Left (Win)
山深み歎きこる男のをのれのみ苦しくまどふ恋の道かな
yama fukami
nageki koru o no
onore nomi
kurushiku madou
koi no michi kana | Deep within the mountains
Felling trees, a woodsman’s
Axe, my grief
Leaves me in pained confusion
On the paths of love… |
Lord Sada’ie
1187
Right
山人の帰る家路を思ふにも逢はぬ歎きぞ休むまもなき
yamabito no
kaeru ieji o
omou ni mo
awanu nageki zo
yasumu ma mo naki | A mountain man,
Homeward bound,
Is in my thoughts, but
Unable to meet with you grief
Gives me no respite. |
Ietaka
1188
Left and Right together state: no faults to mention.
In judgement: the Left has a profound conception of love. The Right’s ‘homeward bound’ (kaeru ieji) and ‘unable to meet with you grief’ (awanu nageki) are extremely difficult to grasp, I think. The Left should win.
Left (Win)
恋路には風やはさそふ朝夕に谷の柴舟行帰れども
koiji ni wa
kaze ya wa sasou
asa yū ni
tani no shibabune
yukikaeredomo | Along the path of love
Does the wind beckon me?
Morning and evening
Along the valley boats of brushwood
Go back and forth, yet… |
A Servant Girl
1177
Right
真柴こる賤にもあらぬ身なれども恋ゆへわれも歎きをぞ積む
mashiba koru
shizu ni mo aranu
mi naredomo
koi yue ware mo
nageki o zo tsumu | Cutting kindling as
A mountain man is not
My lot, yet
For love do I
Stack up my grief in logs! |
The Supernumerary Master of the Empress’ Household Office
1178
Left and Right together state: there is no reason to make any criticisms here.
In judgement: although ‘beckon’ (sasou) in the Left’s poem should be ‘send’ (okuru), it is certainly elegant how it evokes thoughts of Captain Cheng travelling along the valley. The Right, beginning with ‘kindling’ (mashiba) and then having ‘grief in logs’ (nageki) sounds a little too similar, I think. The Left should win.
葉かへせぬ歎の杜は冬来れど常にもかもな常しなへなり
Fa kaesenu
nageki no mori Fa
Fuyu kuredo
tune ni mo kamo na
tokosinaFe nari |
The leaves never turn
In Nageki’s sacred groves, where
Winter comes, yet
It is always that
They are ever unchanging. |
Minamoto no Toshiyori
源俊頼
Composed gazing at the moon when there were baseless rumours about her.
如何にせむ歎の杜は茂けれど木の間の月の隱れなき世を
ika ni semu
nageki no mori Fa
sigekeredo
ko no ma no tuki no
kakurenaki yo wo |
What am I to do?
The sacred groves of Nageki with grief
Grow lush, yet
Between the trees, from the moon
There is no hiding in this world. |
The Daughter of Tachibana no Toshimune
橘俊宗女
時鳥歎の杜に飽かずして君が待つをば過ぎにけるかな
Fototogisu
nageki no mori ni
akazusite
kimi ga matu woba
suginikeru kana |
Of the cuckoos’
Sad cries in Nageki’s sacred groves
You could never get enough
While your wait
Continued on! |
Fujiwara no Akisue
藤原顕季
生ひ立ちて枯れぬと聞きし木の下の歎の杜といかでなりけむ
oFitatite
karenu to kikisi
ko no moto no
nageki no mori to
ikade narikemu |
They grow tall and
Never wither, I heard, so
Below the trees, where
Grief grows in Nageki’s sacred groves,
What will happen there? |
Kiyowara no Motosuke
清原元輔
Topic unknown.
ねぎ事をさのみ聞きけむ社こそはては歎の杜となるらめ
negigoto wo
sanomi kikikemu
yasiro koso
Fate Fa nageki no
mori to narurame |
Prayers in
Such numbers are answered
At this shrine, that
In the end, grief grows in to Nageki’s
Sacred groves. |
Sanuki
讃岐
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.
今はみな思ひつくばの山おろしよしげきなげきと吹きも伝へよ
ima wa mina
omoitsukuba no
yama oroshiyo
shigeki nageki to
fuki mo tsutaeyo |
Now all
Is in my thoughts: Tsukuba
Mountain descend!
My ever verdant grief
With the gusts, tell all! |
Teika
定家
Left (Tie).
いざさらば生田の杜に祈りみん頼む方なき戀の病を
iza saraba
ikuta no mori ni
inorimin
tanomu kata naki
koi no yamai o |
So, now,
To the sacred grove of Ikuta
Shall I go to pray
For this hopeless
Love’s sickness… |
Lord Kanemune.
663
Right.
あはれとも思もやする我戀をなげきの杜の神に祈らん
aware tomo
omoi mo ya suru
wa ga koi o
nageki no mori no
kami ni inoruran |
Pitiful
Do you think me?
So, the grief of love
Will I burn in Nageki’s sacred grove
As an offering… |
The Provisional Master of the Empress Household Office.
664
The Gentlemen of the Left and Right have nothing particular to say.
Shunzei’s judgement: the Left’s ‘so, now’ (iza saraba) seems pleasant. The Right’s poem has a fairly direct style. After comparison, this is a tie again.
'Simply moving and elegant'