On making a pilgrimage to the Hōrin Temple, he went there and composed this, before the grave of Major Counsellor Toshi’ie in Sagano.
さらでだに露けきさがの野べにきて昔のあとにしをれぬるかな
| sarade dani tsuyukeki saga no nobe ni kite mukashi no ato ni shiorenuru kana | Even had I not to Dew-drenched Saga’s Meadows come, The remnants of bygone days Would leave me drenched! |
Supernumerary Middle Counsellor Toshitada
Autumn
Left
秋の夜の有明にみれど久堅の月のかつらはうつろはぬかな
| aki no yo no ariake ni miredo hisakata no tsuki no katsura wa utsurouwanu kana | An autumn night’s Dawn I see, yet The eternal Moon’s silver trees Show no sign of fading! |
13
秋萩の花咲く比の白露は下ばのためとわきて置くべし
| aki hagi no hana saku koro no shiratsuyu wa shitaba no tame to wakite okubeshi | In autumn, the bush clover Flowers bloom—just then Silver dewdrops For the under-leaves Do fall, marking every one. |
14
秋風はいなばもそよとふきつめりかりみる程と成りやしぬらん
| akikaze wa inaba mo soyo to fukitsumeri kari miru hodo to nari ya shinuran | The autumn breeze Seems to rustle the rice stalks As it blows; Seeing if ‘tis time to reap them— Is that what it is, I wonder? |
15
Right
銀河とわたる舟は花薄ほにいづるほどぞかげもみゆべき
| ama no kawa towataru fune wa hanasusuki ho ni izuru hodo zo kage mo miyubeki | Across the River of Heaven A boat goes ferrying: When the silver grass Ears burst into bloom, Can its shape be seen. |
16
女郎花さがの花をば色ながら秋をさかりといはれずもがな
| ominaeshi saga no hana oba iro nagara aki o sakari to iwarezu mogana | Maidenflowers: Blossoms from Saga Reveal their hues, and In autumn are most fine—that Goes without saying! |
17
小男鹿の朝たつ霧にうりふ山嶺の梢は色こかりけり
| saoshika no asa tatsu kiri ni urifuyama mine no kozue wa iro kokarikeri | Stags Within the rising morning mist on Urifu Moutain, where The treetops on the peak Have taken darker hues. |
18
Left (Win).
芹河の浪も昔に立かへり御幸絶えせぬ嵯峨の山嵐
| serikawa no nami mo mukashi ni tachikaeri miyuki taesenu saga no yama’arashi |
Seri River’s Waves, too, in ancient times, Would rise and fall; A Progress as endless as The storm winds on Mount Saga. |
539
Right.
御幸せし野邊の古道踏み分て跡絶えせぬは芹川の水
| miyuki seshi nobe no furumichi fumiwakete ato taesenu wa serikawa no mizu |
A progress passed Across the plain’s old trails, Well trod, The traces will endure As do the waters of Seri River… |
540
Neither team finds any fault this round.
Shunzei’s judgement: Both poems have the conception [kokoro] of ‘Seri River’ (serikawa) and ‘endless Progress’ (miyuki taesenu), and there is not much between them in terms of winning or losing, but the Left’s ‘storm winds on Mount Saga’ (saga no yama’arashi) seems to blow a bit more strongly today!
Left.
大原や野邊の御幸に所得て空取る今日の眞白斑の鷹
| ōhara ya nobe no miyuki ni tokoro ete soratoru kyō no mashirō no taka |
Ōhara Plain for an Imperial Progress is Most apt; Catching prey a’wing this day Is a white banded hawk! |
529
Right (Win).
嵯峨の原走る雉子の形跡は今日の御幸に隱れなき哉
| saga no hara hashiru kigisu no kata ato wa kyō no miyuki ni kakurenaki kana |
On the field of Saga Racing, the pheasants’ Tracks Today’s Imperial Progress Will not come at all… |
530
The Right state that ‘most apt’ (tokoro ete) is rarely heard in poems. The Left reply that ‘track’ (kata ato) is the same.
Shunzei’s judgement: The poem of the Left sounds grandiose, but there is something dubious about it. When starting with Ōhara (ōhara ya), one expects it to be followed by ‘Oshio Mountain’, as it suggests the field of Ōhara. Without that following Oshio Mountain, when one encounters Ōhara, on recollects both ‘misty clear waters’ and ‘waters of a pure, peaceful well’, and does not know to which the Ōhara refers. There is no precedent at all for Imperial vists to the Ōhara which lies at the foot of Mount Hiei. There are, however, for visits to Mount Oshio. In the poem on ‘waters of a pure, peaceful well’, it states that ‘though there are no birds, we visit for our pleasure’, so it would be impossible for the ‘white banded hawk’ to take prey a’wing there. I have heard ‘tracks’ before, but the poem has little sense of truly knowing ‘Saga Field’, yet there have, without doubt, been Imperial visits there, so ‘tracks’ must be the better poem.
When Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa was at the Seika-ji, Sada’ie went as the messenger accompanying the tribute-horses.
さがの山ちよのふるみちあとゝめてまたつゆわくるもち月のこま
| saga no yama chi yo no furu michi ato tomete mata tsuyu wakuru mochizuki no koma |
On the mount of Saga For a thousand generations the ancient ways Have left their mark, Once more forging through the dew comes A mount from Mochizuki. |
Sada’ie
定家
After her mother’s death, composed on the evening of the funeral at Saga.
今はさはうきよのさがのゝべをこそつゆきえはてしあとゝしのばめ
| ima wa sa wa uki yo no saga no nobe o koso tsuyu kiehateshi ato to shinobame |
Now it is just so: In this fleeting world at Saga Field, indeed, has The dew vanished completely, and All I can do is recall the traces left behind. |
The Daughter of Master of the Dowager Empress’ Household Office Toshinari
On the day the Emperor [Kōkō (830-887; r. 884-887)] in the Ninna period (885-889), following the example set in the reign of the Emperor Saga (786-842; r. 809-823), made an excursion to the River Seri.
嵯峨の山みゆきたえにし芹河の千年の古道あとは有りけり
| saga no yama miyuki taenisi seri kaFa no tiyo no furu miti ato Fa arikeri |
His Majesty, Saga’s mountain Excursion is long done, yet By the river Seri For a thousand generations will the ancient ways Leave their mark. |
Ariwara no Yukihira (818-893)
有原行平