Tag Archives: seki

Teiji-in uta’awase 18

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

Sahyōe no suke sadafumi uta’awase 15

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

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 99

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.

Love IX: 13

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.