Round Two
Left
人しれずはれぬ歎きの有るものを普くてらせ秋のよの月
| hito shirezu harenu nageki no aru mono o amaneku terase aki no yo no tsuki | Unknown to all A grief which never clears I have, so Shine without restraint, O, moon this autumn night! |
His Excellency, Nagazane, Former Assistant Governor General of Dazai
3
Right
山の端のうき雲晴れてすみのぼる月と共にもゆくこころかな
| yama no ha no ukigumo harete suminoboru tsuki to tomo ni yuku kokoro kana | At the mountains’ edge The drifting clouds unfurl, and Clearly climbing With the moon Goes my spirit! |
Lady Hyōenokami
4
In the poem of the Left, the expression following ‘A grief which never clears / I have, so’ is both forceful and lacking in gentility; in addition, the poem of the Right’s ‘drifting clouds clear away’ and what follows seems stagnant, so the light of the moon these nights seems to be of the same standard.
Round Eighteen
Left (Tie)
神さぶるなげきの森の時鳥ひくしめなはもなくなくやこし
| kamu saburu nageki no mori no hototogisu hiku shimenawa mo nakunaku ya koshi | In divine Nageki’s sacred grove Does the cuckoo to Where the holy garlands Are hung not, come to sing?[1] |
The Former Minister of the Centre
35
Right
さとわかずなけや五月の郭公忍びし比は恨みやはせし
| sato wakazu nake ya satsuki no hototogisu shinobishi koro wa urami ya wa seshi | In every hamlet Sing, O, Fifth Month Cuckoo! For when you chirped before, I did not hate you for it… |
Kozaishō
36
The Left’s poem is based on ‘Prayers / Alone I seem to hear at / This shrine, indeed, but / In the end, passion to grief’s / Grove will turn, no doubt…’ and sounds pleasant. The Right’s poem says ‘For when you chirped before, / I did not hate you for it’ and has a graceful style—thus, they tie.
[1] An allusive variation on: Topic unknown. ねぎ事をさのみききけむやしろこそはてはなげきのもりとなるらめnegigoto o / sanomi kikikemu / yashiro koso / hate wa nageki no / mori to narurame ‘Prayers / Alone I seem to hear at / This shrine, indeed, but / In the end, passion to grief’s / Grove will turn, no doubt…’ Sanuki (KKS XIX: 1055)
Round Nine
Left (M – Win)
逢ふことの今はかたのとなりぬればかりに問ひこし人もとひこず
| au koto no ima wa katano to narinureba kari ni toikoshi hito mo toikozu | Meeting Now hard as crossing Katano Has become, so he who once Briefly hunted me out Never comes to call. |
Lord Michitsune
65
Right (T – Win)
おさふればあまる涙はもる山のなげきにあたる雫なりけり
| osaureba amaru namida wa moruyama no nageki ni ataru shizuku narikeri | I hold them in, but, Overflowing, my tears Drip down—on Mount Moru Gathering kindling—grief is plain In every droplet. |
Lord Tadataka
66
Toshiyori states: the first poem says ‘hard as crossing Katano has become’, but emphasizes that the lover did come briefly. It’s a mistake to then say that he ‘never comes’. The second poem has ‘Overflowing, my tears / Drip down—on Mount Moru’—it’s certainly not the case that feeling is lacking in the conception here, and it does sound like this is what one feels, so it’s not difficult at all to say this is the winner.
Mototoshi states: neither of these poems has any particular faults or anything outstanding between them, but that there is no one to visit the poet briefly appears, at present, to be slightly more desolate.
Topic unknown.
なげきこる山としたかくなりぬればつらづゑのみぞまづつかれける
| nageki koru yama tosi takaku narinureba turaduwe nomi zo madu tukarekeru | Grief as hard as felling trees Upon a mountain higher Grows, as My head with my hands is First propped! |
Taifu
Topic unknown.
ねぎ事をさのみききけむやしろこそはてはなげきのもりとなるらめ
| negigoto wo sanomi kikikemu yasiro koso Fate Fa nageki no mori to narurame | Prayers Alone I seem to hear at This shrine, indeed, but In the end, passion to grief’s Grove will turn, no doubt… |
Sanuki
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.
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
