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.
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
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.
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
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! |
56
On the day of an imperial visit to the Naniwa Palace, in Kyōun 3 [706].
あし辺ゆくかものはがひにしもふりてさむきゆふべのことをしぞおもふ
| ashibe yuku kamo no hagai ni shimo furite samuki yūbe no koto o shi zo omou | Huddled in the reeds Upon the ducks’ folded wings Frost falls and In the evening’s cold My mind is full of thoughts. |
The Tawara Emperor
Left
蘆間分け月にうたひて漕ぐ舟に心ぞまづは乗りうつりぬる
| ashima wake tsuki ni utaite kogu fune ni kokoro zo mazu wa nori’utsurinuru | Parting the reeds, and Singing to the moon, Boats come rowing out – My heart, it is, that is first Aboard and carried away… |
Kenshō
1141
Right (Win)
浪の上にくだるを舟のむやひして月にうたひし妹ぞ戀しき
| nami no ue ni kudaru o fune no muyaishite tsuki ni utaishi imo zo koishiki | Upon the waves, Her boat departs, Vanishing into the mist; That moon-sung Girl is dear to me, indeed! |
The Supernumerary Master of the Empress’ Household Office
1142
The Right state: the Left’s poem lacks much of a conception of pleasure girls. In appeal: the poem was written in the conception of Mochitoki’s Chinese poem on pleasure girls ‘the reed-leaves are fresh in springtime’. The Left state: the Right’s poem has nothing worth mentioning.
In judgement: is the conception of pleasure girls really absent from the Left’s ‘parting the reeds, and singing to the moon’ (ashima wake tsuki ni utaite)? The case certainly cannot rely on ‘the reed-leaves are fresh in springtime’. A Chinese poem expresses its topic in its initial line. It is normal for the introduction of the topic to be vague. Japanese and Chinese poetry have aspects where they are similar, and aspects where they differ. Thus, it is not appropriate to cite a Chinese poem’s broaching of its topic as evidence for a Japanese poem’s content. There are certainly other examples by Mochitoki, such as his overlong line in ‘in a boat atop the waves, but I find the same pleasure in life’. The line about reed-leaves can in no way function as proof. Thus this poem, as ‘an old fisherman sings a single shanty’ could be said to be about an old man. As a result, given the lack of clarity in the poem, it is not possible to accept that it is about a pleasure girl. The Right’s poem concludes ‘that moon-sung girl is dear to me, indeed’ (tsuki ni utaishi imo zo koishiki). The final line seems to be almost pointlessly pedestrian, but the poem is certainly about love for a pleasure girl. The Right must win.
