夜もすがら水鶏よりけに鳴く鳴くぞ真木の戸口に叩きわびつる
| yomosugara kuina yori keni naku naku zo maki no toguchi ni tataki wabitsuru | All night long Cries the water rail, but even more Did I weep and weep again At your cedar door I knocked, but found only grief! |
Fujiwara no Michinaga
Flutes 笛
まきの戸をあけがたにても笛竹のこちくの声ぞ人だのめなる
| maki no to o akegata nite mo fuetake no kochiku no koe zo hito danomenaru | By my door of cedar wood At the edge of dawn A bamboo Flute’s notes denote A trustworthy man, indeed![1] |
Daishin
[1] An allusive variation on Kintō-shū 511.
Left.
心さへまた外人になり果てば何か名殘の夢の通路
| kokoro sae mata yosobito ni narihateba nanika nagori no yume no kayoiji |
Should even our hearts Once more strangers To each other become, No trace at all would remain On my path of dreams… |
Lord Sada’ie
755
Right.
思侘びあはれ幾夜か槇の戸をしばしといひて月を見つらん
| omoiwabi aware iku yo ka maki no to o shibashi to iite tsuki o mitsuran |
Grieving and Sighing, how many nights Has my cedar door been Ajar For me to gaze upon the moon? |
Jakuren
756
Both Left and Right state the opposing team’s poem is not bad.
In judgement: the conceptions of the Left’s ‘path of dreams’ (yume no kayoiji) and the Right’s ‘cedarwood door’ (maki no to) in gazing at the moon, are both elegant. The round should tie.
Left (Tie).
いまはとて有明のかげの槇の戸にさすがにおしき六月の空
| ima wa tote ariake no kage no maki no to ni sasuga ni oshiki minazuki no sora |
As if to say, ‘Now’s the time!’ Moonlight, at dawn Upon my yew-wood door Does strike; how I regret The waterless month’s late summer skies! |
41
Right
飛鳥河ゆくせの浪にみそぎしてはやくぞ年の半過ぬる
| asukagawa yuku se no nami ni misogishite hayaku zo toshi no nakaba suginuru |
In Asuka River’s Rapids’ waves I cleanse myself; How swiftly has the year’s First half come and gone! |
42
Left.
槇の戸は軒ばの花のかげなれば床も枕も春の曙
| maki no to wa nokiba no hana no kage nareba toko mo makura mo haru no akebono |
My door of cedar wood Within the eave-bourned blossoms’ Shade does stand, so Bed and pillow both Are perfect this spring dawning. |
21
Right (Win)
花の色のおられぬ水にさすさはの雫もにほふ宇治の河長
| hana no iro no orarenu mizu ni sasu sao no shizuku mo niou uji no kawaosa |
Blossoms’ hues — Within the insubstantial water Thrusts the pole — Gleam in the droplets cast by A ferryman at Uji. |
22
Awaiting love, on seeing the moon.
こぬ人を待としらでやゝどるらん槇の板戸のいざよひの月
| konu hito o matsu to shirade ya yadoruran maki no itado no izayoi no tsuki |
That one who comes not I await, all unknowing – Will it stay with me, I wonder – Shines upon my fine wood door The wavering early evening moon. |
Sent to Lady Michinokuni, in service to the Lay Priestess and Princess of the First Order (Shūshi (996-1049)).
奧山の眞木の葉しのぎ降る雪のいつとくべしと見えぬ君かな
| okuyama no maki no Fa sinogi Furu yuki no itu toku besi to mienu kimi kana |
In the mountains’ heart are Pine needles weighed down By fallen snow which Will never melt, Or so it seems; nor yet will you. |
Minamoto no Yoritsuna (d. 1097)
