Tag Archives: kiri

Shiki koi sanshu uta’awase – Autumn

Autumn

Left

秋の夜の有明にみれど久堅の月のかつらはうつろはぬかな

aki no yo no
ariake ni miredo
hisakata no
tsuki no katsura wa
utsurouwanu kana
An autumn night’s
Dawn I see, yet
The eternal
Moon’s silver trees
Show no sign of fading!

13

秋萩の花咲く比の白露は下ばのためとわきて置くべし

aki hagi no
hana saku koro no
shiratsuyu wa
shitaba no tame to
wakite okubeshi
In autumn, the bush clover
Flowers bloom—just then
Silver dewdrops
For the under-leaves
Do fall, marking every one.

14

秋風はいなばもそよとふきつめりかりみる程と成りやしぬらん

akikaze wa
inaba mo soyo to
fukitsumeri
kari miru hodo to
nari ya shinuran
The autumn breeze
Seems to rustle the rice stalks
As it blows;
Seeing if ‘tis time to reap them—
Is that what it is, I wonder?

15

Right

銀河とわたる舟は花薄ほにいづるほどぞかげもみゆべき

ama no kawa
towataru fune wa
hanasusuki
ho ni izuru hodo zo
kage mo miyubeki
Across the River of Heaven
A boat goes ferrying:
When the silver grass
Ears burst into bloom,
Can its shape be seen.

16

女郎花さがの花をば色ながら秋をさかりといはれずもがな

ominaeshi
saga no hana oba
iro nagara
aki o sakari to
iwarezu mogana
Maidenflowers:
Blossoms from Saga
Reveal their hues, and
In autumn are most fine—that
Goes without saying!

17

小男鹿の朝たつ霧にうりふ山嶺の梢は色こかりけり

saoshika no
asa tatsu kiri ni
urifuyama
mine no kozue wa
iro kokarikeri
Stags
Within the rising morning mist on
Urifu Moutain, where
The treetops on the peak
Have taken darker hues.

18

Love VIII: 18

Left (Win)
鴨のゐる入江の浪を心にて胸と袖とにさはぐ戀かな

kamo no iru
irie no nami o
kokoro nite
mune to sode to ni
sawagu koi kana
Ducks flock on
The inlet’s waves
Within my heart, so
My breast and sleeves both
Are raucous with love!

Lord Sada’ie
1055

Right
佐保川の霧のまよひの程だにも妻もとむとて千鳥鳴夜を

saogawa no
kiri no mayoi no
hodo dani mo
tsuma motomu tote
chidori naku yo o
To the vernal river:
The mist brings confusion
And in its midst,
Seeking a mate,
A plover cries at night…

Jakuren
1056

The Gentlemen of the Right state: we wonder about the appropriateness of ‘my breast and sleeves both are raucous’ (mune to sode to ni sawagu)? The Left, in appeal, state: there is ‘the river-mouths of my sleeves’ (sode no minato) and ‘when I think, upon my breast’ (omoeba mune ni) so linking ‘breast’ and ‘sleeve’ is entirely uncontroversial. The Gentlemen of the Left state: we find no faults to mention in the Right’s poem.

In judgement: I understand the views of the Left’s poem held by both teams. It has also been said that the Right’s poem lacks faults. However, in ‘seeking a mate, a plover cries at night’ (tsuma motomu tote chidori naku yo o) only the two words ‘at night’ (yo o) have any conception of love. The remainder of the poem is simply about plovers, so there is little of love about it. ‘Breast and sleeves both’ (mune to sode to) should win.

MYS XVII: 4003

A poem with two envoys, composed in respectful response to Tachiyama.

朝日さし そがひに見ゆる 神ながら 御名に帯ばせる 白雲の 千重を押し別け 天そそり 高き立山 冬夏と 別くこともなく 白栲に 雪は降り置きて 古ゆ あり来にければ こごしかも 岩の神さび たまきはる 幾代経にけむ 立ちて居て 見れども異し 峰高み 谷を深みと 落ちたぎつ 清き河内に 朝さらず 霧立ちわたり 夕されば 雲居たなびき 雲居なす 心もしのに 立つ霧の 思ひ過ぐさず 行く水の 音もさやけく 万代に 言ひ継ぎゆかむ 川し絶えずは

asapi sasi
sogapi ni miyuru
kamu nagara
mina ni obasesu
sirakumo no
tipe wo osiwake
ama sosori
takaki tatiyama
puyu natu to
waku koto mo naku
sirotape ni
yuki pa puri okite
inisipe yu
arikinikereba
kogosikamo
ipa no kamusabi
tama kiparu
ikuyo penikemu
tatiwite
miredomo ayasi
minedakami
tani wo pukami to
otitagitu
kiyoki ka puti ni
asa sarazu
kiri tati watari
yupu sareba
kumowi tanabiki
kumowi nasu
kokoro mo sino ni
tatu kiri no
omopi sugusazu
yuku midu no
woto mo sayakeku
yoroduyo ni
ipitugi yukamu
kapa si taezu wa
The morning sun shines
At my back,and
Divine
Your great name links:
Clouds of white
In a thousand layers, you pierce, and
Tower into the heavens,
Tall Tachiyama!
In winter and, in summer both
Indistinguishably are you
Clad in mulberry white
Fallen drifts of snow;
Since ancient days
Ever has been your estate,
Fastened round with
Crags divine;
‘til all souls end
Have countless ages passed!
Standing here,
I see you, yet am awed by
Your lofty peak and
Valley’s deep, where
Plunge seething cataracts of
Waters pure to pools where
Morning never leaves –
Mists rise and roll across, and
When the evening comes
Clouds trail in and
Cover all,
Even, with sadness, my heart, so
The rising mists
Never leave my thoughts, and of
Your running waters’
Clear, pure sound
Through ten thousand ages
Will I ever tell
Unending as a river’s flow…

Ōtomo no Ikenushi
大伴池主

GSIS VI: 388

Composed on plovers for a poetry competition in Eishō 4 [1050].

佐保川の霧のあなたに鳴く千鳥聲は隔てぬ物にぞ有ける

saFogaFa no
kiri no anata ni
naku tidori
kowe Fa Fedatenu
mono ni zo arikeru
The River Sao:
Mist rises, and from beyond
Come plover cries,
Their calls uninterrupted
By anything.

The Horikawa Minister of the Right [Fujiwara no Yorimune]