
omoedomo
mada minu hodo wa
mitsu shio ni
irinuru iso no
tameshi dani nashi |
I love her, yet
Have not caught a glimpse;
The rising tide
Flooding the rocky shore –
There’s not even a case of that! |
Lord Kanemune.
977
Right.
岩根打つ荒磯浪の高きこそまだよそながら袖は濡るなれ
iwane utsu
ara’iso nami no
takaki koso
mada yosonagara
sode wa nuru nare |
Crashing on the crags by
The rocky shore, the waves
Are high, indeed;
Distant, perhaps, but
Still my sleeves are soaked… |
Lord Takanobu.
978
Both Left and Right state that the opposing poem lacks a strong conception of the sea.
In judgement: I wonder whether the suggestion by both Left and Right that the poems lack a strong conception of the sea is correct. The Left has ‘the rising tide flooding the rocky shore’ (mitsu shio ni irinuru iso), while the Right has ‘crashing on the crags by the rocky shore’ (iwane utsu ara’iso). If these expressions do not strongly convey the conception of the sea, then I ask you, what would? I wonder, though, how one’s sleeves can get soaked if the waves, though high, are distant. The final section of the Left’s poem is elegant. It wins.
Love on Sight
風吹けば磯打つ波の立ち返り見れども飽かぬ君にもあるかな
kaze Fukeba
iso utu nami no
tatikaFeri
miredomo akanu
kimi ni mo aru kana |
When the wind does blow
Waves strike the rocky shore
Again and yet again
I see you, yet unsated
Of you am I! |
Minamoto no Nakazane
源仲実
Left (Tie).
象潟や妹戀ひしらにさ寢る夜の磯の寢覺に月傾きぬ
kisakata ya
koishirani
sanuru yo no
iso no nezame ni
tsuki katabukinu |
In Kisakata and
In love;
I sleep the night away, and
Awaking on the rocky shore
Behold the moon descending. |
Kenshō
897
Right.
清見潟岩敷く袖の浪の上に思ふもわびし君が面影
kiyomigata
iwa shiku sode no
nami no ue ni
omou mo wabishi
kimi ga omokage |
At Kiyomigata
Sleeves spread atop the rocks,
Waves breaking atop them;
Heart filled with pain
At the memory of your face… |
Jakuren
898
Left and Right both state that the opposing poem is pretentious.
In judgement: the Left’s poem seems well-constructed in its initial and final sections. However, as in Mototoshi’s poem long ago, ‘breaking a stem of miscanthus on the beach at Ise’, this seems to be a case of poetic allusion. The Right’s ‘Sleeves spread atop the rocks, waves breaking atop them’ (iwa shiku sode no nami no ue) seems to have been newly composed and seems elegant, but the final section is somewhat inferior. The Left has beginning and end matching. The Right has a superior initial section, but an inferior final one. Thus, the round ties.
今ぞ知る君がみ世をとかねてより指出の磯の千鳥鳴くなり
ima zo shiru
kimi ga miyo o to
kanete yori
sashide no iso no
chidori nakunari |
“Now, indeed, we know
That it is your reign!”
From ages past
On the shore at Sashide
Have the plovers cried! |
Minamoto no Tomochika
源具親
Topic unknown.
潮みてば入ぬる磯の草なれや見らく少く戀ふらくの多き
siFo miteba
irinuru iso no
kusa nare ya
miraku sukunaku
koFuraku no oFoki |
When the tide is high
Flooding the rocky shore,
As the seaweed is he?
Seldom glimpsed, but
Much desired! |
Lady Ōtomo of Sakanoue
坂上郎女
'Simply moving and elegant'