Composed on the conception of changing into summer clothes, when a Hundred Poem Sequence was presented to His Majesty, Emperor Horikawa.
夏ごろもはなのたもとにぬぎかへて春のかたみもとまらざりけり
| natsugoromo hana no tamoto ni nugikaete haru no katami mo tomarazarikeri | For summer garb Blossom-laden sleeves I remove, and with the change Those keepsakes of springtime Fail to linger on. |
Former Middle Counsellor Masafusa
A poem from a poetry competition held by Her Majesty, the Empress, during the Kanpyō period.
梅が香を袖にうつしてとどめてば春は過ぐとも形見ならまし
| mume ga ka wo sode ni utusite todometeba Faru Fa sugutomo katami naramasi | If only the plums’ scent Would shift to my sleeves and Stay there, then Even when spring is past and gone A keepsake would it be… |
Anonymous
Left (Win)
うらやまず臥す猪の床はやすくとも歎も形見寢ぬも契りを
| urayamazu fusu i no toko wa yasukutomo nageku mo katami nenu mo chigiri o |
I do not envy The boar lounging in his bed: He may be at ease, yet Grief, too, is a memento; Lying sleepless marks our bond… |
Lord Sada’ie
1061
Right
いかにわれ臥す猪の床に身をかへて夢の程だに契結はん
| ika ni ware fusu i no toko ni mi o kaete yume no hodo dani chigiri musuban |
Somehow I To a boar lounging in his bed Would change myself, and For just a brief dream’s length Would form a bond with you… |
Lord Takanobu
1062
The Gentlemen of the Right state: the initial line of the Left’s poem sounds poor. The sense of the ending, too, is difficult to grasp. The Gentlemen of the Left state: we wonder about the appropriateness of changing oneself into a bed.
In judgement: both Left and Right refer to ‘a boar lounging in his bed’ (fusu i no toko), and it has been mentioned that the initial line of the Left’s poem sounds poor, and that its ending is difficult to grasp. There really are a number of unacceptable aspects to this poem, are there not, so I cannot add any further words to what has been said. The Right’s poem is not suggesting that one change oneself into a bed. It is saying that one should briefly become a boar, that one might dream briefly of love. How can one possibly see the dream of a boar lying asleep? It certainly seems inferior to ‘not envying a lounging boar’.
池の辺の小槻の下の小竹な刈りそねそれをだに君が形見に見つつ偲はむ
| ike no pe no wotuki no sita no sino na kari so ne sore wo dani kimi ga katami ni mitutu sinopamu |
Beside the pond, Beneath the young zelkova tree, Reap not the arrow bamboo! For that, alone, Is my keepsake of you, and I would gaze on it and remember what is gone… |
Hitomaro kashū
人麻呂歌集
Left (Win).
袖のうへになるるも人の形見かは我と宿せる秋の夜の月
| sode no ue ni naruru mo hito no katami ka wa ware to yadoseru aki no yo no tsuki |
Resting atop my sleeves Of my love so fond Are these keepsakes? Remaining with me, alone Is the moon this autumn night… |
A Servant Girl.
911
Right.
ひとり住む宿の気色とあはれとや憂き身とゝもに在明の月
| hitori sumu yado no keshiki to aware to ya ukimi to tomo ni ariake no tsuki |
Living alone, Is the sight of my home So pitiful? Alike are we in desolation, O, dawntime moon! |
Lord Tsune’ie.
912
The Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults. The Left state: the Right’s poem lacks a clear conception of love.
In judgement: the Left’s poem, indeed, has no faults. It should win.
[One of] twenty-four poems sent by Lady Kasa to Lord Ōtomo no Yakamochi.
わが形見見つつ偲はせあらたまの年の緒長くわれも思はむ
| wa ga katami mitutu sinopase aratama no tosi no wo nagaku ware mo omopamu |
On a keepsake of me Gaze and think of me; Fresh-jewelled as The years’ long thread Will my thoughts follow you. |
Left (Win).
忘れじの契を頼む別かな空行く月の末を數へて
| wasureji no chigiri o tanomu wakare kana sora yuku tsuki no sue o kazoete |
Not to forget I promised – trust that On our parting. The moon’s transit through the sky Is the number of our meeting. |
719
Right.
風吹かば峰に別れん雲をだにありし名殘の形見とも見よ
| kaze fukaba mine ni wakaren kumo o dani arishi nagori no katami to mo miyo |
If the wind should blow, Parting from the peak, Even the clouds My memories Seem to represent! |
720
The Gentlemen of the Right state: the Left’s poem is most moving. The Right’s poem, the Gentlemen of the Left state, is fine.
Shunzei’s judgement: the Left’s poem has one counting to the end of the moon’s transits through the sky, while the Right has clouds parting from a mountain peak being the poet’s thoughts given form. Both poems are elegant in configuration and diction, but the Right’s ‘even the clouds’ (kumo ni dani) does not fit with the ending. The Left maintains its connections from beginning to end. Thus, I make it the winner.