Left
ひとこひてぬるはるのよはしきたへのまくらながれてうきぬべきかな
| hito koite nuru haru no yo wa shikitae no makura nagarete ukinubeki kana | Loving her, and Sleeping on a night in spring, My mulberry cloth Pillow in the flow Simply floats away! |
11
Right
ねざめするわがしきたへはいけなれやつまなきをしとなかれこそすれ
| nezamesuru wa ga shikitae wa ike nare ya tsuma naki oshi to nakare koso sure | On waking Is my mulberry cloth A pond, by chance? For as a mandarin drake without his duck Do I surely cry! |
12
Left (Tie)
ゆきもあはぬちぎのかたそぎもる月をしもとやかみのおもひますらむ
| yuki mo awanu chigi no katasogi moru tsuki o shimo to ya kami no omoimasuramu | Fail to entwine do The chiliad of trees, while from the ridge poles Drips the moon— ‘Tis frost, perhaps, does the Deity Deign to wonder? |
Lord Taira no Tsunemasa
Supernumerary Director of the Bureau of Horses, Left Division
Governor of Awaji
Exalted Fifth Rank, Lower Grade[i]
27
Right
しろたへのゆきかとみればかぜさえて月ぞしづるるすみよしのまつ
| shirotae no yuki ka to mireba kaze saete tsuki zo shizururu sumiyoshi no matsu | White as mulberry cloth, I wonder, if ‘tis snow, I see— In the chill wind The moon slips from The pines of Sumiyoshi… |
Lord Minamoto no Nakatsuna
Governor of Oki
Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade[ii]
28
The configuration of the Left appears elegant, but the expression ‘chiliad of trees’ was said to be impermissible by Lord Mototoshi in his judgement on a poetry competition held in a certain place. The final section, too, seems to require a bit more thought [because it’s insulting to the deity]. As for the Right, the conception of wondering if the moon’s light shining through the trees is snow slipping off them is charming, but I do wonder about the sound of ‘the moon slips’ as a piece of diction. The initial ‘white as mulberry cloth’, too, sounds like it needs further thought [because this is not used to modify ‘snow’], so these should tie.
[i] Shōgoige-gyō sauma gon-kami ken awaji no kami Taira ason Tsunemasa正五位下行左馬権頭兼淡路守平朝臣経正
[ii] Jūgoige-gyō oki no kami Minamoto ason Nakatsuna 従五位下行隠岐守源朝臣仲綱
Topic unknown.
たごのうらにうち出でてみればしろたへのふじのたかねに雪はふりつつ
| tago no ura ni uchi’idete mireba shirotae no fuji no takane ni yuki wa furitsutsu | From the bay at Tago I see, when gazing out, White as mulberry cloth On the heights of Fuji’s peak— The snow is ever falling. |
Akahito
Left
まきもくのひばらの霞たちかへりみれども花のおどろかれつつ
| makimoku no hibara no kasumi tachikaeri miredomo hana no odorokaretsutsu | In Makimoku[1] among The cypress groves the haze Rises and departs; I see it, yet the blossom Ever does amaze me… |
27[2]
Right
白妙の浪路わけてや春はくる風吹くからにはなも咲きけり
| shirotae no namiji wakete ya haru wa kuru kaze fuku kara ni hana mo sakinikeri | White as mulberry cloth are The wave-wakes: forging through them does Spring come? The wind blows so, The blossom has bloomed! |
28
[1] Makimoku 巻目 was an alternate name for Makimuku 纏向, a place in Yamato province which was traditionally believed to be the location of the state’s capital during the reigns of the legendary emperors Suinin 垂仁 and Keikō 景行.
[2] Shinsen man’yōshū 17/An almost identical poem is also included in Kokin rokujo (I: 619), while a minor variant occurs in Fubokushō (IV: 1100), with a headnote identifying it as being included in this contest: まきもくのひばらの山にたちかへり見れども花におどろかれつつ makimoku no / hibara no yama ni / tachikaeri / miredomo hana no / odorokaretsutsu ‘In Makimoku among / The mountain cypress groves / Rising and departing, / I see it, yet the blossom / Ever does amaze me…’
あきのよの月のひかりはきよけれどひとのこころのくまはてらさず[1]
| aki no yo no tsuki no hikari wa kiyokeredo hito no kokoro no kuma wa terasazu | On an autumn night The moon’s light is So clear, yet upon Her heart’s Depths it fails to shine. |
55
ゆふだすきかけてのみこそこひしけれあきとしなればひと
| yūdasuki kakete no koso koishikere aki to shi nareba hito | Cords of mulberry cloth Hung, are all the more Dear; When the autumn comes, She… |
56
The final words of this poem have not survived, so we need to use our imaginations to think of how it might have concluded.
A profusion of deutzia flowers in full bloom
Left
白妙に卯花さけるかきねをばつもりし雪とおもひけるかな
| shirotae ni u no hana sakeru kakine o ba tsumorishi yuki to omoikeru kana | A spread of white mulberry cloth, The deutzias have bloomed Along my brushwood fence Drifting snow is piled, or So it seems! |
Minamoto no Narikata
13
Right
みわたせばたかねののべのうつぎ原みな白妙にさきにけるかな
| miwatseba takane no nobe no utsugiwara mina shirotae ni sakinikeru kana | When I gaze across The high-peak meadows A field of deutzia, All as white as mulberry cloth, Have bloomed there. |
Ōe no Fumi’ichi
14
Left.
分け來つる情のみかはそが菊の色もてはやす白妙の袖
| wakekitsuru nasake nomi ka wa sogagiku no iro motehayasu shirotae no sode |
To tell between them Does not need soft thoughts alone ? Yellow chrysanthemumsf Hues combined with Sleeves of white mulberry cloth. |
445
Right.
長月の今日九日といひ顔に折り得て見ゆる白菊の花
| nagatsuki no kyō kokonoka to ii kao ni oriete miyuru shiragiku no hana |
‘Of the Longest Month Today is the Ninth day,’ So seem to say, Plucked and in my sight, These white chrysanthemums. |
The Provisional Master of the Empress’ Household Office.
446
The Right say that the meaning of sogagiku is unclear. The Left respond, ‘They are yellow chrysanthemums. Emperor Ninmyō [Soga] was known to be fond of the colour yellow and so this is a term for yellow chrysanthemums.’ The Right then continue, ‘The Man’yōshū uses the term sogai (“rear”), in poems with the conception of “pursuing after” [oisugai no kokoro nari]. So are these not, therefore, chrysanthemums which are later in blooming on riverbanks, perhaps?’
The Left content themselves with saying that the Right’s poem shows no particular brilliance of construction, nor significant faults.
Shunzei’s judgement: The Left’s ‘Does not need soft thoughts alone’ (nasake nomi ka wa) is by no means bad in the context of this poem [kono uta ni torite wa ashikarazarubeshi]. The explanation about yellow chrysanthemums is, indeed, one that has had some circulation recently. Lord Toshiyori apparently declared sogagiku to be ‘a single stem of yellow chrysanthemums’. The Right’s other query on the relationship with the Man’yō term sogai, does not seem to be without merit [muri ni arazaru]. It has been said that the Right’s poem lacks faults, but I cannot appreciate ‘so seem to say’ (ii kao ni) as proper diction [shokisebekarazaru kono kotoba haberubeki]. In the absence of definite proof from the reign of Emperor Ninmyō about the sense of sogagiku, I make this round a tie.
