The Middle of Autumn
Left (Tie)
くもゐよりてりやまさるときよたきのそこにてもみむあきのつきかげ
| kumoi yori teri ya masaru to kiyotaki no soko nite mo mimu aki no tsukikage | From the clouds Does it shine most bright? On Kiyotaki’s Riverbed I see Autumn moonlight. |
13
Right
人しれぬねをやなくらんあきはぎのはなさくまでにしかのこゑせぬ
| hito shirenu ne o ya nakuran aki hagi no hana saku made ni shika no koe senu | That no one may know Quietly, does he cry? Until the autumn bush clover Blooms flower The stag’s bell stays silent. |
Mitsune
14
Left
吹く風の我が宿にくる夏の夜は月の影こそすずしかりけれ
| fuku kaze no wa ga yado ni kuru natsu no yo wa tsuki no kage koso suzushikarikere | The gusting breeze Comes to my house Upon a summer night Making the moonlight Feel cool, indeed! |
57
Right
ゆふされば蛍よりけにもゆるとも光みえねば人ぞつれなき
| yū sareba hotaru yori ke ni moyuredomo hikari mineba ya hito no tsurenaki | With the fall of evening, The fireflies’ are as nothing beside My burning, yet I cast no light, so Will my love stay chill? |
Tomonori
58[1]
[1] Kokinshū XII: 562/Shinsen man’yōshū 69/Kokin rokujō VI: 4013
Left
古郷をおもひやれども郭公こぞのごとくになれぞなくなる[1]
| furusato o omoiyaredomo hototogisu kozo no gotoku ni nare zo nakunaru | My ancient home Lingers fondly in my thoughts, yet The cuckoo Just as last year Sings as he was accustomed to do! |
49
Right
夏の夜の霜やおけるとみるまでに荒れたる宿を照す月かげ
| natsu no yo no shimo ya okeru to miru made ni aretaru yado o terasu tsukikage | Upon a summer night That frost has fallen It does appear at A ruined dwelling where The moonlight shines. |
50[2]
[1] The concluding two lines of this poem are missing from the contest’s text, but have been supplied by later scholarship.
[2] Kokin rokujō I: 286/A minor variant of this poem is included in Mandaishū (III: 730), with the headnote ‘A poem from the Poetry Contest in One Hundred Rounds held by the Tōin Empress’ なつのよもしもやおけると見るまでにあれたるやどをてらすつきかな natsu no yo no / shimo ya okeru to / miru made ni / aretaru yado o / terasu tsuki kana ‘Upon a summer night / That frost has fallen / It does appear at / A ruined dwelling where / The moon does shine!’
| Shinpen kokka taikan no. | |
| Heian-chō uta’awase taisei no. | 12 |
| Title | 或所歌合 |
| Romanised Title | Aru tokoro no uta’awase |
| Translated Title | Poetry Contest held in a Certain Place |
| Alternative Title(s) | |
| Date | Night, 15/8 Shōtai 4 [30.9.901] |
| Extant Poems | 2 |
| Sponsor | |
| Identifiable Participants | |
| Judgements | N |
| Topics | Autumn |
Only the date of this contest remains, along with two of its poems. Given the season, it would clearly have been an autumn-themed event and, as the 15th day of the Eighth Month was when conventionally the moon was at its brightest, it is not surprising that it seems to have been held at night, and contained at least some poems where the moon was a theme.
Of the two surviving poems, one was included in Fubokushō (XIV: 5840), while the other is only recorded here.
いそのかみふるのやしろにはふくずもあきにしなれば色かはりけり
| isonokami Furu no yasiro ni haFu kuzu mo aki ni shi nareba iro kaFarikeri | In Isonokami At the ancient shrine of Furu Even the creeping kudzu vine When the autumn comes Does change its hues. |
1
Right
山のはももみぢてちりぬ月影のかくるるところなくなりぬべし
| yama no Fa mo momidite tirinu tukikage no kakururu tokoro nakunarinubesi | Along the mountains’ edge Scarlet leaves have scattered In the moonlight A place concealed Is there none, at all. |
2