Tag Archives: morn

Kinkai wakashū 156

玉くしげはこねのやまの郭公むかふのさとに朝な朝ななく

tamakushige
hakone no yama no
hototogisu
mukau no sato ni
asana asana naku
A jewelled comb
On Hakone Mountain
A cuckoo
In that paradise
Cries with every morn.[i]
A kuzushiji version of the poem's text.

[ii] This poem is inspired by: 心乎之 無何有乃郷尓 置而有者 藐孤射能山乎 見末久知香谿務 kokoro oshi / mukau no sato ni / okite araba / bakoya no yama o / mimaku chikakemu ‘My heart / In paradise / Should I leave behind, then / Mount Miaogushe / Would I soon come to see.’ Anonymous (MYS XVI: 3851). The Man’yō poem refers to Mount Bakoya (C. Miaogushe), a legendary Chinese mountain where immortals were said to dwell, and Sanetomo’s reference to Hakone echoes this due to the partial homophony between the place names.

Daikōtaigōgū daijin kiyosuke-ason ke uta’awase 14

Round Fourteen

Left (Win)

七夕のわかるる今朝のたもとにや秋の白露おきはじむらん

tanabata no
wakaruru kesa no
tamoto ni ya
aki no shiratsuyu
okihajimuran
The Weaver Maid
Parts from him this morn,
Upon her sleeves
Autumn’s silver dewdrops
Must have begun to fall…

Shun’e
27

Right

秋へてもはてなき中をみるをりは七夕つめぞうらやまれける

aki hete mo
hatenaki naka o
miru ori wa
tanabatatsume zo
urayamarekeru
Though the autumns pass,
When on their endless bond
She ponders,
Even the Weaver Maid
Must despise her lot!

Kenshō
28

Entō ōn’uta’awase 7

Round Seven

Left (Tie)

けさはまたそれともみえず淡路島霞のしたに浦風ぞ吹く

kesa wa mata
sore tomo miezu
awajishima
kasumi no shita ni
urakaze zo fuku
This morning, once again,
I cannot that clearly see
Awaji Isle, but
Beneath the haze
The winds are blowing o’er the beach!

Chikanari, Ranked without Office
13

Right

春霞なびく朝けの塩風にあらぬけぶりや浦に立つらん

harugasumi
nabiku asake no
shiokaze ni
aranu keburi ya
ura ni tatsuran
Spring haze
Trails over with the morn—
Salt-fire breezes
It is not, yet does smoke
Seem to rise across the bay?

Ie’kiyo, Ranked without Office
14

Both Left and Right don’t seem bad. I make them a tie.

Entō ōn’uta’awase 6

Left (Tie)

山のはに有明の月の残らずは霞にあくる空をみましや

yama no ha ni
ariake no tsuki no
nokorazu wa
kasumi ni akuru
sora o mimashi ya
Upon the mountains’ edge
Had the moon at dawn
Not lingered, then
On the brightening, hazy
Sky would I have turned my gaze?

Shō
11

Right

朝戸あけてながめなれたる明ぼのの霞ばかりに春を知るかな

asa to akete
nagamenaretaru
akebono no
kasumi baraki ni
haru o shiru kana
With morn, opening my door, and
Accustomed to gazing
At the dawn
The haze is all that
Tells me ‘tis spring![1]

Nagatsuna, Ranked without Office
12

The Left’s poem has ‘would I wish to see the skies brightening with haze’, which does not seem bad, but the initial line drop ‘dawn’ and the latter part ‘brightening with haze’ which is a bit dubious; the Right’s poem really has nothing special about it. The poems are comparable and tie.


[1] An allusive variation on GSS V: 249.