Tag Archives: ominaeshi

Daikōtaigōgū no suke taira no tsunemori-ason ke uta’awase 07

Round Seven

Left (Win)

萩がはな分けゆく程は古郷へかへらぬ人もにしきをぞきる

hagi ga hana
wakeyuku hodo wa
furusato e
kaeranu hito mo
nishiki o zo kiru
When through the bush-clover blooms
He forges his way,
To his ancient home
Never to return—that man, too,
Wears a fine brocade!

Minamoto no Arifusa, Minor Captain in the Inner Palace Guards, Right Division

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Right

声たてて鳴くむしよりも女郎花いはぬ色こそ身にはしみけれ

koe tatete
naku mushi yori mo
ominaeshi
iwanu iro koso
mi ni wa shimikere
They lift their songs in
Plaintive cries, but far more than the insects
‘Tis the maidenflower’s
Wordless hue that truly
Pierce my soul!

Junior Assistant Minister of Central Affairs Sadanaga
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The Left is well-composed, but what is the Right’s ‘wordless hue’? Are we supposed to imagine that the expression means ‘silent yellow’? This is difficult to grasp, isn’t it. Whatever way you look at it, the Left seems to win.

Daikōtaigōgū no suke taira no tsunemori-ason ke uta’awase 06

Round Six

Left (Tie)

むつごともいはまほしきを女郎花くちなし色のつらくもあるかな

mutsugoto mo
iwamahoshiki o
ominaeshi
kuchinashi iro no
tsuraku mo aru kana
A lover’s whisper is
What I wish you’d say to me,
O, maidenflower, but
Your silent yellow hue
Is cruel, indeed!

Minamoto no Moromitsu, Supernumerary Master of the Right Capital Office
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Right

女郎花はなの心はしらねども名をきくにこそをらまほしけれ

ominaeshi
hana no kokoro wa
shiranedomo
na o kiku ni koso
oramahoshikere
O, maidenflower,
A flower’s heart,
I cannot know, yet
Simply on hearing your name,
How I wish to pick you!

Hōribe no Narinaka, Hiyoshi Shrine Priest
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The Left is charming. However, would a flower which is not ‘silent yellow’ be saying something? It’s more common to say that flowers say nothing. Even so, this is not a profound fault, so it’s better to evaluate this poem as charming. The Right is elegantly composed—saying ‘simply on hearing your name’, just sounds skillful, so it’s impossible for me to state a winner or loser this round.

Daikōtaigōgū no suke taira no tsunemori-ason ke uta’awase 04

Round Four

Left

行人を野べの尾花にまねかせて色めきたてる女郎花かな

yuku hito o
nobe no obana ni
manekasete
iromeki tateru
ominaeshi kana
Folk going by
The meadows the silver grass
Is made to beckon by
The seductively standing
Maidenflowers!

Lord Fujiwara no Suetsune, Former Junior Assistant Minister of Central Affairs
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Right (Win)

吹くをりぞ過ぐる人をばまねきけるかぜや尾花の心なるらん

fuku ori zo
suguru hito oba
manekikeru
kaze ya obana no
kokoro naruran
When it blows,
Folk passing by
Are beckoned—
Does the wind the silver grasses’
Heart become?

Minor Controller of the Left Fujiwara no Tamechika
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The Left appears to have nothing remarkable about it, while the Right’s initial three sections sound clumsy, yet appear to have some degree of conception, so I would say it wins.

Daikōtaigōgū no suke taira no tsunemori-ason ke uta’awase 03

Round Three

Left

女郎花露もわきてやおきつらんしほれ姿のあてにも有るかな

ominaeshi
tsuyu mo wakite ya
okitsuran
shioresugata no
ate ni mo aru kana
Upon the maidenflowers
Might the dew discriminate
In its falling?
For its dampened form
Is so fine!

Lord Minamoto no Michiyoshi, Minor Captain of the Inner Palace Guards, Right Division
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Right (Win)

もも草の花もあだにやおもふらんひと色ならずうつす心を

momokusa no
hana mo ada ni ya
omouran
hito iro narazu
utsusu kokoro o
A multitude of grasses
Blooms: do they play me false
Should I think?
For not to one hue alone
Is my heart drawn…

Kojijū, Court Lady to Her Majesty
6

The Left, by saying ‘Might the dew discriminate / In its falling?’ seems to want to describe the way that the flowers’ colours become deeper or fainter. It is not appropriate, however, to use ‘dampened form’ in this way. Furthermore, saying something ‘seems fine’ lacks elegance, doesn’t it. The Right does not lack the conception of the topic, so it should win.

Daikōtaigōgū no suke taira no tsunemori-ason ke uta’awase 02

Round Two

Left (Win)

花すすき誰ともわかずまねくにも心をとむる我やなになり

hanasusuki
tare tomo wakazu
maneku ni mo
kokoro o tomuru
wa ya nani nari
The silver grass fronds
Care not who
They beckon, yet
Entranced
What am I to them them?

Lord Taira no Tsunemori, Assistant Master of the Dowager Empress’ Household
3

Right

あだにおく夜のまの露にむすぼほれて思ひしほるる女郎花かな

ada ni oku
yo no ma no tsuyu ni
musubōrete
omoishioruru
ominaeshi kana
Faithlessly falling
In the night, the dewdrops
Have drenched
The dejected
Maidenflower!

Former Minor Captain, Lord Fujiwara no Kinshige
4

This round the poems, again, are equal in quality, but the Right’s use of ‘dejected’ as a piece of diction is vague, and in the absence of a prior example of usage, the Left should win.

Yōzei-in uta’awase (Engi jūsan-nen kugatsu kokonoka) 17

Left

くれぬべきあきををしめばをぐら山みねのもみぢもいろづきにけり

kurenubeki
aki o oshimeba
ogurayama
mine no momiji mo
irozukinikeri
Pass into dusk must
Autumn, so I regret when
On Ogura Mountain
The scarlet leaves on the peak
Have taken on deeper hues!

33

Right

をしめども秋はとまらず女郎花野べにおくれてかれぬばかりを

oshimedomo
aki wa tomarazu
ominaeshi
nobe ni okurete
karenu bakari o
I regret it, yet
Autumn will not linger;
O, maidenflower,
Within the meadows tarry and
Simply do not wither away…

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Yōzei-in uta’awase (Engi jūsan-nen kugatsu kokonoka) 12

Left

草村の心しとともにぞわたるくれはしぬべき秋のをしさに

kusamura no
kokoro shi to tomo
ni zo wataru
kure wa shinubeki
aki no oshisa ni
A tangled patch of grass is
My heart—together
Will it cross, and with
The evening pass away
Amid autumn regrets…[i]

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Right (Win)

こりずまにあひもみるかな女郎花とまらずかへる秋としるらし

korizu ma ni
ai mo miru kana
ominaeshi
tomarazu kaeru
aki to shirurashi
While I do not dislike her,
I will come to meet and see,
My maidenflower!
Not lingering, and returning
Having had enough—as autumn seems to do, I know…

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[i] The central part of this poem appears to have been corrupted as the division kokoro shi to tomo / ni zo wataru is anomalous as it places the bound morphemes ni zo at the beginning of a line. Given this, my translation is speculative.

Yōzei-in uta’awase (Engi jūsan-nen kugatsu kokonoka) 06

Left

あきごとにさかずはあらねど女郎花散りゆくことはをしくぞありける

aki goto ni
sakazu wa aranedo
ominaeshi
chiriyuku koto wa
oshiku zo arikeru
Every single autumn,
It’s not that you bloom not, yet
O, maidenflowers,
That you scatter away
I regret, indeed!

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Right

めにみえてわかるる秋ををしまめやおほぞらのみぞながめらるらん

me ni miete
wakaruru aki o
oshimame ya
ōzora nomi zo
nagameraruran
Before my eyes
Autumn is departing—
Should I regret it, or
Simply to the heavens, alone,
Ever turn my gaze?

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