Tag Archives: kaze

GYS IX: 1250

When the Ise Virgin Junior Consort had yet to leave, he attached this to some cherry blossom and sent it to her.

吹く風の音にききつつさくら花めには見えずも過ぐる春かな

fuku kaze no
oto ni kikitsutsu
sakurabana
me ni wa miezu mo
suguru haru kana
In the gusting wind’s
Whispers will I ever hear
My cherry blossom, though
My eyes behold her not
As spring passes by…

Composed by the Tenryaku Emperor

Entō ōn’uta’awase 39

Round Thirty-Nine

Left (Tie)

さをしかのふしどをあさみ吹く風に夜半に鳴く音ぞふかくなりゆく

saoshika no
fushido o asami
fuku kaze ni
yowa ni naku ne zo
fukaku nariyuku
The stag’s
Resting place disturbed by
The gusting wind
At midnight his belling cry
Comes from deeper in the mountains.

Chikanari
77

Right

さらでだにね覚かなしき秋風に夜しもなどか鹿の鳴くらん

sarade dani
nezame kanashiki
akikaze ni
yoru shimo nado ka
shika no nakuran
Even were it not so,
To waken is so sad
With the cruel autumn wind;
Why is it that above all at night
The stag should cry so?

Ie’kiyo
78

The Left poem’s ‘at midnight his belling cry comes from deeper’ does not sound especially elegant. The Right poem composes ‘why is it that above all at night the stag should cry so’, sounding like it is only at night that stags bell, but stags do this all the time in autumn. The Ancient and Modern also has the composition, ‘Mud-daubers buzzing / In the autumn bush clover; / Leaving with morning’.[1] The poems of Left and Right have no merits or faults between them—they should tie.


[1] This is a quotation from: Topic unknown. すがるなく秋のはぎはらあさたちて旅行く人をいつとかまたむ sugaru naku / aki no hagiwara / asa tachite / tabi yuku hito o / itsu to ka matan ‘Mud-daubers buzzing / In the autumn bush clover; / Leaving with morning, / Away on a journey: for him, / How long must I wait?’ Anonymous (KKS VIII: 366)

Eien narabō uta’awase 05

Round Five

Left (Win)

さくらやまはなのさかりに風ふけばこずゑをこして白波ぞたつ

sakurayama
hana no sakari ni
kaze fukeba
kozue o koshite
shiranami zo tatsu
On the mount of Cherries
So fine is the blossom that
When the wind does blow,
Passing o’er the treetops,
Whitecaps arise!

Controller’s Graduate
9

Right

この春ははなにこころのあくがれてこのもとにてもくらしつるかな

kono haru wa
hana ni kokoro no
akugarete
ko no moto nite mo
kurashitsuru kana
This springtime
By the blossoms my heart
Is captivated, and
Beneath the trees
Does dwell!

Kerin’in Graduate
10

Both Left and Right, in terms of diction, tone and style are superb with no faults at all. Thus, this is a tie.

The final section of the Left’s poem lacks fluency, yet it has conception. As for the Right’s poem, in order for one’s heart to be captivated by the blossom on every single treetop, one would need to be walking around. If one is resting peacefully beneath the trees, then one should say that one’s heart is captured. This section sounds erroneous, so the Left should win.

Entō ōn’uta’awase 26

Round Twenty-Six

Left

秋萩の露もよすがのさがり葉も風吹きたつる色ぞ身にしむ

akihagi no
tsuyu mo yosuga no
sagariba mo
kaze fukitatsuru
iro zo mi ni shimu
On the autumn bush clover
Dewdrops rest upon
The dangling leaves,
Whipped up by the wind,
Their hues sharply sink into my flesh.

The Former Minister of the Centre
51

Right (Win)

さだめなき風を待つ間もうつろひぬもとあらの萩にむすぶ白露

sadamenaki
kaze o matsu ma mo
utsuroinu
motoara no hagi ni
musubu shiratsuyu
While the unsettled
Breeze they do await,
Faded from
The sparse bush clover have
The clinging dewdrops.[1]

Kozaishō
52

The Left poem’s ‘rest upon the dangling leaves, whipped up by the wind’ seems a novel style, and yet, even though everything about dangling leaves is contained in the Ancient and Modern, it does not sound particularly evocative. The Right lacks even a small fault and appears gorgeous, so it should win.


[1] An allusive variation on: Topic unknown. 宮木野のもとあらの小萩つゆをおもみ風をまつごと君をこそまつ miyagino no / motoara no kohagi / tsuyu o omomi / kaze o matsu goto / kimi o koso matsu ‘On Miyagi Plain / The sparse bush clover / Weighed down with dewdrops / Awaits the wind, just as / I do wait for you…’ Anonymous (KKS XIV: 694)

Entō ōn’uta’awase 25

Round Twenty-Five

Dew on Bush Clover

Left

下葉には色なる玉やくだくらむ風の吹きしく萩の上の露

shitaba ni wa
iro naru tama ya
kudakuramu
kaze no fukishiku
hagi no ue no tsuyu
From the underleaves
Hues have the gemlets taken
In their shattering?
Spread by the gusting wind
Are the dewdrops on the bush clover…

A Court Lady
49

Right (Win)

又やみむ又や見ざらん白露の玉おきしける秋萩の花

mata ya mimu
mata ya mizaran
shiratsuyu no
tama okishikeru
akihagi no hana
Will I see again, or
Will I not
Silver dewdrop
Pearls spread upon
The autumn bush clover blooms?

Ietaka
50

The Left’s poem does not seem to have a particularly superlative style. The Right’s poem, saying ‘will I see again, or will I not silver dewdrops’ is particularly charming and moving. Thus, it wins.