mukashi tote mi no omoide wa nakeredomo kimi shinobine zo taezu nakaruru
Bygone days— Memories of me then Have I none, yet Thinking fondly of my Lord I weep constantly.
Hyōenosuke 101
Right
いくよしもありへむものとしらぬみはうきもつらきもなにかなげかむ
iku yo shimo ariemu mono to shiranu mi wa uki mo tsuraki mo nanika nagekamu
However many ages I may live through I know not, so For the coldness and cruelties Why should I grieve so?
Lord Naganori 102
The configuration of the Left’s poem, beginning ‘Memories of me then / Have I none, yet’ appears elegant. The conception of self-effacingly not recalling oneself but thinking fondly of one’s former master seems sadly moving. The Right’s poem appears splendidly direct in its emotional stance. With that being said, the Right lacks clear source of grief, whereas the Left has its fond recollections, and thus I have to say it wins.
kokoronaki kokoro mo nao zo tsukihatsuru tsuki sae sumeru sumiyoshi no hama
Even my insensitive Heart is still Quite exhausted, So clear the moon Above the beach at Sumiyoshi…
Lord Fujiwara no Toshinari Master of the Dowager Empress’ Household Office Master of the Right Capital Office Exalted Senior Third Rank 2
The Left poem’s conception and configuration, saying ‘In ancient times was it so? / The moon o’er Suminoe’ is truly charming! While I am accustomed to hearing conceptions similar to that expressed in the initial line, I have no recollection of this exact turn of phrase and, in addition, leading with ‘Could these ancient’ and continuing with ‘Pines but speak’ is a conception which is rare, indeed. In the poem of the Right, on the moon over the beach before the shrine, I have quite exhausted my own meagre conceptions and, feel that my scanty words are not enough, I think. The Left’s poem is particularly fine, so it should win.
[i]Shōni’i Fujiwara ason Sanesada正二位藤原朝臣実定 (1139-1191)：Most frequently referred to today as the Later Tokudaiji Minister of the Left (Gotokudaiji no sadaijin 後徳大寺左大臣), Sanesada had an extensive court career, culminating in appointment as Minister of the Left in 1189, a position he was to hold for only two years, before illness forced him to surrender it in the middle of 1191, a few months before his death. Sanesada skillfully negotiated the fraught political environment following the Genpei War (1180-1185) and is known to have had the trust of Minamoto no Yoritomo 源頼朝 (1147-1199), the first Kamakura shogun. He was well-known as a poet, participating in many uta’awase, including this one, and has 73 poems in imperial anthologies, beginning with Senzaishū. His most famous poem today is: Composed in the conception of hearing a cuckoo at dawn. 時鳥鳴きつるかたをながむればたゞ有明の月ぞのこれる hototogisu / nakitsuru kata o / nagamureba / tada ariake no / tsuki zo nokoreru ‘A cuckoo / Calls from yonder— / Gazing there, / Only the daybreak / Moon remains.’ (SZS III: 161), which was included in Hyakunin isshu (81).
sakurabana sora ni amagiru shirakumo no tanabikiwataru kazuragi no yama
The cherry blossoms, As sky-sweeping Clouds of white Drape all across Kazuragi Mountain.
Takasuke 25
Right
さくらさくながらの山のながき日も昔をこひぬ時のまぞなき
sakura saku nagara no yama no nagaki hi mo mukashi o koinu toki no ma zo naki
The cherries bloom Changeless on Nagara Mountain; The lengthy days to Those beloved bygone Moments do not compare.
Shimotsuke 26
Neither Left nor Right has any faults worth mentioning. The Right’s poem appears tranquil, with an artless quality. It has a moving sensibility of longing for the past, but the Left’s poem should just about win, I think.
