やほよろづよもの神たちあつまれりたかまのはらにきぎたかくして
| yaoyorozu yomo no kamitachi atsumareri takama no hara ni kigi takakushite | All eight million Deities from all corners of the world Have gathered; Here, upon the High Plain of Heaven Beneath the lofty shrine roof… |
620
Tag Archives: kigi
Eien narabō uta’awase 32
Round Four
Left
うちむれていはねにねざすこまつばのきぎのちとせはきみぞかぞへむ
| uchimurete iwane ni nezasu komatsuba no kigi no chitose wa kimi zo kazoemu | Crowding At the crags’ foot, roots stretching, The dwarf pines’ needles with The trees’ thousand years— My Lord may count them all! |
Cell of the Fragrant Elephant
63
Right (Win)
たとふべきものこそなけれ君がよははまのまさごもかずなからめや
| tatoubeki mono koso nakere kimi ga yo wa hama no masago mo kazu nakarame ya | A suitable metaphor Is there none, at all! My Lord’s reign: Even the fair sands on the shore Would not exceed its number… |
Cell of Everlasting Truth
64
Both of the Left poem’s expressions, ‘crowding’ and ‘dwarf pines’ needles’, seem to sound awkward. ‘Crowding’ is used of cranes, while it would have been preferable to say ‘the needles of the dwarf pines’. The poem of the Right is not especially charming, but it is in a familiar style, so I feel that ‘the fair sands’ number’ is superior.
I feel that ‘crowding’ is better applied to human beings. Perhaps there’s a conception here of looking down on each and every one? This is a mistake, isn’t it? In addition, what is ‘dwarf pines’ needles’? Maybe the poet is trying to say ‘the needles of the dwarf pines’? Is there a prior poem as precedent? It’s a piece of awkward-sounding diction! The Right’s poem appears straightforward, but without errors.
Daikōtaigōgū no suke taira no tsunemori-ason ke uta’awase 37
Scarlet Leaves
Round One
Left (Win)
山姫やきてふる郷へ帰るらんにしきとみゆる衣手の杜
| yamahime ya kite furusato e kaeruran nishiki to miyuru koromode no mori | Does the mountain princess Wear it, when to her ancient home Returning? As brocade does seem The sacred grove at Koromode… |
Lord Shige’ie
73
Right
色色の木木のにしきを立田川ひとつはたにもおりながすかな
| iroiro no kigi no nishiki o tatsutagawa hitotsu hata ni mo orinagasu kana | Many hued is The trees brocade that The Tatsuta River’s Loom into one Does weave and float along! |
Shun’e
74
The Left’s ‘mountain princess’ is normally used, but where is the ‘ancient estate’? As for the Right, when the trees’ brocade is scattered, only then, indeed, can it be woven and made to flow along by a river. A long time ago there was a poem composed which, indeed, began, ‘The scarlet leaves in such confusion / Drift’ and then continued, ‘Were I to ford across, this brocade / Would be split in two, I’d say…’[1] Furthermore, what are we to make of ‘Tatsuta River’s / Loom into one’? There should be reference to a location which has some connection with looms, but to simply shoehorn in ‘Tatsuta River’s / Loom into one’ smacks of pleasing oneself. There is the earlier poem ‘Without a loom / Are brocade’,[2] too. The way in which this poem is constructed is charming, but these features are difficult to ignore, so thus the Left should win, I think.
[1] The poem is Kokinshū V: 283, with the headnote, ‘Topic unknown’. It is officially anonymous, but is accompanied by an endnote stating ‘It is said by some that this poem was composed by the Nara Emperor.’
[2] Topic unknown. から衣たつたの山のもみぢばははた物もなき錦なりけり karakoromo / Tatsuta no yama no / momijiba wa / hatamono mo naki / nishiki narikeri ‘A Cathay robe— / Tatsuta Mountain’s / Scarlet leaves, / Without a loom / Are brocade.’ Anonymous (GSS VII: 386)
Daikōtaigōgū daijin kiyosuke-ason ke uta’awase 21
Round Twenty-One
Left (Win)
小倉山木木のもみぢのくれなゐはみねの嵐のおろすなりけり
| ogurayama kigi no momiji no kurenai wa mine no arashi no orosu narikeri | On gloomy Mount Ogura The leaves upon the trees, So scarlet, By the storm wind from the peak Are tossed down. |
Lord Kiyosuke
41
Right
ふかくあさきもみぢばながるあすか河ふちせは色にあらはれにけり
| fukaku asaki momijiba nagaru asukagawa fuchise wa iro ni arawarenikeri | Across both depths and shallows Flow the scarlet leaves On the Asuka river, Among the rapids and the pools Have they appeared. |
Shun’e
42
Neither of these is bad. The Right violates the five syllable pattern; the Left has no faults.
Kinkai wakashū 78
SKKS X: 924
For the Hundred Poem Sequences Commemorating the Reign of Former Emperor Horikawa.
やまぢにてそほちにけりな白露のあかつきおきの木木のしづくに
| yamaji nite sōchinikeri na shiratsuyu no akatsuki oki no kigi no shizuku ni | On a mountain path How damp have I become! Silver dewdrops Fall with the dawn In droplets from the trees… |
Supernumerary Middle Counsellor Kunizane
Shiki koi sanshu uta’awase – Winter
Winter
Left
冬くれば紅葉ふりしく神無月佐保の山辺はむべもりぬらん
| fuyu kureba momiji furishiku kaminazuki saho no yamabe wa mube morinuran | When the winter comes, Scarlet leaves, falling and scattering In the Godless Month, Upon the slopes of Mount Saho, Indeed, are at their finest. |
19
冬ごもりかれてみゆらん梅がえは今はた花の春はにほはん
| fuyugomori karete miyuran ume ga e wa ima hata hana no haru wa niowan | Sealed in winter, and All withered seeming, The plum tree’s branches, Now, for sure, the blossoms’ Spring will scent. |
20
冬みれば水もまかせぬ小山田にいつすき返し種をまきけん
| fuyu mireba mizu mo makasenu oyamada ni itsu sukikaeshi tane o makiken | ‘Tis winter, I see, so There’s no water to draw for The little mountain paddies: O, when might I till them, and Sow my seeds, I wonder? |
21
Right
時雨降る宿にすまへば冬の夜に錦とみゆる木木の花かな
| shigure furu yado ni sumaeba fuyu no yo ni nishiki to miyuru kigi no hana kana | Showers fall Upon the house where I do dwell, so Upon a winter’s night As brocade do seem The blossoming trees! |
22
ゆふだすき神の社にかけつればしもし降るにもたのもしきかな
| yūdasuki kami no yashiro ni kaketsureba shimo shi furu ni mo tanomashiki kana | Sacred mulberry cords Around the God’s shrine Are hung, so Even amidst the frost fall, The future does seem bright! |
23
白雲のふたへふりしくときは山うらはへとしはみどりなりけれ
| shiragumo no futae furishiku tokiwa yama ura hae toshi wa midori narikere | Clouds of white Lie scattered, twofold, upon The unchanging mountain: Stretching out behind, the year Is simply green. |
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