Composed on ‘enjoying cool’ for the Poetry Match held by Yorisuke, the Minister of Justice.
ひさぎ生ふるかた山かげにしのびつつふきけるものを秋の夕風
| hisagi ouru katayama kage ni shinobitsutsu fukikeru mono o aki no yūkaze | Where red-oaks grow and Cast their shade upon the mountain slopes Ever secretly Does it blow— The autumn evening breeze. |
Shun’e
うちなびき春さりくればひさぎおふるかた山かげに鶯ぞなく
| uchinabiki haru sarikureba hisagi ouru katayama kage ni uguisu zo naku | Trailing in Comes spring, then Where red-oaks grow and Cast their shade upon the mountain slopes A warbler sings![i] |
4
[i] An allusive variation on: Composed on ‘enjoying cool’ for the Poetry Match held by Yorisuke, the Minister of Justice. ひさぎ生ふるかた山かげにしのびつつふきけるものを秋の夕風 hisagi ouru / katayama kage ni / shinobitsutsu / fukikeru mono o / aki no yūkaze ‘Where red-oaks grow and / Cast their shade upon the mountain slopes / Ever secretly does it blow— / The autumn evening breeze.’ Shune (SKKS IV: 274).
Left (Tie)
はなみつつをしむかひなくけふくれてほかのはるとやあすはなりなむ
| hana mitsutsu oshimu kainaku kyō kurete hoka no haru to ya asu wa narinamu | Ever do I gaze upon the blossom, in Vain regret, for Today will end and A different spring will Greet me on the morrow! |
Mitsune
39
Right
けふのみとはるをおもはぬときだにもたつことやすきはなのかげかは
| kyō nomi to haru o omowanu toki dani mo tatsu koto ya suki hana no kage ka wa | “Only today is left Of spring”—I’ll not think that for Even at such a time, Is it easy to part from The blossoms’ shade? |
Mitsune
40[i]
‘Both of these are charming,’—they tied.
[i] This poem is included as the final spring poem in Kokinshū (II: 134), attributed to Mitsune, and with the headnote, ‘A poem on the end of spring from the Poetry Contest held by Former Emperor Uda’.
あきのよにかりとなくねをきくときは我がみのうへと思ひこそすれ
| aki no yo ni kari to naku ne o kiku toki wa wa ga mi no ue to omoi koso sure | On an autumn night, When the geese a’crying I do hear, Upon me My sad thoughts weigh all the more… |
53
いまよりはいざまつかげにたちよらむ秋のもみぢはかぜさそひけり
| ima yori wa iza matsu kage ni tachiyoramu aki no momiji wa kaze sasoikeri | From now it is, that Long-awaited shade Does seem to rise; The autumn’s scarlet leaves, Beckon in the breeze. |
54
When the Go-nijō Regent [Fujiwara no Moromichi] was angry about some problematic circumstances, Nakamasa was at his residence, and did not present this to him directly, but said to the ladies in waiting.
三笠山さすがに蔭に隱ろへてふるかひもなきあめの下哉
| mikasayama sasuga ni kage ni kakuroFete Furu kaFi mo naki ame no sita kana |
On Mount Mikasa Indeed, by the shade I am concealed, yet Continuing on seems pointless Under such a rain. |
Minamoto no Nakamasa
源仲正
Left.
打ち寄する浪より秋の龍田川さても忘れぬ柳陰かな
| uchiyosuru nami yori aki no tatsutagawa satemo wasurenu yanagikage kana |
Approaching on The waves, comes autumn to The Tatsuta River; And yet, I cannot forget The willows’ shade. |
311
Right.
秋淺き日影に夏は殘れども暮るゝ籬は荻の上風
| aki asaki hikage ni natsu wa nokoredomo kururu magaki wa ogi no uwakaze |
Faintly autumnal is The sunlight, with summer Yet remaining; At evening by the rough-woven fence Blows a breeze o’er the silver-grass. |
312
The Right say the Left’s poem is ‘particularly good.’ The Left state that, ‘“Faintly autumnl” (aki asaki) grates on the ear, and we also cannot grasp the use of “evening by the rough-woven fence” (kururu magaki).’
Shunzei states, ‘The Left’s “approaching on the waves” (nami yori aki no), seems particularly charming, but when taken together with “willows’ shade” (yanagi kade)– the Tatsuta River has long been the subject of composition on “flowing scarlet autumn leaves”, and even now this gives a slightly poetic effect; “willows’ shade” has been used in composition, both in ancient times and more recently, but does it not seem commonplace now? The Right’s poem is in the same vein as that of the Right in Round One Hundred and Fifty-Two, yet I do not find “faintly autumnal” to be unpleasant. “Evening by the rough-woven fence”, too, has charm. The Left’s poem has vocabulary in accordance with the contents; the Right unusual expressions. In this combination, the round must tie.’