Mandarin Ducks 鴛鴦
冬さむみはだれしもふるさ夜なかにつがはぬをしの声ぞかなしき
| fuyu samumi hadareshimo furu sayonaka ni tsugawanu oshi no koe zo kanashiki | In winter’s chill A brush of frost does fall, At midnight, when The unmated mandarins’ Cries are sad, indeed! |
Tadafusa
Tag Archives: koe
Love IX: 6
Left (Win)
笛竹の聲のかぎりをつくしても猶憂きふしやよゝに殘らん
| fuetake no koe no kagiri o tsukushitemo nao ukifushi ya yoyo ni nokoruran |
My bamboo flute’s Voice beyond its limits Might I push, and yet Still, would this sorrow Remain – even to the world to come? |
A Servant Girl
1091
Right
わが戀はまだ吹き馴れぬ横笛の音に立つれども逢かたもなし
| wa ga koi wa mada fukinarenu yokobue no ne ni tatsuredomo au kata mo nashi |
My love: like An unpractised Set of pipes Gives out discordant sounds, yet No chance is there to meet… |
Lord Takanobu
1092
Left and Right together state: no faults.
In judgement: the Right’s pipes would seem to sound very youthful, indeed! As for the Left, although I feel I have heard such a conception before, because for the life of me I cannot recall where, the style seems tasteful. The Left wins.
Love VIII: 30
Left (Tie)
忘れじの契うらむる故郷の心も知らぬ松蟲の聲
| wasureji no chigiri uramuru furusato no kokoro mo shiranu matsumushi no koe |
Never will I forget you – Despairing of that vow At home All unknowing of my feelings Comes a bell cricket’s cry… |
Lord Sada’ie
1079
Right
來ぬ人の秋のけしきやふけぬらん恨みによはる松蟲の聲
| konu hito no aki no keshiki ya fukenuran urami ni yowaru matsumushi no koe |
He comes not, so Is all seeming done, as autumn Does wear on? How I envy the weakening Bell cricket’s song… |
Jakuren
1080
Left and Right: both poems are equally admirable.
In judgement: the Left’s poem, with ‘all unknowing of my feelings comes a bell cricket’s cry’ (kokoro mo shiranu matsumushi no koe) is fine. The Right, with ‘is all seeming done, as autumn does wear on’ (aki no keshiki ya fukenuran), is too, so both Left and Right do truly move the heart, do they not? I have no way of distinguishing superior from inferior here, so thus must make the round a tie.
Love VIII: 29
Left (Win)
つらからん中こそあらめ萩原やした松蟲の聲をだに問へ
| tsurakaran naka koso arame hagiwara ya shita matsumushi no koe o dani toe |
Cold will Our bond, no doubt, become, but Among the bush clover Eagerly awaiting, the bell-cricket’s Call is all that I would ask… |
A Servant Girl
1077
Right
夜もすがら人まつ蟲の鳴く聲を我身の上によそへてぞ聞く
| yo mo sugara hito matsu mushi no naku koe o wa ga mi no ue ni yosoete zo kiku |
All through the night A cricket pines – The song it sings Upon myself does Seem to dwell – or so it sounds… |
Lord Tsune’ie
1078
The Gentlemen of the Right state: we have no reason to mention any faults in the Left’s poem. The Gentlemen of the Left state: the Right’s poem is pedestrian.
In judgement: both poems refer to ‘bell crickets’, with the Left saying, ‘our bond, no doubt, become’ (naka koso arame), then ‘call is all that I would ask’ (koe o dani toe), and ‘eagerly awaiting, the bell cricket’ (shita matsumushi) – all of these are extremely difficult to grasp, however, the Right’s poem is pointlessly pedestrian. So, the Left wins.
MYS X: 2157
On cicadas.
夕影に来鳴くひぐらしここだくも日ごとに聞けど飽かぬ声かも
| yupukage ni ki naku pigurasi kokodaku mo pigoto ni kikedo akanu kowe kamo |
With the twilight Comes to call the evening cicadas; Endlessly With every day I hear them yet, Never do I tire of their song… |
Anonymous
Love VIII: 14
Left (Tie)
人心常は卯月の時鳥ことかたらはん聲を聞かばや
| hito kokoro tsune wa uzuki no hototogisu koto kataran koe o kikaba ya |
Her heart is Ever chill; O, for the Fourth Month Cuckoo To tell me With a gentle song! |
Lord Suetsune
1047
Right
足引の遠山鳥の一聲は我つまながらめづらしき哉
| ashihiki no tōyamadori no hitogoe wa ware tsumanagara mezurashiki kana |
Leg-wearying The distant mountain pheasant’s Call is Even for his mate A rare thing, indeed! |
Lord Tsune’ie
1048
The Gentlemen of the Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults. The Gentlemen of the Left state: the initial part of the Right’s poem has an antiquated feel.
In judgement: the Left’s ‘cuckoo’ (hototogisu) and the Right’s ‘mountain pheasant’ (yamadori) are of the same level.
Tsurayuki-shū 503
春霞とひわけいぬる声聞きて狩衣なりとほかはいふらむ
| Farugasumi toFiwake inuru kowe kikite kariginu nari to Foka Fa iFuramu |
Through the haze of spring Comes questioning A voice I hear, “In hunting garb,” Seems the reply… |
Ki no Tsurayuki
紀貫之
MYS VI: 1057
鹿背の山木立を茂み朝さらず来鳴き響もす鴬の声
| kase no yama kodati wo sigemi asa sarazu kinaki toyomosu ugupisu no kowe |
On Kase Mountain The groves are so lush that Unable to wait for morning Comes the echo of The warbler’s song! |
Tanabe no Sakimaro Collection
田辺福麻呂歌集
Minbukyō yukihira no uta’awase 10
Left
時鳥今宵はとまれ片岡の朝の原に帰りやせぬ
| Fototogisu koyoFi Fa tomare katawoka no asita no Fara ni kaFeri ya senu |
O, cuckoo Stay here this night, and Down the hillside With the morning to the plain Will you not return? |
19
Right
我が宿に声な惜しみそ時鳥通ふ千里のゆきはてぞ此は
| wa ga yado ni kowe na osimi so Fototogisu kayoFu tisato no yukiFate zo ko Fa |
At my home I regret not your song, O, cuckoo, For your thousand league Journey’s end lies here. |
20
Minbukyō yukihira no uta’awase 8
Left (Win)
ほかにまた待つ人あれや時鳥心長閑かに声の聞えぬ
| Foka ni mata matu Fito are ya Fototogisu kokoro nodoka ni kowe no kikoenu |
Is there any other who still Awaits as I, O, cuckoo? Heart at peace with Your song unheard… |
15
Right
二声と聞かでややまむ時鳥暁近くなりもしぬらむ
| Futakowe to kikade ya yamamu Fototogisu akatuki tikaku nari mo sinuramu |
Will your twin cries Cease before they’re heard, O, cuckoos? With approaching dawn It seems they die… |
16