Tag Archives: ominaeshi

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
5

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…

34

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]

23

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…

24


[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!

11

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?

12

Hon’in sadaijin-ke uta’awase 04

Maidenflowers

Left

なびくとや人はみるらんをみなへしおもふかたにぞかぜもふきける

nabiku to ya
hito wa miruran
ominaeshi
omou kata ni zo
kaze mo fukikeru
‘Are they trailing?’
Folk wonder at the sight of
The maidenflowers, and
As they thought
The wind, too, was blowing…

7

Right

おほかたののべなるよりはをみなへしねやのつまにてみるはまされり

ōkata no
nobe naru yori wa
ominaeshi
neya no tsuma nite
miru wa masareri
So wide are
The plains, but I’d rather
A maidenflower—
My wife in the bedchamber:
Seeing her is better far!

8

Teishi-in ominaeshi uta’awase 25

やをとめのそでかとぞみるをみなへしきみをいはひてなではじめてき

yaotome no
sode ka to zo miru
ominaeshi
kimi o iwaite
nadehajimeteki
As eight sacred maidens’
Sleeves do they appear,
The maidenflowers,
Celebrating our Lord’s reign
With a first gentle touch.

49

うゑながらかつはたのまずをみなへしうつろふあきのほどしなければ

uenagara
katsu wa tanomazu
ominaeshi
utsurou aki no
hodo shi nakereba
I planted them, yet
Still unreliable are
The maidenflowers, for
They fade and autumn
Is nothing but brief…

50