Left (Tie)
ふくかぜにとまりもあへずちるときはやへやまぶきのはなもかひなし
fuku kaze ni tomari mo aezu chiru toki wa yaeyamabuki no hana mo kainashi The gusting wind Does never cease, so Scattering time has come upon The eightfold kerria Blooms—so little good they are!
Okikaze 35
Right
をしめどもたちもとまらずゆくはるをなこしのやまのせきもとめなむ
oshimedomo tachi mo tomarazu yuku haru o nakoshi no yama no seki mo tomenamu How I regret it, yet Cannot halt the departure of Parting spring— O, that Nakoshi Mountain’s Barrier would hold it!
Tsurayuki 36
Left
おとはやまおとにききつつあふさかのせきのこなたにひとをまつかな
otowayama oto ni kikitsutsu ausaka no seki no konata ni hito o matsu kana As wing-beats in the mountains Do I hear tell: That on Meeting Hill Barrier’s inner side Someone does await me!
Motokata 29
Right
そのはらやふせやにおふるははきぎのありとてゆけどあはぬきみかな
sonohara ya fuseya ni ouru hahakigi no ari tote yukedo awanu kimi kana At Sonohara By the rest-stop grows A sacred tree, they say; I catch a glimpse, yet Cannot meet with you!
30
Left
人しれずしたにながるる涙川せきとどめなむかげは見ゆると
hito shirezu shita ni nagaruru namidagawa seki todomenamu kage wa miyuru to Unknown to all Beneath there flows A river of tears; O, for a dam to halt it, that I could glimpse her face…
192[1]
Right
もえもあはぬこなたかなたの思ひかな涙の河の中にゆけばか
moe mo awanu konata kanata no omoi kana namida no kawa no naka ni yukeba ka Burning, unmatched, are My multitude of Passion’s fires! For into a river of tears Have I plunged?
Tsurayuki 193
[1] Shokugosenshū XI: 640/Shinsen man’yōshū 227.
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Dowager Empress during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.
人しれずしたにながるる涙川せきとどめなむかげは見ゆると
hito shirezu shita ni nagaruru namidagawa seki todomenamu kage wa miyuru to Unknown to all Beneath there flows A river of tears; O, for a dam to halt it, that I could glimpse her face…
Anonymous
Icicles
つららゐてまもる岩まの関なればよをへてかたく成りまさるかな
tsurara ite mamoru iwama no seki nareba yo o hete kataku narimasaru kana Icicles hang Warding the space between the rocks, and Forming a barrier, so As the night goes by their hardness Grows even greater!
Toshiyori
Composed on the conception of Lingering Cold.
衣手のうすきや冬のせきならんわが身はいとどしみこほりつつ
koromode no usuki ya fuyu no seki naran wa ga mi wa itodo shimikōritsutsu Do my sleeves, So scanty, winter’s Barrier gate mark? My flesh is still so Pierced with icy chills!
Love Separated by Distant Roads 隔遠路恋
都人恋しきまでにおとせぬはなこその関をさはるにやあらん
miyakobito koishiki made ni oto senu wa nakoso no seki o sawaru ni ya aran My lady in the capital Is more dear than Words can tell, so Why should the Barrier at Nakoso, Close by, stand between us?
Kanemasa
Love Separated by Distant Roads 隔遠路恋
すくせかななどいなむやの関をしもへだてて人にねをなかすらん
sukuse kana nado inamuya no seki o shimo hedatete hito ni ne o nakasuran It must be fate! Why is it that with even Inamuya’s Barrier gate Between them, folk Must make such cries?
Toshiyori
Composed for a folding screen with a picture suited to a month of the year upon it.
あふさかの関のし水に影見えて今やひくらんもち月のこま
aFusaka no seki no simidu ni kage miete ima ya Fikuran motiduki no koma In Ausaka Barrier’s spring waters Are they reflected; Is it now they’re taken hence, The colts of Mochizuki?
Ki no Tsurayuki
Left (Win)
主やたれ見ぬ世の色を写しをく筆のすさびにうかぶ面影
nushi ya tare
minu yo no iro o
utsushioku
fude no susabi ni
ukabu omokage
Who painted you?
Unseen in this present world, hues,
Reflected by
A comforting brush,
Bring her visage before me…
Lord Sada’ie
1105
Right
水茎の跡に堰きをく瀧津瀬をまことに落とすわが涙かな
mizukuki no
ato ni sekioku
taki tsu se o
makoto ni otosu
wa ga namida kana
Faint brush-strokes
Traces place a barrier, but
A cataract in torrents
Truly drops –
My tears…
Jakuren
1106
The Right state: the Left’s poem is rather casual about the person whom he loves. The Left state: the Right’s poem has no faults we can identify.
In judgement: the Gentlemen of the Right have stated that the Left seems somewhat blasé about the object of his affections, and this is certainly true. The Right’s poem, though, says that the poet is looking at a painting on something like a folding screen, where a waterfall is depicted, and he weeps in reality – this seems like he was simply moved by the painting. I feel that there is a stronger conception of love in seeing a painting and fondly recalling the face of one now long gone, than there is in being moved by the sight of a mountain stream.
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'Simply moving and elegant'