Heat Haze
ささがにのくもらぬ空のいとなればあそぶ気色のたえずもあるかな
| sasagani no kumoranu sora no ito nareba asobu keshiki no taezu mo aru kana | If, a tiny crab, The spider, across the cloudless skies Her web did spin, Endlessly playful The scene would be! |
Toshiyori
Tag Archives: sasagani
Love V: 23
Left (Tie).
隔てける籬の島のわりなきに住む甲斐なしや千賀の塩釜
| hedatekeru magaki no shima no warinasa ni sumu kai nashi ya chika no shiogama |
Barring our way is The fence – Magaki Isle: So unreasonable That living close is pointless, as if We were at Chika’s salt-kilns! |
Kenshō
885
Right.
忍ぶ草竝ぶ軒端の夕暮に思ひをかはすさゝがにの糸
| shinobugusa narabu nokiba no yūgure ni omoi o kawasu sasagani no ito |
A weeping fern lies Between our almost touching eaves; In the evening Love will pass Along the spider’s thread. |
Ietaka
886
The Right state: the Left’s ‘Magaki Isle’ (magaki no shima) and ‘Chika’s salt kiln’s’ (chika no shiogama) do not seem that nearby, do they? They only evoke closeness through wordplay. The Right state: we find no faults to indicated in the Left’s poem.
In judgement: the Left’s ‘Magaki Isle’ and ‘Chika’s salt kilns’, even if they are not that close, do not display a lack of technique in the conception of the current composition. I do wonder what to think about ‘so unreasonable’ (warinasa ni), though. The Right’s weeping ferns, with the spider’s behaviour transmitting the feelings of love, does not seem unreasonable either. This round, too, the poems are comparable and should tie.
Autumn I: 12
Left (Win).
定め置く星合の空のしるしとて秋の調べに琴柱たつ也
| sadameoku hoshiai no sora no shirushi tote aki no shirabe ni kotoji tatsu nari |
Set, The stars meet within the heavens Signified by The rhythms of autumn Sounding ‘cross the zithers’ bridge. |
323
Right.
七夕の逢ふ夜の庭に置く琴のあたりにひくはさゝがにの糸
| tanabata no au yo no niwa ni oku koto no atari ni hiku wa sasagani no ito |
At Tanabata, On the night of meeting, in the garden Are the zithers placed; All around for plucking are Strands of spiders’ webs. |
324
The Right say, ‘“Set” (sadameoku) just does not sound very good.’ The Left: ‘ “Spiders” (sasagani no) seems to appear rather abruptly in the poem.’
Shunzei: ‘“Spiders’ webs” (sasagani no ito) would seem to be being used to evoke the playing of the zithers. Is “set” really all that bad in form? The Left’s “rhythms of autumn” (aki no shirabe) gets the victory.’
Sanekata Shū 184
To Lady Kojijū, at the palace of the Former Empress.
絶えねとやいかにせよとぞさゝがにのいとかくまでは思はざりしを
| taene to ya ika ni seyo to zo sasagani no ito kaku made Fa omoFazarisi wo |
We’re through – is that it, or What are we to do? As a spider’s Tangled web I did not think to be. |
Sanekata Shū 142
And I said in reply:
彦星の來べき宵とやさゝがにの蜘蛛のいがきもしるく見ゆらむ
| Fikobosi no kubeki yoFi to ya sasagani no kumo no igaki mo siruku miyuramu |
That the Herd Boy Should come tonight, A tiny crab, The spider’s web of cloud Does clearly show. |
Sanekata Shū 141
On seeing a spider spinning a web on the thread laid out on the Seventh Day of the Seventh Month, Ko’ōigimi composed:
織女のもろてにいそぐさゝがにのくもの衣は風や裁つらむ
| tanabata no morote ni isogu sasagani no kumo no koromo Fa kaze ya taturamu |
The Weaver Maid Keeps both hands busy; A tiny crab, The spider’s garb of cloud Might by a breeze be rent. |
Sanekata Shū 115
To a woman with whom I had spoken, after we had parted for good.
ささがにのくものいがきの絶えしより來べき宵とも君は知らじな
| sasagani no kumo no igaki no taesi yori kubeki yoFi tomo kimi Fa sirazi na |
A tiny crab, The spider, has her web Ceased to spin, and so Though ’tis a night when I should come, You know nothing of it! |
Kei’un Hyakushu 86
Rare Love.
立歸いくたび袖にかゝるらん絶えぬとみえしさゝがにの糸
| tachikaeri ikutabi sode ni kakaruran taenu to mieshi sasagani no ito |
Returning Countless times, my sleeves To hang upon: A broken seeming Spider’s thread. |