On the conception of chrysanthemums under the moon by a lattice fence, when she presented a hundred poem sequence.
霜をまつまがきの菊のよひの間におきまよふ色は山のはの月
| shimo o matsu magaki no kiku no yoi no ma ni okimayou iro wa yama no ha no tsuki | Awaiting the frost By my lattice fence, the chrysanthemums In the midst of night Are draped in puzzling hues By the moon from off the mountains’ edge. |
Kunaikyō
From among his miscellaneous poems.
くれぬるかまがきの竹のむらすずめねぐらあらそふ声さわぐなり
| kurenuru ka magaki no take no murasuzume negura arasou koe sawagunari | Is it dusk? Along the bamboo of my lattice fence A flock of sparrows Quarrelling over roosts Is chirping noisily, indeed! |
The Jōmyōji Minister of the Left
浄妙寺左大臣
Left
あきごとにさきはくれどもをみなへしけふをまつとのなにこそありけれ
| aki goto ni saki wa kuredomo ominaeshi kyō o matsu to no na ni koso arikere | Every single autumn Does her time to bloom arrive, yet This maidenflower Has been waiting for this day Or so the rumour goes! |
5[1]
Right
さやかにもけさはみえずやをみなへしきりのまがきにたちかくれつつ
| sayaka ni mo kesa wa miezu ya ominaeshi kiri no magaki ni tachikakuretsutsu | Clearly This morning I cannot glimpse That maidenflower In the mists along the brushwood fence Ever does she hide herself away. |
6[2]
[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 518
[2] Shinsen man’yōshū 540
Colours of chrysanthemums at the base of a fence (籬菊色色)
Left
いろいろにうつろふ風のそがぎくはしなじなよはの霜やおくらん
| iroiro ni utsurou kaze no sogagiku wa shinajina yowa no shimo ya okuran | Hues Shifting with the breeze Are the yellow chrysanthemums: Is it because of night’s differing Frostfall, perhaps? |
A Court Lady
25
Right
おく霜にまがきのきくをみわたせばいろいろにこそうつろひにけれ
| oku shimo ni magaki no kiku o miwataseba iroiro ni koso utsuroinikere | Frost has fallen upon The chrysanthemums by the rough-hewn fence, and When I gaze across them, How their hues Have faded away! |
A Court Lady
26
Left (Tie).
隔てける籬の島のわりなきに住む甲斐なしや千賀の塩釜
| hedatekeru magaki no shima no warinasa ni sumu kai nashi ya chika no shiogama |
Barring our way is The fence – Magaki Isle: So unreasonable That living close is pointless, as if We were at Chika’s salt-kilns! |
Kenshō
885
Right.
忍ぶ草竝ぶ軒端の夕暮に思ひをかはすさゝがにの糸
| shinobugusa narabu nokiba no yūgure ni omoi o kawasu sasagani no ito |
A weeping fern lies Between our almost touching eaves; In the evening Love will pass Along the spider’s thread. |
Ietaka
886
The Right state: the Left’s ‘Magaki Isle’ (magaki no shima) and ‘Chika’s salt kiln’s’ (chika no shiogama) do not seem that nearby, do they? They only evoke closeness through wordplay. The Right state: we find no faults to indicated in the Left’s poem.
In judgement: the Left’s ‘Magaki Isle’ and ‘Chika’s salt kilns’, even if they are not that close, do not display a lack of technique in the conception of the current composition. I do wonder what to think about ‘so unreasonable’ (warinasa ni), though. The Right’s weeping ferns, with the spider’s behaviour transmitting the feelings of love, does not seem unreasonable either. This round, too, the poems are comparable and should tie.
Left.
今日といへばやがて籬の白菊ぞ尋し人の袖と見えける
| kyō to ieba yagate magaki no shiragiku zo tazuneshi hito no sode to miekeru |
On this day At last, along my lattice fence White chrysanthemums: Seeming like the sleeves of One who came to call… |
449
Right.
さか月に浮べる今日の影よりやうつろひ初むる白菊の花
| sakazuki ni ukaberu kyō no kage yori ya uturoisomuru shiragiku no hana |
In my wine cup Floating on this day: Does the moonlight Bring on changing hues For white chrysanthemum blooms? |
450
The Right say that having the phrase ‘at last, along my lattice fence’ (yagate magaki no) continuing one from the other is ‘unsatisfactory’ [kokoroyukazu]. The Left say that the Right’s phrasing sounds as if the change in colour is brought about by the blossom floating in the wine cup, rather than the moonlight, and query if this is appropriate.
Shunzei’s judgement: Is the Left’s ‘at last, along my lattice fence’ that poor [ashiku ya wa]? Furthermore, the Right’s poem simply means ‘when floating in the wine cup’ the colours ‘change’. Neither poem has any conspicuous faults [tomo ni toganaku kikoyu]. The round should tie.
Left.
朝まだき庭も籬も野分して露をきあがる草の葉もなし
| asa madaki niwa mo magaki mo nowakishite tsuyu okiagaru kusa no ha mo nashi |
At the cusp of dawn My garden and my fence, too, After the gales, Are drenched in dew Flattened blades of grass – every one. |
359
Right.
夕間暮むら雲迷ひ吹風に枕定めぬ花の色いろ
| yūmagure muragumo mayoi fuku kaze ni makura sadamenu hana no iroiro |
In the dim dusk light Crowding clouds confusedly Blown by the breeze Unable to rest are all The many blooms. |
360
The Right state that ‘linking “gales” with “drenched” is a poor expression’, while the Left feel that they have no criticisms of the Right’s poem.
Shunzei, again, broadly agrees: ‘What are we to make of the Left’s poem with a fence left standing in a garden after a gale? The Right’s “crowding clouds confusedly” is fine, indeed. Although the term “pillow” is unsuitable in this context, the Left’s “drenched in dew” cannot possibly be right here, either, and so the Right wins.”
Left (Win).
月ぞ澄む里はまことに荒れにけり鶉の床を拂ふ秋風
| tsuki zo sumu sato wa makoto ni arenikeri uzura no toko o harau aki kaze |
Clear shines the moon, dwelling O’er a house truly Gone to ruin; The quail’s bed Brushed by autumn breezes… |
347
Sada’ie’s poem alludes obliquely to a famous poetic exchange from the Kokinshū, initiated by Ariwara no Narihira.
Right.
繁き野と荒果てにける宿なれや籬の暮に鶉鳴く也
| shigeki no to arehatenikeru yado nare ya magaki no kure ni uzura nakunari |
Overgrown are these fields, and Is that a deserted Dwelling? By the fence at evening time The quails are crying. |
348
Both teams concur that there are no faults at all this round.
Shunzei agrees: ‘Both poems are on the theme of now deserted dwelling places and are equally beautiful in expression, with the Right’s work reminiscent of “Fushimi at evening time”, but this implies a broad vista, and is not “the fence at evening time” too narrow? The Left’s final section is better, and wins, I think.’