Left (Tie)
この比の心の底をよそに見ば鹿鳴く野邊の秋の夕暮
kono koro no
kokoro no soko o
yoso ni miba
shika naku nobe no
aki no yūgure |
Of late
Of the depths of my heart
Were you to catch a distant glimpse:
A stag belling in the meadow
On an autumn evening… |
A Servant Girl
1067
Right
暮れかゝる裾野の露に鹿鳴きて人待つ袖も涙そふ也
kurekakaru
susono no tsuyu ni
shika nakite
hito matsu sode mo
namida sou nari |
Twilight
Drapes dewfall on the mountains’ skirts,
With a stag’s sad cry;
Awaiting him, my sleeves, too,
Are wet with tears. |
Nobusada
1068
Left and Right together: we find no faults to mention.
In judgement: it would be impossible to ever exhaust the overtones of feeling in ‘a stag belling in the meadow on an autumn evening’ (shika naku nobe no aki no yūgure) in the Left’s poem; in the Right’s poem the configuration and conception of ‘awaiting him, my sleeves, too, are wet with tears’ (hito matsu sode mo namida sou nari) is richly evocative. I find it extremely hard to put both poems down, so this round, again, is a tie of quality.
Topic unknown.
秋といへば石田の大野の柞原時雨も待たず紅葉しにけり
aki to iFeba
iFata no wono no
FaFasoFara
sigure mo matazu
momidisinikeri |
At the mention of autumn
At Iwata meadows
The oaks
Without waiting for the showers
Have taken on yellow hues. |
Kakujō
覚盛
Topic unknown.
都いでて今日みかの原泉河かは風さむし衣かぜ山
miyako idete
keFu mika no Fara
idumigaFa
kaFakaze samusi
koromo kaseyama |
Departing the capital,
Today on Mika meadow,
From the River Izumi
Chill is the wind, indeed, so
Lend me your robe, O Kase Moutain! |
Anonymous
On deer.
さを鹿の小野の草伏いちしろく我がとはなくに人の知れらく
sawosika no
wono no kusabusi
itisiroku
wa ga topanaku ni
pito no sireraku |
The stag
Lying in the meadow grass
Stands out, so
Not I but
Others will come to know! |
Anonymous
On deer.
さを鹿の朝伏す小野の草若み隠らひかねて人に知らゆな
sawosika no
asa pusu wono no
kusa wakami
kakurapikanete
pito ni sirayu na |
The stag
Lies in the meadow in the morn,
The grass so fresh
He cannot hide –
O, don’t let others know! |
Anonymous
Left.
夏草のなかを露けみかき分けて刈る人なしにしげる野辺かな
natu kusa no
naka o tuyukemi
kakiwakete
karu Fito nasi ni
sigeru nobe kana |
The summer grasses
Midst is dew-drenched;
Forging through,
With no one to reap them
This meadow is lush, indeed! |
Tadami
Right.
夏ふかくなりぞしにけるおほあらきの杜の下草なべて人かる
natu Fukaku
nari zo sinikeru
oFoaraki no
mori no sitagusa
nabete Fito karu |
Deep within the summer
It is now:
At Ōaraki
In the sacred groves, the undergrowth
Is arrayed for men to reap it! |
Kanemori
'Simply moving and elegant'