しらま弓いそべの山の松の色のときはにものをおもふころかな
| shiramayumi isobe no yama no matsu no iro no tokiwa ni mono o omou koso kana | The pure white bow of Mountains by the rocky shore, where The pines’ hues are Evergreen but more so my gloomy Thoughts of you! |
442
Tag Archives: pines
Kinkai wakashū 398
The end of the year[i]
塵をだにすゑじとや思ふ行く年の跡なき庭をはらふ松風
| chiri o dani sueji to ya omou yuku toshi no ato naki niwa o harau matsukaze | Will the dust Not even linger, I wonder; The departing year Leaves no footprints in my garden Swept by the wind from off the pines. |
398
Kinkai wakashū 379
Kinkai wakashū 345
Kinkai wakashū 344
Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 68
Round Eighteen
Left (Tie)
すみよしのきしかたのよにひきかへてはなさくまつのみともならばや
| sumiyoshi no kishikata no yo ni hikikaete hana saku matsu no mi tomo naraba ya | On Sumiyoshi’s Shore, for the coming world I would exchange— Waiting for blossom to bloom upon the pines— Myself, that’s what I long for… |
Koretsuna
135
Right
たのみこしかみのしるしにうきよをもすみよしとだにおもひなりせば
| tanomikoshi kami no shirushi ni ukiyo o mo sumiyoshi to dani omoinariseba | I have come to rely On a sign from the God, That this cruel world, too, Even become a pleasant place to dwell— Or so I have come to think… |
Suesada
136
Both the Left and Right this round only appear skilled in their use of diction. The poem on blossom probably needs a little more work, I think, but they really are about the same.
Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 60
Round Ten
Left (Win)
かぞふればやとせへにけりあはれわがしづみしことはきのふとおもふに
| kasoureba yatose henikeri aware wa ga shizumishi koto wa kinō to omou ni | When I count them up, Many years have passed, but Sadness Overcomes me for the events Of yesterday, I feel… |
Lord Sanesada
119
Right
いたづらにふりぬるみをもすみよしのまつはさりともあはれしるらむ
| itazura ni furinuru mi o mo sumiyoshi no matsu wa sari tomo aware shiruramu | How quickly Age has come upon my flesh, too— Sumiyoshi’s Pines must that Sadness know too well… |
Lord Toshinari
120
The poem of the Left: these are not matters which could be understood by just anyone, yet even a superficial glance at it reveals that its conception and configuration display and exceptional sadness. How true it is that off all the myriad things in our lives it is the events of yesterday and today that we recall, and this is how we pass through the years and months, so how difficult, indeed, it is to supress the configuration of ‘When I count them up, / Many years have passed’! As for the Right’s poem, well, the conception of the initial section is pedestrian at best, although the latter section does seem to have some conception to it in places and shows some signs of thought. It is the poor composition of the judge, who is into his dotage. Once more, therefore, I have not rendered judgement, however, I feel that the deity would determine in favour of the Left.
Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 59
Round Nine
Left
いとふともなきものゆゑによのなかのあはれをさすがうちなげきつつ
| itou tomo naki mono yue ni yo no naka no aware o sasu ga uchinagekitsutsu | With despite I regard it not, yet This mundane world Has such sadness, that Ever am I grief-stricken… |
Lord Sanefusa
117
Right (Win)
いたづらにとしもつもりのうらにおふるまつぞわがみのたぐひなりける
| itazura ni toshi mo tsumori no ura ni ouru matsu zo wa ga mi no tagui narikeru | How quickly The years have piled up; on Tsumori Shore grow Pines – my sorry self, indeed, Do they resemble! |
Lord Yorimasa
118
The poem of the Left has a configuration which directly expresses a single emotion. Its conception sounds in keeping with this. The poem of the Right begins with ‘The years have piled up; on Tsumori / Shore grow’ and continues with ‘Pines – my sorry self, indeed’ which appears very pleasant. Thus, the Right wins.
Tōin senzai awase 01
The Garden Match held by the Chancellor at the Eastern Mansion
When His Lordship, the Chancellor, was having the Eastern Mansion refurbished, he divided his sons into teams and having a large number of charming plants grown in pots on the eastern and western sides of the main hall, he matched poems composed on the names of these plants. These poems are as follows.
Left – Pine
あだしきのちるにもさらににぬまつはちとせこえふるしるべなりけり
| adashiki no chiru ni mo sara ni ninu matsu wa chitose koefuru shirube narikeri | The other trees’ Scattering is e’en more Unlike the pines— Passing through a thousand years Is their singular sign. |
1a
あたらしき春にもさらににぬまつはちとせこえこぬしるべなりけり
| atarashiki haru ni mo sara ni ninu matsu wa chitose koekonu shirube narikeri | A new Spring is e’en more Unlike the pines— That it last not a thousand years Is a singular sign. |
1b
Right
たれもみなちとせこえくるまつにのみひさしきことはならへとぞ思ふ
| tare mo mina chitose koekuru matsu ni nomi hisashiki koto wa narae to zo omou | Every single one, without exception, Passes through a thousand years— That the pines, alone, Are eternal: Learn that! Or so I feel… |
2
Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 49
Round Twenty-Four
Left (Win)
かぜのおとにわきぞかねましまつがねのまくらにもらぬしぐれなりせば
| kaze no oto ni waki zo kanemashi matsu ga ne no makura ni moranu shigure nariseba | The gusts of wind I cannot tell apart from The rustle of the pines roots For my pillow should no drips From the shower fall… |
Lord Sanefusa
97
Right
たびのいほはあらしにたぐふよこしぐれしばのかこひにとまらざりけり
| tabi no io wa arashi ni taguu yoko shigure shiba no kakoi ni tomarazarikeri | My traveller’s hut Is lashed by the storm wind’s Sideways showers— The brushwood walls Halt it not at all. |
Lord Yorimasa
98
The conception and configuration of the poem of the Left, starting ‘I cannot tell apart from / The rustle of the pines’ and continuing ‘For my pillow should no drips / From the shower fall’ is, once again, truly exceptional! As for the poem of the Right, while it appears to have a charming style and use of diction, even if it is the case that ‘sideways showers’ are a genuine phenomenon, it fails to sound particularly elegant, doesn’t it. In addition, the latter section of the poem, ‘the brushwood walls’, feels slightly lacking in conception. Thus, I make the Left the winner.
