Topic unknown.
難波潟みじかき蘆のふしのまも逢はでこの世をすぐしてよとや
| naniwagata mijikaki ashi no fushi no ma mo awade kono yo o sugushiteyo to ya | In the Naniwa tidelands, Brief, indeed, are the reeds’ Span between the knots upon their stalks, but Such times in this world without meeting you— Are you really telling me to just go on like that? |
Ise
Love and Smoke, for a Fifty Poem Sequence at the residence of the Lay Priest Prince of the Second Order.
うらみじな難波のみつにたつけぶり心からたくあまのもしほ火
| uramiji na naniwa no mitsu ni tatsu keburi kokoro kara taku ama no moshiobi | I cannot hate her, can I? From Naniwa harbour The smoke arising is Kindled in my heart as Fisherfolk’s seaweed-salt fires…[i] |
Consultant Masatsune
[i] An allusive variation on KKS XVII: 894.
Topic unknown.
をしてるやなにはのみつにやくしほのからくも我はおいにけるかな
| wositeru ya naniFa no mitu ni yaku siFo no karaku mo ware Fa oinikeru kana | Brightly shining is Naniwa harbour where Burning salt is Dried hard for me to have Grown old! |
An alternate version is:
おほとものみつのはまべに
| oFotomo no mitu no Famabe ni | In Ōtomo On the harbour beachside |
Anonymous
On the autumn moon by the sea, for the poetry match held at the Poetry Office on the night of the Fifteenth of the Eighth Month.
わすれじな難波の秋の夜半の空ことうらにすむ月はみるとも
| wasureji na naniwa no aki no yowa no sora koto’ura ni sumu tsuki wa miru tomo | Never would I forget Naniwa’s autumn Midnight skies, though Clear above another distant bay The moon I see… |
Gishūmon’in no Tango
Left (Tie)
ひとのうへとおもひしものをわがこひになしてやきみがただにやみぬる
| hito no ue to omoishi mono o wa ga koi ni nashite ya kimi ga tada ni ya minuru | Upon me The coals of passion have lain, yet After my love has been So clear, why, my lady Do you seem so calm? |
Mitsune
55
Right
あしまよふなにはのうらにひくふねのつなでながくもこひわたるかな
| ashi mayou naniwa no ura ni hiku fune no tsunade nagaku mo koi wataru kana | Lost among the reeds Of Naniwa Bay, Pulling a boat with Tug-ropes stretching long As my love endures! |
56
Left (Win)
誰となく寄せては返る浪枕浮きたる舟の跡もとどめず
| tare to naku yosete wa kaeru namimakura ukitaru fune no ato mo todomezu | To no one Cleaving, they return; Pillowed on the waves The drifting boats’ Wakes fail to linger long… |
A Servant Girl
1151
Right
何方を見ても忍ばむ難波女の浮き寝の跡に消ゆる白浪
| izukata o mitemo shinobamu naniwame no ukine no ato ni kiyuru shiranami | Whither Should I look in longing? With a girl from Naniwa I slept briefly, but her Wake vanishes among the whitecaps… |
Jakuren
1152
Both Left and Right together state: neither poem is bad.
In judgement: both poems seem elegant in configuration and diction, but the Right’s ‘girl from Naniwa’ (naniwame) raises the same issue as ‘diving girl’, only more so – there is not even evidence on this from inclusion in the Collection of Poems to Sing, is there? The Left’s ‘cleaving, they return; pillowed on the waves’ (yosete wa kaeru namimakura) really does seem like a pleasure girl, so I must say it is superior.