Tag Archives: kokoro

Minbukyō yukihira 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

Minbukyō yukihira uta’awase 6

Left
時鳥雲井の声を聞く人は心も空になりぞしにける

Fototogisu
kumowi no kowe wo
kiku Fito Fa
kokoro mo sora ni
nari zo sinikeru
A cuckoo
From the clouds your call
Folk hear, and
Their hearts with the skies
One do become!

11

Right (Win)
小夜更けて起きて待たずば時鳥はつかなる音もいかで聞かまし

sayo Fukete
okite matazuba
Fototogisu
Fatukanaru ne mo
ikade kikamasi
A brief night dawns, and
Had I not awaited to arise
A cuckoo’s
Momentary cry
Somehow I might have heard…

12

Love VII: 15

Left.
最上河人の心の稲船もしばしばかりと聞かば頼まん

mogamigawa
hito no kokoro no
inabune mo
shibashi bakari to
kikaba tanoman
Upon Mogami River,
Her heart is as
A rice-boat;
That but for a little while
She will hear me, is all my longing.

Lord Ari’ie
989

Right (Win).
飛鳥川淵瀬ひまなき世の中に人のつらさぞ變らざりける

asukagawa
fuchi se himanaki
yo no naka ni
hito no tsurasa zo
kawarazarikeru
On Asuka River
The deeps and shallows have no rest;
In this world of ours,
Her cruelty
Is unchanging.

The Supernumerary Master of the Empress’ Household Office
990

The Right state: we have no criticisms to make of the Left’s poem. The Left state: we wonder about the Right’s use of ‘the deeps and shallows have no rest’ (fuchi se himanaki).

In judgement: ‘Mogami River’ appears to be technically accomplished, but the final section sounds excessive. The deeps and shallows of Asuka River, indeed, do change constantly. The final section, too, seems fine. Thus, the Right wins.

Love VII: 11

Left (Tie).
遠ざかる人の心は海原の沖行く舟の跡の潮風

tōzakaru
hito no kokoro wa
unabara no
oki yuku funa no
ato no shiokaze
Ever more distant grows
His heart:
Into the sea-plains of
The offing goes a boat,
Wake touched by the tidewinds…

Lord Sada’ie
981

Right.
わたつ海の浪のあなたに人は住む心あらなん風の通ひ路

wata tsu umi no
nami no anata ni
hito wa sumu
kokoro aranan
kaze no kayoiji
The endless sea:
Beyond its waves
Does my love live;
Had they any pity,
The winds would make my path to her!

Nobusada
982

The Gentlemen of the Right state: there are too many uses of no. Would it not have been better to reduce their number with, for example, ‘o, sea-plains!’ (unabara ya)? We also wonder about the use of ‘wake touched by the tidewinds’ (ato no shiokaze). The Gentlemen of the Left state: ‘does my love live’ (hito wa sumu) is grating on the ear.

In judgement: saying that the Left’s poem has too many identical words is clearly relying upon the long-established hornet-hip or crane-knee faults. In today’s poetry there are countless poems in which these faults can be identified. In addition, ‘into the sea-plains’ (unabara no) and ‘o, sea-plains’ (unabara ya) are the same. I may be wrong here, but it seems to me that in this poem, it has to be ‘into the sea-plains’. Finally, ‘wake touched by the tidewinds’ is elegant. As for the Right’s ‘beyond its waves does my love live’ (nami no anata ni hito wa sumu), this is not grating, is it? It seems that the Gentleman of the Right, being so well-read in Chinese scholarship, has required revisions to the faulty poem of the Left in the absence of the judge. Thus, what can a grand old fool do but make the round a tie.

Saishō chūjō kuninobu no ie no uta’awase 15

Left (Win).
恋ひわびて片敷く袖はかへせどもいつかは妹が夢に見えける

koFiwabite
katasiku sode Fa
kaFesedomo
itu ka Fa imo ga
yume ni miekeru
Tortured with love
My single spread sleeve
I do reverse, yet
When will my darling
Appear in my dreams?

The Holy Teacher 闍梨
[Ryūgen 隆源]
29

Right.
我が心ときぞともなく乱るれど日だに暮るれば恋ひ添はりけり

wa ga kokoro
toki zo tomonaku
midaruredo
Fi dani kurureba
koFisoFarikeri
My heart
With every passing hour
Is more distraught, yet
Even when the day does dim
Love is my companion.

Bichū 備中
[Minamoto no Nakazane 源仲実]
30