散りのこるきしの山吹春ふかみこの一枝をあはれといはなん
| chirinokoru kishi no yamabuki haru fukami kono hito eda o aware to iwanan | A scattered remnant of Kerria from the bank In the depths of spring, that This single stem arouses Pity, I would have you say. |
Tag Archives: pity
Kinkai wakashū 123
Love VII: 11
Left (Tie).
遠ざかる人の心は海原の沖行く舟の跡の潮風
| tōzakaru hito no kokoro wa unabara no oki yuku funa no ato no shiokaze |
Ever more distant grows His heart: Into the sea-plains of The offing goes a boat, Wake touched by the tidewinds… |
Lord Sada’ie
981
Right.
わたつ海の浪のあなたに人は住む心あらなん風の通ひ路
| wata tsu umi no nami no anata ni hito wa sumu kokoro aranan kaze no kayoiji |
The endless sea: Beyond its waves Does my love live; Had they any pity, The winds would make my path to her! |
Nobusada
982
The Gentlemen of the Right state: there are too many uses of no. Would it not have been better to reduce their number with, for example, ‘o, sea-plains!’ (unabara ya)? We also wonder about the use of ‘wake touched by the tidewinds’ (ato no shiokaze). The Gentlemen of the Left state: ‘does my love live’ (hito wa sumu) is grating on the ear.
In judgement: saying that the Left’s poem has too many identical words is clearly relying upon the long-established hornet-hip or crane-knee faults. In today’s poetry there are countless poems in which these faults can be identified. In addition, ‘into the sea-plains’ (unabara no) and ‘o, sea-plains’ (unabara ya) are the same. I may be wrong here, but it seems to me that in this poem, it has to be ‘into the sea-plains’. Finally, ‘wake touched by the tidewinds’ is elegant. As for the Right’s ‘beyond its waves does my love live’ (nami no anata ni hito wa sumu), this is not grating, is it? It seems that the Gentleman of the Right, being so well-read in Chinese scholarship, has required revisions to the faulty poem of the Left in the absence of the judge. Thus, what can a grand old fool do but make the round a tie.
Love VI: 17
Left.
いつも聞く物とや人の思らむ來ぬ夕暮れの秋風の聲
| itsumo kiku mono to ya hito no omouramu konu yūgure no akikaze no koe |
Always do I hear The same, is that what He thinks? This evening, when he has not come Whispers the autumn wind. |
A Servant Girl.
933
Right (Win).
心あらば吹かずもあらなん宵宵に人待つ宿の庭の松風
| kokoro araba fukazu mo aranan yoiyoi ni hito matsu yado no niwa no matsukaze |
If you have any pity, Then I would not have you blow Night after night While I wait for him, through my home’s Garden pines, o, wind! |
Nobusada.
934
Both Left and Right state: we can grasp the sense of the opposing poem.
In judgement: I am unable to tell what it is that ‘does not come one evening’ (konu yūgure). ‘Whispers the autumn wind’ (akikaze no koe) is also perhaps rather novel. The Right’s ‘Garden pines, o, wind!’ (niwa no matsukaze) sounds pleasant. It should win.