meadow | Waka Poetry

Round Twelve

Left

我がやどものこる花なくうゑつれど野べのけしきは猶ぞ床しき

wa ga yado mo
nokoru hana naku
uetsuredo
nobe no keshiki wa
nao zo yukashiki

At my dwelling
Lingering blooms are there none
Though I did plant them,
The prospect of a meadow is
Charming still!

Lord Fujiwara no Kiyosuke, Senior Secretary of the Dowager Empress’ Household Office
23

Right

秋萩の枝もとををにおく露のはらはばあやな花やちりなん

akihagi no
eda mo tōo ni
oku tsuyu no
harawaba aya na
hana ya chirinan

The autumn bush-clover
Branches bent with
Fallen dewdrops—
Should I sweep them off, then
Would the blossoms scatter, I wonder?

Lay Priest and Master of the Left Capital Office Norinaga
24

Doesn’t the Right seem to resemble the poem in the Ancient and Modern Collection which says

をりてみば落ちぞしぬべき秋萩の枝もとををにおけるしら露

oritemiba
ochi zo shinubeki
akihagi no
eda mo tōo ni
okeru shiratsuyu

Were I to pluck one,
‘Twould fall and smash:
Autumn bush-clover’s
Branches bent
With fallen silver dewdrops.

Round Nine

Left (Win)

女郎花いづれの秋かみえざりし野原の霧に立ちなかくれそ

ominaeshi
izure no aki ka
miezarishi
nohara no kiri ni
tachi na kakure so

O, maidenflower,
In which autumn is it, that
You have remained unseen?
In the mists upon the meadow
Stand and don’t hide yourself!

Kataoka Shrine Priest Kamo no Masahira
17

Right

心から夜のまの露にしほたれてあさじめりする女郎花かな

kokoro kara
yo no ma no tsuyu ni
shiotarete
asajimerisuru
ominaeshi kana

Her heart
Throughout the night with dewdrops
Drenches her,
Dripping with morning tears is
The maidenflower!

Fujiwara no Koreyuki, Supernumerary Junior Assistant Minster of the Sovereign’s Household
18

The Left is extremely absorbingly composed. As for the Right, though, I wonder about the use of being ‘drenched with dewdrops’—while it does put me in mind of fisherfolk at Ise, because it fails to indicate anything in the conception of the topic, it should lose, I think.