Tag Archives: makura

Kinkai wakashū 583

しながどりゐなののはらのささ枕まくらの霜ややどる月かげ

shinagadori
inano no hara no
sasamakura
makura no shimo ya
yadoru tsukikage
Upon waterbird-filled
Inano Plain, with
A pillow of bamboo—
And the frost upon my pillow is
The moonlight’s lodging…[i]

583


[i] See: Topic unknown. しながどりゐなのをゆけばありまやま夕ぎり立ちぬやどはなくして shinagadori / inano o yukeba / arimayama / yūgiri tachinu / yado wa nakushite ‘Through waterbird-filled / Inano I go, as / Upon Arima Mountain / Evening mist has risen, and / Me without a lodging…’ Anonymous (Shinkokinshū X: 910)

Kinkai wakashū 582

Frost at a journey’s lodging

袖まくら霜おくとこの苔のうへにあかすばかりのさよの中やま

sode makura
shimo oku toko no
koke no ue ni
akasu bakari no
sayo no nakayama
With my sleeve for my pillow, and
Frost falling on my bed
Atop the moss,
Swiftly breaks the dawn
At Sayo-no-Nakayama.[i]

582


[i] See: On a storm at one’s lodgings on a journey, for the Iwashimizu Poetry Match. 岩がねのとこに嵐をかたしきてひとりやねなんさよの中山 iwa ga ne no / toko ni arashi o / katashikite / hitori ya nenan / sayo no Nakayama ‘At the crags’ foot / Lies my bed with the storm wind / Alone, spread upon me— / Lonely, must I sleep? / At Sayo-no-Nakayama…’ Lord Ari’ie (Shinkokinshū X: 962)

Kinkai wakashū 580

いはがねの苔のまくらに露おきていくよみ山の月にねぬらん

iwa ga ne no
koke no makura ni
tsuyu okite
iku yo miyama no
tsuki ni nenuran
At the crags’ foot
With moss for my pillow, and
Awake until the dewfall,
How many nights in the mountain deeps
Have I slept beneath the moon.[i]

580


[i] See: On the conception of seeing the moon while travelling, while at a place called the Barrier Gate Hall. 草枕ほどぞへにける都いでていくよかたびの月にねぬらむ kusamakura / hodo zo henikeru / miyako idete / ikuyo ka tabi no / tsuki ni nenuramu ‘Grassy pillows / For a while have been my lot! / Since departing the capital / For some days on my travels / Will I sleep beneath the moon.’ Ōe no Yoshitoki (Shinkokinshū X: 931)

Kinkai wakashū 579

The moon at a journey’s lodging

ひとりふす草の枕の露のうへにしらぬ野ばらの月をみるかな

hitori fusu
kusa no makura no
tsuyu no ue ni
shiranu nobara no
tsuki o miru kana
Lying alone
Upon a grassy pillow
Within the dew on
This unknown plain
I glimpse the moon.[i]

579


[i] See: Composed on the moon above the mountains. あしびきの山ぢのこけの露のうへにねざめ夜ぶかき月を見るかな ashibiki no / yamaji no koke no / tsuyu no ue ni / nezame yobukaki / tsuki o miru kana ‘Resting upon leg-wearying / Mountain trails’ moss / Atop the dew / I awoke late at night / And glimpsed the moon.’ Fujiwara no Hideyoshi (Shinkokinshū IV: 398): and: Composed as a travel poem. けふは又しらぬ野ばらに行きくれぬいづれの山か月はいづらん kyō wa mata / shiranu nobara ni / yukikurenu / izure no yama ka / tsuki wa izuran ‘Today, once more / Across an unknown plain /I go at sundown; / Which will be the mountain / Where the moon does rise?’ Minamoto no Ienaga (Shinkokinshū X: 956)

Kinkai wakashū 568

旅ねするいせの浜をぎつゆながらむすぶ枕にやどる月かげ

tabinesuru
ise no hamaogi
tsuyu nagara
musubu makura ni
yadoru tsukikage
Sleeping on my travels, with
Cogon grass from the shore at Ise,
Dew covered,
Woven for my pillow,
Moonlight’s lodging.[i]

568


[i] See: 神風之 伊勢乃浜荻 折伏 客宿也将為 荒浜辺尓 kamukaze no/ ise no hamaogi / orifusete / tabine ya suramu / araki hamabe ni ‘Divine winds blow / Cogon grass on the shore at Ise / I weave and lay me down— / Should I doze upon my travels? / On this wild beachside…’ (Man’yōshū IV: 500).

Yōzei’in miko futari uta’awase 06

Left

ひとこひてぬるはるのよはしきたへのまくらながれてうきぬべきかな

hito koite
nuru haru no yo wa
shikitae no
makura nagarete
ukinubeki kana
Loving her, and
Sleeping on a night in spring,
My mulberry cloth
Pillow in the flow
Simply floats away!

11

Right

ねざめするわがしきたへはいけなれやつまなきをしとなかれこそすれ

nezamesuru
wa ga shikitae wa
ike nare ya
tsuma naki oshi to
nakare koso sure
On waking
Is my mulberry cloth
A pond, by chance?
For as a mandarin drake without his duck
Do I surely cry!

12

Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 49

Round Twenty-Four

Left (Win)

かぜのおとにわきぞかねましまつがねのまくらにもらぬしぐれなりせば

kaze no oto ni
waki zo kanemashi
matsu ga ne no
makura ni moranu
shigure nariseba
The gusts of wind
I cannot tell apart from
The rustle of the pines roots
For my pillow should no drips
From the shower fall…

Lord Sanefusa
97

Right

たびのいほはあらしにたぐふよこしぐれしばのかこひにとまらざりけり

tabi no io wa
arashi ni taguu
yoko shigure
shiba no kakoi ni
tomarazarikeri
My traveller’s hut
Is lashed by the storm wind’s
Sideways showers—
The brushwood walls
Halt it not at all.

Lord Yorimasa
98

The conception and configuration of the poem of the Left, starting ‘I cannot tell apart from / The rustle of the pines’ and continuing ‘For my pillow should no drips / From the shower fall’ is, once again, truly exceptional! As for the poem of the Right, while it appears to have a charming style and use of diction, even if it is the case that ‘sideways showers’ are a genuine phenomenon, it fails to sound particularly elegant, doesn’t it. In addition, the latter section of the poem, ‘the brushwood walls’, feels slightly lacking in conception. Thus, I make the Left the winner.