Topic unknown.
岩根踏み重なる山はなけれども逢はぬ日数を恋や渡らん
| iFane Fumi kasanaru yama Fa nakeredomo aFanu Fi kazu wo koFi ya wataran |
Crag trodden Layered mountains Are there none, yet Over the number of days we meet not I wonder, will our love span? |
The Elder Maiden of Sakanoue
坂上郎女
奥山の草隠れなる畑つ守知られぬ恋に病ふ頃かな
| okuyama no kusagakurenaru hatatsumori shirarenu koi ni yamau koro kana |
Deep within the mountains Hidden among the grasses, A field warden With unknown love is Stricken sick these days! |
Minamoto no Toshiyori
源俊頼
君さらば山にかへりて冬毎に雪踏み分けておりよとぞ思ふ
| kimi saraba yama ni kaFerite Fuyugoto ni yuki Fumiwakete oriyo to zo omoFu |
If you should Return to the mountains, then With every winter Forge through the snow And descend, I beg you! |
Left (Tie).
足引の山路の秋になる袖はうつろふ人のあらしなりけり
| ashihiki no yamaji no aki ni naru sode wa utsurou hito no arashi narikeri |
Leg wearying Mountain trails in autumn Have my sleeves become, For she fades from my life, as A departing storm… |
Lord Sada’ie.
971
Right.
この世には吉野の山の奧にだにありとはつらき人に知られじ
| kono yo ni wa yoshino no yama no oku ni dani ari to wa tsuraki hito ni shirareji |
Within this world, were I In the Yoshino mountains’ Heart, even so That cruel One would know it not! |
Jakuren.
972
The Right state: the Left’s poem does not refer to a specific mountain – we wonder whether this is acceptable? In addition, ‘in autumn have my sleeves’ (aki ni naru sode) and ‘she…as a storm’ (hito no arashi) is difficult to understand. The Left state: the Right’s poem has no faults to indicate.
In judgement: in connection with the criticism made of the Left’s poem, I do not feel that it is always essential to refer to a specific mountain. The other matters are, indeed, difficult to understand. The underlying sense of the Right’s poem seems overly pretentious. It is reminiscent of the tales of Boyi and Shuqi, or of Jie Zhitui, and Mount Shouyang and Mount Mian. Really, it does put me in mind of the Four White-Headed Recluses of Mount Shang, where it says, ‘They emerged due to the plans of Zhang Liang, made for Huidi, who said, “Though I may lie down with the greybeards, enjoying Mount Shang myself, all, in the end, are people under Zhang Liang.”’ It is extremely difficult, in the end, to make these sentiments relevant to our own land. Thus, I find it inappropriate to accept the content of the Right’s poem. The Left’s poem has its faults, too, so cursorily, I make this round a tie.
Topic unknown.
小笹原葉末の露は玉に似て石なき山を行く心地する
| ozasawara hazue no tsuyu wa tama ni nite ishinaki yama o yuku kokochisuru |
In the groves of young broad-leaved bamboo Dewdrops on the leaf-tips Resemble jewels; Through mountains with no rocks I feel as if I travel! |
Saigyō
西行
小笹原夜の間の雪に埋もれてゐなの山風音ぞともしき
| ozasawara yo no ma no yuki ni uzumorete ina no yamakaze oto zo tomoshiki |
The groves of young broad-leaved bamboo In night’s snowfall Have been buried; The wind in the Ina mountains Sounds faint, indeed! |
Minamoto no Moromitsu
源師光
Left (Tie).
年を經て茂るなげきをこりもせでなど深からん物思ひの山
| toshi o hete shigeru nageki o kori mo sede nado fukakaran mono’omoi no yama |
The years go by and My ever verdant grief Is never felled; Why am I so deep In mountains of gloomy thought? |
Kenshō.
961
Right.
君にわれ深く心を筑波山しげきなげきにこりはてぬ哉
| kimi ni ware fukaku kokoro o tsukubayama shigeki nageki ni korihatenu kana |
You for me Had deep thoughts once – All gone now, yet on Tsukuba Mountain My ever verdant grief Remains unfelled… |
The Supernumerary Master of the Empress’ Household Office.
962
The Right state: we are not familiar with the expression ‘mountains of gloomy thought’ (mono’omoi no yama) used in the Left’s poem. The Left state: the Right’s poem has nothing significant to say.
In judgement: both poems use the wordplay of ‘ever verdant grief’ (shigeki nageki) and a ‘heart unfelled’ (korinu kokoro); they have no particular merits or faults. The round ties.
Topic unknown.
飛ぶ鳥の声も聞えぬ奥山の深き心を人は知らなむ
| tobu tori no kowe mo kikoenu okuyama no Fukaki kokoro wo Fito Fa siranamu |
Flying birds’ Song does not reach The mountains’ heart; The depths of my love I would have you know! |
Anonymous
Left (Tie).
故郷を出でしにまさる涙かな嵐の枕夢に別れて
| furusato ni ideshi ni masaru namida kana arashi no makura yume ni wakarete |
My home I left in floods Of tears; The wild wind round my pillow Breaks us apart in dreams… |
Lord Sada’ie
899
Right.
東路の夜半の眺めを語らなん都の山にかゝる月影
| azumaji no yowa no nagame o kataranan miyako no yama ni kakaru tsukikage |
Upon the eastern roads All night I turn my gaze – Tell him that, O moonlight, sinking Toward the mountains round the capital! |
Nobusada
900
Both Left and Right say they find no faults.
In judgement: the Left starts with ‘My home I left in floods’ (furusato ni ideshi ni masaru) and concludes with ‘the wild wind round my pillow breaks us apart in dreams’ (arashi no makura yume ni wakarete) – this is a form of words the quality of which I am entirely unable to convey with my own clumsy expressions, but the Right’s ‘O moonlight, sinking toward the mountains round the capital’ (miyako no yama ni kakaru tsukikage) is awash with a sense of tears, so it is most unclear which should win or lose. Both truly seem to reflect the conception of this topic ‘Love and Travel’ well. The poems have been so good every round that my brush is drenched with this old man’s tears, and I can find no other way to express it.
At the waterfall at Ryūmon.
くる人もなき奥山の滝の糸は水のわくにぞまかせたりける
| kuru Fito mo naki okuyama no taki no ito Fa midu no waku ni zo makasetarikeru |
No one is there To reel, deep within the mountains Threads from off the falls, so To the spraying waters Have I left it! |
Middle Councillor Sadayori
中納言定頼