Left (Win)
唐国の虎臥す野邊に入るよりもまどふ戀路の末ぞあやうき
karakuni no
tora fusu nobe ni
iru yori mo
madou koiji no
sue zo ayauki |
In far Cathay are
Meadows where tigers lie,
But rather than entering there,
The confusing paths of love
Are, at the end, more dangerous… |
Lord Ari’ie
1063
Right
我宿は人もかれ野の淺茅原通ひし駒の跡もとゞめず
wa ga yado wa
hito mo kareno no
asajiwara
kayoishi koma no
ato mo todomezu |
At my home
Is only a withered field
Of cogon grass;
The mount who once did cross it
Has left no lingering tracks… |
Ietaka
1064
The Gentlemen of the Right state: how can love be dangerous? The Gentlemen of the Left state: the Right’s poem has no faults to mention.
In judgement: saying that the ‘paths of love are, at the end’ (koiji no sue) dangerous is perfectly commonplace. ‘Is only a withered field of cogon grass’ (hito mo kareno no asajiwara) seems to simply have taken the poem ‘Sedge fields lie / Around the estate of Fushimi, / All long overgrown; / He who passed across them / Has left no tracks at all…’ and swapped in ‘mount who once did cross it’ (kayoishi koma). Changing a man into a mount is discomposing, indeed. Again, the Left should win.
鶯の飛火野野辺の雪の内にそれかとばかり匂ふ梅が枝
uguisu no
tobubino nobe no
yuki no uchi ni
sore ka to bakari
niou ume ga e |
The warbler on
The meadows of Tobuhi Plain
Among the snows
Simply wonders if
‘tis the glow of branching plum… |
Gotoba
後鳥羽
Left
山深み種ある岩に生ふる松の根よりもかたき戀や何なる
yama fukami
tane aru iwa ni
ouru matsu no
ne yori mo kataki
koi ya nani naru |
Deep with the mountains,
Upon the crags where seeds
Grow into pines,
Rooted firmly – how hard
Will our love be? |
Lord Ari’ie
1041
Right (Win)
契きなまた忘れずよ初瀬河布留川野邊の二本の杉
chigirikina
mata wasurezu yo
hatsusegawa
furukawa nobe no
futamoto no sugi |
You vowed it, did you not.
Not to forget me more.
In the River Hatsuse and
River Furu’s meadows
Stand twin cedars. |
Jakuren
1042
Left and Right together state: we find no faults to mention.
In judgement: While there are such things in the heart of the mountains as ‘crags where seeds grow into pines’ (tane aru iwa ni ouru matsu), it is normally by the sea or on rocky coastlines that one finds firmly rooted pine trees. Surely, mountain pines are but lightly rooted? Cedars on River Hatsuse recollects ‘Nor will I ever; a solid brick-kiln’ (wasurezu yo kawaraya), but ‘You vowed it, did you not’ (chigirikina) also reminds me of the old phrase ‘Both our sleeves wringing out’ (katami ni sode o shiboritsutsu), which is most fine. Thus, the Right wins.
冬深き野辺の御幸の今日しもあれ白斑の鷹を据てけるかな
fuyu fukaki
nobe no miyuki no
kyō shi mo are
shirau no taka o
suetekeru kana |
In the depths of winter
An imperial visit to the meadows
Was there today,
Hawks of white
Would be ready there! |
Higo, from the Residence of the Kyōgoku Regent
京極関白家肥後
Sent to a woman at the beginning.
霜がれの冬野に立てるむら薄ほのめかさばや思ふ心を
simogare no
Fuyu no ni tateru
mura susuki
Fonomekasaba ya
omoFu kokoro wo |
In frost-burned
Winter meadows stand
Clusters of silver grass;
If only they would briefly reveal
The feelings in my heart… |
Taira no Tsune’aki (?-1077)
平経章
Composed at the residence of the Ōmiya Former Chancellor, on the conception of when the moon in autumn seems like summer.
小萩原また花咲かぬ宮城野の鹿や今宵の月に鳴くらん
koFagiFara
mata Fana sakanu
miyagino no
sika ya koyoFi no
tuki ni nakuran |
The young bush clover meadows
Are not yet in bloom;
On Miyagi plain
Do the stags tonight
Cry to the moon, I wonder? |
Fujiwara no Atsunaka
藤原敦仲
宮城野の秋の萩原分け行けば上葉の露に袖ぞ濡れぬる
miyagino no
aki no Fagiwara
wakeyukeba
uFaba no tuyu ni
sode zo nurenuru |
On Miyagi plain
The bush-clover meadows in autumn
I press through, and
Dew from the upper leaves
Has soaked my sleeves. |
Ei’en
永縁
Composed on the conception of thinking about flowers in the meadows.
今はしも穂に出でぬらむ東路の石田の小野の篠の小薄
ima wa simo
Fo ni idenuramu
adumadi no
iFata no wono no
sino no wosusuki |
Now it is that
Their fronds seem to appear:
On the eastern roads,
Through Iwata meadows,
Fresh silver-grass among the arrow bamboo. |
Fujiwara no Kore’ie
藤原伊家
Topic unknown.
霜さえて枯行く小野の岡べなる楢の廣葉に時雨ふるなり
simo saete
kareyuku wono no
wokabe naru
nara no Firoba ni
sigure Furunari |
The frost is chill, and
In the withering meadows;
On the hillsides
Upon the broad leaves of oak
Showers fall. |
Fujiwara no Mototoshi
Composed when the Horikawa Grand Minister had died, after the cremation on Mount Fukakusa was over.
深草の野辺の桜し心あらばことし許はすみぞめに咲け
Fukakusa no
nobe no sakura si
kokoro araba
kotosi bakari Fa
sumizome ni sake |
At Fukakusa
In the meadows, had the cherry trees
Any heart at all,
For just this year
Would they bloom in charcoal hues. |
Kamutsuke no Mineo
上野岑雄
'Simply moving and elegant'