Composed on ‘lingering snow’, in a hundred poem sequence he presented for the reign of former emperor Horikawa.
道たゆといとひしものを山ざとにきゆるはをしき去年の雪かな
| miti tayu to ito Fisi mono wo yamazato ni kiyuru wa osiki kozo no yuki kana | That the way was blocked Was terrible, indeed, but At this mountain retreat As it vanishes, regret I feel For last year’s snow! |
Former Middle Counsellor Masafusa
Original
あしひきのやまぢはあきぞまどひけるつもれるもみぢあとしなければ
| ashihiki no yamaji wa aki zo madoikeru tsumoreru momiji ato shinakereba | Leg-wearying Mountain paths in autumn Are lost, indeed! For piled with scarlet leaves Traces are their none… |
21
Left (Win)
もみぢばをたむけにつめるあきやまにみちみえずともたれかまどはむ
| momijiba o tamuke ni tsumeru akiyama ni michi miezu tomo tareka madowamu | Scarlet leaves are An offering made By the autumn mountains, so Though the path might go unseen, Who would lose their way? |
22
Right
あしひきのやまのもみぢしあかからばみちふみわけてたづぬばかりぞ
| ashihiki no yama no momiji shi akakaraba michi fumiwakete tazunu bakari zo | The leg-wearying Mountains’ scarlet leaves Are so bright, that Forging through along the paths To visit is all you need to do! |
23
On the conception of travel
玉ぼこの道はとほくもあらなくに旅としおもへばわびしかりけり
| tamaboko no michi wa tōku mo aranaku ni tabi to shi omoeba wabishikarikeri | The jewelled-spear straight Road distant Is not, but even so, When I think of travelling How desolate I am! [i] |
564
[i] See: Sent to his Junior Consort when she was away from the palace. たまぼこのみちははるかにあらねどもうたてくもゐにまどふころかな tamaboko no/ michi wa haruka ni / aranedomo / utate kumoi ni / madou koro kana ‘Down a jewelled-spear straight / Road’s distance / You are not, yet / Somehow, among the clouds, extremely / Lost am I, these days!’ Former Emperor Suzaku (Shinkokinshū XIV: 1248)
Hidden in the grass on the path o’er the plains[i]
Left
なつくればのべのくさばもしげりあひていづれかみちとみえぞわかれぬ
| natsu kureba nobe no kusaba mo shigeriaite izure ka michi to mie zo wakarenu | When the summer comes, The blades of grass upon the plains Grow lushly together, so Which is the path to take I cannot tell by looking! |
9
Right
をちこちのみちみえぬまでなつののはくさばしげくもなりにけるかな
| ochikochi no michi mienu made natsuno no wa kusaba shigeku mo narinikeru kana | Until both distant and nearby Paths I cannot see Across the summer plains Have the blades of grass so lushly Grown, indeed! |
10
Do they not know the features of the summer plains conveyed by ‘Hidden in the grass on the path o’er the plains’? While both Left and Right use ‘blades of grass’, this puts one in mind of fresh grass sprouting in spring showers; and then of the two of them, the Right uses ‘distant and nearby’, which is nothing more than an archaic expression from the Age of Gods used for leg-wearying mountain paths, while at least the Left does not have a tangled argument.
| ato miezu natsuno no kusaba shigeku tomo yamaji o kakete madoubeshi ya wa | No folk’s tracks visible Upon the summer plains—the blades of grass Lush, yet I wonder if upon mountain paths One would lose ones way? |
Judge 5
[i] Yasō no michi shigeshi 野草路滋
Left
あけぬとていまはとおくるとこなかにまたあふべくもおもほえぬかな
| akenu tote ima wa to okuru toko naka ni mata aubeku mo omohoenu kana | ‘Tis dawn, Now, I think, arising— Within your bed We should meet again, Don’t you think! |
32
Right
しののめにあけゆくみちもまどはなんあかでわかるるひとのためには
| shinonome ni akeyuku michi mo madowanan akade wakaruru hito no tame ni wa | At the edge of dawn, Brightening, upon the path I will wander, lost, Unsatisfied for I am parted From her… |
33
Left
をしとおもふいのちにかへてあかつきのわかれのみちはいかでやめてむ
| oshi to omou inochi ni kaete akatsuki no wakare no michi wa ikade yametemu | Filled with regret, This life I would exchange: On dawn’s Parting path How can I stop my steps? |
30
Right
あけぬとてあかずしきみをわかるればこころはゆかぬものにざりける
| akenu tote akazu shi kimi o wakarureba kokoro wa yukanu mono ni zarikeru | When at dawn, Unsatisfied, from you, my love, I part, My heart goes nowhere At all! |
31
Left
ゆふざれもさらにまたれずあさぼらけおきゆくみちのつゆとけぬべし
| yūzare mo sara ni matarezu asaborake okiyuku michi no tsuyu to kenubeshi | For eventide, Again, I cannot wait, but At the dawning Rise and go—my path filled With lasting dew, it seems. |
24
Right
あはぬよはわびてもねにきあかつきのわかれのみちはまどはれぞする
| awanu yo wa wabite mo ne ni ki akatsuki no wakare no michi wa madoware zo suru | Nights we fail to meet Are desolate, but when I have come and slept with you The dawn’s Parting path Leaves me lost! |
25
Round Three
Left
おぼつかないづれいづちのみちならむしをりも見えずふれるしらゆき
| obotsukana izure izuchi no michi naramu shiori mo miezu fureru shirayuki | How strange! Which is which Path, I wonder? Even the laden branches go unseen In the falling snow, so white. |
Retired from the World
47
Right
雪ふかみとなりのさともうづもれてけぶりのみこそしるしなりけれ
| yuki fukami tonari no sato mo uzumorete keburi nomi koso shirushi narikere | So deep the snow, that The estate next door Is buried; Trails of smoke are the only Sign it’s there! |
Senior Assistant Minister Past Lecturer
48
The poem of the Left’s ‘even the laden branches go unseen’ and what follows is both poetic and a familiar usage. As for the Right’s poem, how can ‘the estate next door be buried’ unless it’s the only place that snow is falling and nowhere else? Thus, I feel that the snow falling to conceal the broken branches has more feeling to it.
The Left’s ‘which path’ gives me the impression that there are many of them. This sense of multiplicity is something I can imagine—which is a good thing—and, I think, see me using myself. ‘Laden branches’ are something which occur on peaks deep in the mountains. It might be a bit remiss of me, but I wonder whether I can imagine snow drifting so high on a mountain peak?
As for the Right’s poem, we use ‘next door’ when there’s a fence of some sort between one estate and another, don’t we? As such, saying that the smoke is the sign is rather vague. Even if there’s been a quite extraordinary snowfall, there would be something other to notice as well as the smoke, so this is an error, isn’t it. It would be acceptable to refer to smoke if the estate were further away.
The Middle of Autumn
Left
大空の道みえぬまでふる霧は秋のなかばにとめむとかもし
| ōzora no michi mienu made furu kiri wa aki no nakaba ni tomemu to kamo shi | Until all the endless sky Ways unseen are Descend the mists In the heart of autumn— Will they stay a while, I wonder? |
15
Right
女郎花おほくの秋にあふものをからくもあだにおもひけるかな
| ominaeshi ōku no aki ni au mono o karaku mo ada ni omoikeru kana | Maidenflowers Many in autumn Does one meet, but Bitterly, faithless Do I feel they are! |
16
