Tag Archives: maidenflowers

Daikōtaigōgū no suke taira no tsunemori-ason ke uta’awase 04

Round Four

Left

行人を野べの尾花にまねかせて色めきたてる女郎花かな

yuku hito o
nobe no obana ni
manekasete
iromeki tateru
ominaeshi kana
Folk going by
The meadows the silver grass
Is made to beckon by
The seductively standing
Maidenflowers!

Lord Fujiwara no Suetsune, Former Junior Assistant Minister of Central Affairs
7

Right (Win)

吹くをりぞ過ぐる人をばまねきけるかぜや尾花の心なるらん

fuku ori zo
suguru hito oba
manekikeru
kaze ya obana no
kokoro naruran
When it blows,
Folk passing by
Are beckoned—
Does the wind the silver grasses’
Heart become?

Minor Controller of the Left Fujiwara no Tamechika
8

The Left appears to have nothing remarkable about it, while the Right’s initial three sections sound clumsy, yet appear to have some degree of conception, so I would say it wins.

Daikōtaigōgū no suke taira no tsunemori-ason ke uta’awase 03

Round Three

Left

女郎花露もわきてやおきつらんしほれ姿のあてにも有るかな

ominaeshi
tsuyu mo wakite ya
okitsuran
shioresugata no
ate ni mo aru kana
Upon the maidenflowers
Might the dew discriminate
In its falling?
For its dampened form
Is so fine!

Lord Minamoto no Michiyoshi, Minor Captain of the Inner Palace Guards, Right Division
5

Right (Win)

もも草の花もあだにやおもふらんひと色ならずうつす心を

momokusa no
hana mo ada ni ya
omouran
hito iro narazu
utsusu kokoro o
A multitude of grasses
Blooms: do they play me false
Should I think?
For not to one hue alone
Is my heart drawn…

Kojijū, Court Lady to Her Majesty
6

The Left, by saying ‘Might the dew discriminate / In its falling?’ seems to want to describe the way that the flowers’ colours become deeper or fainter. It is not appropriate, however, to use ‘dampened form’ in this way. Furthermore, saying something ‘seems fine’ lacks elegance, doesn’t it. The Right does not lack the conception of the topic, so it should win.

Yōzei-in uta’awase (Engi jūsan-nen kugatsu kokonoka) 06

Left

あきごとにさかずはあらねど女郎花散りゆくことはをしくぞありける

aki goto ni
sakazu wa aranedo
ominaeshi
chiriyuku koto wa
oshiku zo arikeru
Every single autumn,
It’s not that you bloom not, yet
O, maidenflowers,
That you scatter away
I regret, indeed!

11

Right

めにみえてわかるる秋ををしまめやおほぞらのみぞながめらるらん

me ni miete
wakaruru aki o
oshimame ya
ōzora nomi zo
nagameraruran
Before my eyes
Autumn is departing—
Should I regret it, or
Simply to the heavens, alone,
Ever turn my gaze?

12

Hon’in sadaijin-ke uta’awase 04

Maidenflowers

Left

なびくとや人はみるらんをみなへしおもふかたにぞかぜもふきける

nabiku to ya
hito wa miruran
ominaeshi
omou kata ni zo
kaze mo fukikeru
‘Are they trailing?’
Folk wonder at the sight of
The maidenflowers, and
As they thought
The wind, too, was blowing…

7

Right

おほかたののべなるよりはをみなへしねやのつまにてみるはまされり

ōkata no
nobe naru yori wa
ominaeshi
neya no tsuma nite
miru wa masareri
So wide are
The plains, but I’d rather
A maidenflower—
My wife in the bedchamber:
Seeing her is better far!

8

MYS XIII: 3305

A question and response poem.

物不念 道行去毛 青山乎 振放見者 茵花 香未通女 桜花 盛未通女 汝乎曽母 吾丹依云 吾 毛曽 汝丹依云 荒山毛 人師依者 余所 留跡序云 汝心勤

物思はず 道行く行くも 青山を 振り放け見れば つつじ花 にほえ娘子 桜花 栄え娘子 汝れをぞも 我れに寄すといふ 我れをもぞ 汝れに寄すといふ 荒山も 人し寄すれば 寄そるとぞいふ 汝が心ゆめ

mono’omowazu
michi yukuyuku mo
aoyama o
furisakemireba
tsutsujibana
nioe otome
sakurabana
hae otome
nare o somo
ware ni yosu to iu
ware o mo
nare ni yosu to iu
arayama mo
hito shi yosureba
yosuru to zo iu
na ga kokoroyume
Unburdened by gloomy thoughts
Along the path I went on and on,
To the green-growing mountain,
When in the distance I saw
An azalea
Fair bright maiden,
A cherry blossom
Glorious maiden:
O, you, truly
Give your heart to me;
And I, too,
Will give my heart to you;
Upon the wild mountain
Folk give their hearts
To one another, so
Never will I abandon you!

Teishi-in ominaeshi uta’awase 25

やをとめのそでかとぞみるをみなへしきみをいはひてなではじめてき

yaotome no
sode ka to zo miru
ominaeshi
kimi o iwaite
nadehajimeteki
As eight sacred maidens’
Sleeves do they appear,
The maidenflowers,
Celebrating our Lord’s reign
With a first gentle touch.

49

うゑながらかつはたのまずをみなへしうつろふあきのほどしなければ

uenagara
katsu wa tanomazu
ominaeshi
utsurou aki no
hodo shi nakereba
I planted them, yet
Still unreliable are
The maidenflowers, for
They fade and autumn
Is nothing but brief…

50

Teishi-in ominaeshi uta’awase 23

をみなへしやまののくさとふりしかどさかゆくときもありけるものを

ominaeshi
yamano no kusa to
furishikado
sakayuku toki mo
arikeru mono o
The maidenflowers
With the mountain meadow grasses
Have grown old, yet
A time to flourish
Did they have once…

45[1]

をみなへしさけるやまべのあきかぜはふくゆふかげをたれかかたらむ

ominaeshi
sakeru yamabe no
akikaze wa
fuku yūkage o
tare ka kataramu
A maidenflower
Blooming in a mountain meadow, with
The autumn wind’s
Evening gusts revealed, but
Who is there to tell the tale?

46


[1] This poem is almost identical to poem 4 in Uda-in ominaeshi uta’awase.

Teishi-in ominaeshi uta’awase 11

Left         Final Round

をみなへしこのあきまでぞまさるべきつゆをもぬきてたまにまどはせ

ominaeshi
kono aki made zo
masarubeki
tsuyu o mo nukite
tama ni madowase
The maidenflowers
This autumn
Have been fine, indeed—
Strung with dewdrops
As pearls let you be!

His Majesty
21[1]

Right

きみによりのべをはなれしをみなへしおなじこころにあきをとどめよ

kimi ni yori
nobe o hanareshi
ominaeshi
onaji kokoro ni
aki o todomeyo
For My Lord
Have you left your meadows,
O, maidenflower,
Wishing as we,
Autumn—hold here!

Her Majesty, the Empress

22[2]

The flowers of the Right were inferior, but the poems of the Right won.


[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 528

[2] Shinsen man’yōshū 548

Teishi-in ominaeshi uta’awase 03

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