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Kinkai wakashū

Kinkai wakashū 641

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When I made a pilgrimage to Hashiriyu Mountain.[i]

わたつ海のなかにむかひていづるゆのいづのお山とむべもいひけり

watatsumi no
naka ni mukaite
izuru yu no
izu no oyama to
mube mo iikeri		To the broad sea sweep’s
Heart turning, where
Hot waters gush on
The mount of Izu—
Indeed they do![ii]

641

[i] Hashiriyu Mountain (hashiriyusan 走湯山), which literally means the ‘mountain where hot water runs’, was a sobriquet applied to Izusan Shrine (Izusan jinja 伊豆山神社) in Izu province (modern Shizuoka). The shrine had a close relationship with the Kamakura shogunate, as Minamoto no Yoritomo 源頼朝 (1147-1199), the first shogun, prayed there for the revival of the clan’s fortunes.

[ii] Sanetomo builds his poem around a play on words which is impossible to replicate in translation, in that izu(ru) 出づ（る） (‘gush (out)’) echoes the place name Izu 伊豆, so a closer paraphrase of the poem’s meaning is ‘Hot water gushes out [izu] at the mountain called “gushes” [izu], which is no surprise, is it!’

Kinkai wakashū

Kinkai wakashū 639

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Composed when I had met Dharma Eye Teinin and he had told me of the appearance of Nachi waterfall.[i]

みくまののなちのお山に引くしめのうちはへてのみおつる滝かな

mikumano no
nachi no oyama ni
hiku shime no
uchihaete nomi
otsuru taki kana		In three-shrined Kumano,
Upon the little mount of Nachi
Hang sacred ropes
Simply everywhere continuing
The falling cataract![ii]

639

[i] Nachi waterfall (nachi no taki那智滝) was located in Kii province (modern Wakayama), and is one of Japan’s most famous falls, being 133 metres (436 ft) high. One of Kumano’s three shrines, Kumano Nachi Taisha 熊野那智大社 lies at its foot.

[ii] See: On summer showers, for a folding screen when Shakua’s ninetieth birthday was celebrated. 小山田にひくしめなはのうちはへてくちやしぬらむ五月雨の比 oyamada ni / hiku shimenawa no / uchihaete / kuchi ya shinuramu / samidare no koro ‘Around the little mountain paddies / Hang sacred ropes / Everywhere continuing— / Might they rot away / During these days of summer showers.’ The Regent and Chancellor (Shinkokinshū III: 226)

Yōzei’in ichi no miko himegimi uta’awase

Yōzei’in ichi no miko himegimi uta’awase 17

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Original

もみぢばのちりかふこまのあまたあるをいづれにのりてあきをとどめむ

momijiba no
chirikau koma no
amata aru o
izure ni norite
aki o todomemu		Scarlet leaves
Scatter becoming mounts
So many, but
Which one should I ride
To hold the autumn here?

48

Left

このはちるこのはのこまははやくともあきのかげにはいかがまさらむ

ko no ha chiru
ko no ha no koma wa
hayaku tomo
aki no kage ni wa
ikaga masaramu		Leaves from the trees scatter,
Leaves from the trees as a mount
Are swift, yet
Why is the autumn shade
Still spectacular?

49

Right

ゆくあきをとどむるこまのおそければかぜこそさきにまづさそひけれ

yuku aki o
todomuru koma no
osokereba
kaze koso saki ni
mazu sasoikere		Departing autumn
To hold here was the mount
Late arriving, so
The wind got in ahead and
Made the first invitation!

50

Kinkai wakashū

Kinkai wakashū 634

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The summer moon above a shrine.[i]

ながむれば吹く風すずしみわの山杉の木ずゑをいづる月影

nagamureba
fuku kaze suzushi
miwa no yama
sugi no kozue o
izuru tsukikage		While I was staring into space,
How cool the gusting breeze, as
Above Mount Miwa’s
Cedar treetops
Emerges the moon…[ii]

634

[i] As with poem 631, the topic here, ‘The summer moon above the shrine’ (shatō kagetsu 社頭夏月) was generally used when the poet had a specific shrine in mind—in this case, Ōmiwa Shrine (Ōmiwa jinja 大神神社).

[ii] See: As part of a hundred-poem sequence. ながむれば衣手すゞしひさかたのあまのかはらの秋のゆふぐれ nagamureba / koromode suzushi / hisakata no / ama no kawara no / aki no yūgure ‘While I was staring into space, / How chill my sleeves became; / Upon eternal / Heaven’s riverbed / Comes an autumn evening.’ Princess Shokushi (Shinkokinshū IV: 321)

Nishinomiya uta'awase

Nishinomiya uta’awase 05

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Stags and the Dawn

Round Five

Left

暁になりやしぬらん小倉山なく鹿のねに月かたぶきぬ

akatsuki ni
nari ya shinuran
ogurayama
naku shika no ne ni
tsuki katabukinu		Is the dawning
On its way, I wonder?
On gloomy Mount Ogura
Crying, a stag bell out
As the moon sets.

Mototoshi, Former Assistant Captain in the Palace Guards, Left Division
9

Right

暁や声高砂になく鹿をほのかにやきく沖の舟人

akatsuki ya
koe takasago ni
naku shika o
honoka ni ya kiku
oki no funabito		At the dawning
From the heights, the bell, at Takasago
Of a stag
Is faintly heard, perhaps,
By the boatmen on the offing…

Head
10

The Left’s poem lacks any superlative diction, yet does not appear to have any glaring faults either. As for the Right’s poem, I do question the placement of ‘at’ in ‘at the dawning’ and, in addition, the order seems reversed in ‘From the heights, the bell, at Takasago / Of a stag’—so much so that I find it difficult to grasp the sense. If the poem had been composed to put ‘stag’ before ‘heights of Takasago’, the poem would feel more trustworthy, wouldn’t it.

Nishinomiya uta'awase

Nishinomiya uta’awase 04

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Round Four

Left

いとどしく照りこそまされもみぢばに日影うつろふ天のかご山

itodoshiku
teri koso masare
momijiba ni
hikage utsurou
ama no kagoyama		All the more
Brightly do shine
The scarlet leaves
Reflecting the sunshine
On heavenly Mount Kago!

Minor Captain Lord Kin’nori, Fourth Rank
7

Right

天の原時雨にくもるけふしもぞ紅葉の色はてりまさりける

ama no hara
shigure ni kumoru
kyō shimo zo
momiji no iro wa
terimasarikeru		The plain of heaven is
Clouded with showers, but
Today for certain
The hues of the scarlet leaves
Shine most bright.

The Daughter of His Excellency, the Head
8

Considering the Left’s ‘Reflecting the sunshine / On heavenly Mount Kago’ about scarlet leaves reflecting the sun’s light, gives me the feeling that this must be a mistaken reference to the garlands of scarlet clubmoss worn by minor officiants at the Great Thanksgiving Service. In addition, among all of the many mountains in various places whose leaves turn scarlet, it seems something of a stretch to go so far as to mention Heavenly Mount Kago, considering it is an archaic expression found in the Collection of a Myriad Leaves, among other places. The Right’s ‘Clouded with showers, but / Today for certain’ is an expression perfectly in tune with the topic, making one wonder whether the leaves’ hue is the result of single drenching which has dyed them superbly.

Eien narabō uta'awase

Eien narabō uta’awase 20

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Round Six

Left

あきの夜のありあけのつきはくまもなしあさくらやまもなのみこそあらめ

aki no yo no
ariake no tsuki wa
kuma mo nashi
asakurayama mo
na nomi koso arame		At an autumn night’s
Dawn, the moon
Has not a cloud before it;
The Mount of Morning Dark
May be so in name alone!

Cell of Fragrant Cloud
39

Right (Win)

秋の月あかしのうらはなびきもにすむわれからのかずも見つべし

aki no tsuki
akashi no ura wa
nabikimo ni
sumu warekara no
kazu mo mitsubeshi		The autumn moon is
Bright above Akashi Bay;
Among the trailing seaweed
Dwell tiny shrimp,
Their number now clear to my eyes.

Cell of Compassionate Light
40

The poem of the Left is an entirely tedious composition. It simply states that a cloudless autumn moon does not fit with the place name, Mount Asakura. The moon at ‘dawn’ is the same as the moon at ‘dawntime’, while Mount Asakura is used when dawn has completely finished. As for the poem of the Right, while the moon is described as bright, it doesn’t seem right to then make it a poem about trailing seaweed—this does not seem charming at all. This round, too, there’s not much more I can say than that.

As I have already mentioned, ‘moon at dawn’ in the poem of the Left is an expression which it is impossible to say is praiseworthy. Even more so, really, the concluding ‘may be so in name alone’ just says ‘is so in name alone’, doesn’t it? It’s contrary to reason to say that it’s fluent and thus, and I say this reluctantly, it’s difficult to understand. As for the Right’s poem, I don’t understand this either: it ought to be ‘their numbers, too, I have been able to see’—saying ‘their number now clear to my eyes’ implies that you haven’t previously been able to see them up to that point, and it’s vague about when you have. Even so, it’s getting light, so the light of the moon at dawn seems superior.

Eien narabō uta'awase

Eien narabō uta’awase 09

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Round Two

Left

をちかたやくも井の山のほととぎすあまつよそにもなきわたるかな

ochikata ya
kumoi no yama no
hototogisu
ama tsu yoso ni mo
nakiwataru kana		From the distant
Mount within the clouds
A cuckoo
In yonder heavens
Sings his song!

Lord Saburō
17

Right

ほととぎすしのだのもりのしのびねをたづねざりせばいかできかまし

hototogisu
shinoda no mori no
shinobine o
tazunezariseba
ikade kikamashi		A cuckoo
In Shinoda’s sacred grove
Lets out a hushed cry;
Had I not come to visit here,
How might I have heard it?

Ushigimi
18

In regards the poem of the Left’s ‘from the distant’ and what follows, extremely recently and colloquially, at the Nakatomi purification ceremony it seems there was a composition, ‘in the distance, below the trees so lush’. This diction is contrary to the expected style of waka and something which occurs only extremely rarely. Truly, one does not compose using such diction in a poetry match. The poem of the Right has nothing of interest about it, yet it also lack faults to mention, so it wins.

This round, neither poem appears bad. The Left has a novel style, while the Right seems cliched, but its expression is smooth. I wonder if we could see these as a tie.