Hidden love and Marshes
かくれぬの下はふあしのみごもりに我ぞ物思ふ行へしらねば
| kakurenu no shita hau ashi no migomori ni ware zo mono’omou yukue shiraneba | Hidden Below, as the reeds Within the waters, I am sunk in gloomy thought and Whither bound, no one knows, so… |
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Tag Archives: reeds
Naidaijin-ke uta’awase 27
Round Three
Left (Both Judges – Win)
いはぬまの下はふ蘆のねを重みひまなき恋を君知るらめや
| iwanuma no shitahau ashi no ne o shigemi himanaki koi o kimi shirurame ya | Silently beneath the marsh rocks Creep the reeds’ Roots in such profusion, Not a space free from love, but Does my lady know, I wonder? |
A Court Lady
53
Right
身をつみて思ひや知るとこころみにながためつらき人もあらなん
| mi o tsumite omoi ya shiru to kokoromi ni na ga tame tsuraki hito mo aranan | Pinching flesh, Would you know passion’s fire? To test it, I wish For you there was a cruel One, too… |
Lord Masakane
54
Toshiyori states: the first poem is extremely charming. It seems to have no faults to mention. In the second poem, ‘For you there was a cruel one’ would be something quite impolite if said by a woman. Court ladies may lose their composure, yet they still appear to speak with dignity. In the absence of a prior poem as precedent, the first poem should win, I think.
Mototoshi states: this poem seems to have no faults to mention, and of the two, ‘beneath creep the reeds’ seems a bit more gently refined at present.
Kinkai wakashū 470
Kinkai wakashū 339
Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 66
Round Sixteen
Left (Win)
よにすめど人しれぬみやしをりするみやまがくれのたにのしたみづ
| yo ni sumedo hito shirenu mi ya shiorisuru miyamagakure no tani no shitamizu | Dwelling within this world, yet No one knows that ‘tis as if I Were marking a trail Hidden deep within the mountains To waters flowing on the valley floor… |
Hiromori
131
Right
あしからむなにはのことはかねてよりちかくてまもれすみよしのかみ
| ashikaramu naniwa no koto wa kanete yori chikakute mamore sumiyoshi no kami | Reaping reeds, should ill fortune come From Naniwa, in all things Just in case Ward me closely O, God of Sumiyoshi! |
Dharma Master Chikyō
132
The poem of the Right here, while it does draw on ‘reaping reeds at Naniwa’, in its phrasing sounds prosaic. As the Left’s ‘waters flowing on the valley floor’ seems to flow smoothly off the tongue, it wins.
SKS IX: 347
When Akinaka, Head of the Department of Shintō, held a poetry match at Hirota, he composed this as a plea to the god on the topic of ‘Personal Grievances and the Moon’.
なにはえのあしまにやどる月みればわが身ひとつもしづまざりけり
| naniwae no ashima ni yadoru tsuki mireba wagami hitotsu mo shizumazarikeri | When at Naniwa inlet, Between the reeds lodging The moon I see ‘Tis not my sorry self alone that Is downcast, I know! |
Master of the Left Capital Office Akisuke
Daikōtaigōgū daijin kiyosuke-ason ke uta’awase 03
Plum
Round Three
Left (Tie)
あしがきのおくゆかしくもみゆるかな誰がすむ宿の梅の立えぞ
| ashigaki no oku yukashiku mo miyuru kana ta ga sumu yado no ume no tachie zo | A fence of reeds and Within, how charming They appear! Who is it dwells at this house of Beckoning branches of plum? |
Lord Kiyosuke
5
Right
ひばりあがる春の日ぐらし袖たれてかきねの梅の花みるわれは
| hibari agaru haru no higurashi sode tarete kakine no ume no hana miru ware wa | Skylarks soar In springtime all day long, Dangling my sleeves, upon The plum inside the lattice fence, At the blossom gaze I… |
Kenshō
6
The Left is in cliched style, while the final line of the Right is interrupted—a tie, I think.
SKKS XI: 1049
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
Teiji-in uta’awase 28
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! |
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