Spring
Round 1
Left
やま風にとくる氷のひまごとにうち出づる浪や春の初花
yamakaze ni tokuru kōri no hima goto ni uchi’izuru nami ya haru no hatsuhana With the mountain breeze The melting ice from Every crack Bursts out in waves, perhaps These are the first blooms of spring?
Minamoto no Maszumi 1[1]
Right (Win)
春霞たつひの風のいとなれや滝のをとけて玉とみだるる
harugasumi tatsu hi no kaze no ito nare ya taki no o tokete tama to midaruru The haze of spring Arises with the breeze this day, so Will its streamers with The melting waterfall’s threaded Jewels become confused?
2
[1] Kokin rokujo I: 5
久方の天照る月のにごりなく君が御代をばともにとぞ思ふ
hisakata no ama teru tsuki no nigorinaku kimi ga miyo oba tomo ni to zo omou The eternal Heaven-shining moon is So clear that My Lord’s reign Lives together with it in my thoughts!
9
宵よひに秋の草葉におく露の玉にぬかむととれば消えつつ[1]
yoiyoi ni aki no kusaba ni oku tsuyu no tama ni nukamu to toreba kietsutsu Night after night Upon the blades of autumn grass Fall dewdrops; I would thread those jewels, but At a touch, ever do they vanish away…
10
[1] This poem is also Shinsenzaishū 316, where it is attributed to Ōshikōchi no Mitsune.
Topic unknown.
小笹原葉末の露は玉に似て石なき山を行く心地する
ozasawara
hazue no tsuyu wa
tama ni nite
ishinaki yama o
yuku kokochisuru
In the groves of young broad-leaved bamboo
Dewdrops on the leaf-tips
Resemble jewels;
Through mountains with no rocks
I feel as if I travel!
Saigyō
西行
小笹原染み身における白露を飽きは絶えせぬ玉とこそ見れ
ozasawara
shimi mi ni okeru
shiratsuyu o
aki wa taesenu
tama to koso mire
The groves of young broad-leaved bamboo
Are deeply dyed with
Silver dew:
I will never cease to long
For those seeming jewels!
Fujiwara no Akinaka
藤原顕仲
When he was composing on the autumn moon.
葎しく庵の庭の夕露を玉にもてなす秋の夜の月
mukurashiku
iori no niwa no
yūzuyu o
tama ni motenasu
aki no yo no tsuki
Tangled weeds spread around
The garden of my hut;
Evening dew
A garland of jewels
From the moon this autumn night.
Saigyō
西行
あるが上に花の咲きそふ橘は皐月の玉に貫かむためなり
aru ga ue ni
hana no sakisou
tachibana wa
satsuki no tama ni
nukamu tame nari
Up above
Blossom blooms close by:
Oranges –
Jewels of summer
For the threading!
Fujiwara no Nakazane (1064-1122)
藤原仲実
Left (Win).
幾夜我浪にしほれて貴舟河袖に玉散る物思ふらん
ikuyo ware
nami ni shiorete
kifunegawa
sode ni tama chiru
mono omouran
Nights without number will I
Drench with the waves
Of Kifune River,
Scatter jewels on my sleeves –
Should these thoughts consume me so?
A Servant Girl .
671
Right.
貴船川百瀬の浪も分過ぬ濡れ行く袖の末を頼みて
kifunegawa
momose no nami mo
wakesuginu
nureyuku sode no
sue o tanomite
Kifune River’s
Hundredfold waves
Have I crossed;
With soaking sleeves
Do I plead for an ending…
Jakuren .
672
The Gentlemen of the Right state: the Left’s poem is fine, overall. The Gentlemen of the Left state: the Right’s poem is without fault.
Shunzei’s judgement: Both Left and Right poems on ‘Kifune River’ (kifunegawa ) seem tasteful [yū ], but rather than the Right’s final ‘Do I plead for an ending’ (sue o tanomite ), the Left’s ‘Scatter jewels on my sleeves’ (sode ni tama chiru ) sounds particularly good. The Left must win.
底淸み沈ける玉を見まく欲り千たびぞ告りし潛きする海人
sökö kiyomi
sidukeru tama wo
mimaku pori
titabi zö norisi
kadukisuru ama
Clear to the seabed
Where lies a sunken pearl
He wished to see;
A thousand times he prayed
And went beneath, that diver.
On jewels .
海の底沈く白玉風吹きて海は荒るとも取らずはやまじ
wata nö sökö
siduku siratama
kaze pukite
umi pa aru tömo
torazu pa yamazi
On the sea bed
Is sunk a pearl;
The wind blows and
The sea rages, but
Unless I hold it in my hand, I’ll not stop.
'Simply moving and elegant'