The Path Across the Shiga Mountains (志賀山越)
まだしらぬ人と友にぞこえにけるしがの山ぢの跡もなけれど
| mada shiranu hito to tomo ni zo koenikeru shiga no yamaji no ato mo nakeredo | With an unknown Companion, together Have I crossed Shiga’s mountain paths Leaving traces none, and yet… |
Akinaka
Left (Tie)
よそにやは釣する志賀の海人を見ん枕の下を知らせだにせば
| yoso ni ya wa tsuri suru shiga no ama o min makura no shita o shirase dani seba | Unconnected with Fishing diver-girls At Shiga would I seem? When what lies beneath my pillow Is revealed… |
Lord Ari’ie
1173
Right
潮たるる袖にあはれの深きより心に浮ぶ海人の釣舟
| shio taruru sode ni aware no fukaki yori kokoro ni ukabu ama no tsuribune | Tide-spattered Sleeves: my sorrow is So deep that Floating upon my heart is A diver-girl’s fishing boat! |
Nobusada
1174
Left and Right together state: no faults.
In judgement: the poem of the Left has ‘unconnected with fishing diver-girls at Shiga would I seem?’ (yoso ni ya wa tsuri suru shiga no ama o min) and the poem of the Right has ‘floating upon my heart is a diver-girl’s fishing boat!’ (kokoro ni ukabu ama no tsuribune): both have profound conception and their diction sounds pleasant, so it is difficult to divide them into superior and inferior works. Thus, I make this a tie.
Left (Win)
さざ浪や志賀津の海士になりにけりみるめはなくて袖のしほるる
| sazanami ya shigatsu no ama ni narinikeri mirume wa nakute sode no shioruru | Rocked by wavelets A fisherman at Shiga Bay Have I become! Glimpsing no seaweed, How my sleeves are soaked… |
Lord Suetsune
1171
Right
伊勢の海の底までかづく海人なれやみるめに人を思ふ心は
| ise no umi no soko made kazuku ama nare ya mirume ni hito o omou kokoro wa | At Ise, to the sea Bed dive Fisher-girls: Am I one, too? A seaweed-tangled glimpse of you Lodging in my heart… |
Jakuren
1172
The Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults to mention. The Left state: neither beginning nor end is sufficiently forcefully expressed.
In judgement: the conception and configuration of the Left’s ‘fisherman at Shiga Bay’ (shigatsu no ama) certainly seem splendid. That is really all there is to say about this poem. To make a deliberate point of seeking out elements which sound difficult is a pointless activity for the Way of Poetry and an individual poet. As for the Right’s poem, diving ‘to the sea bed’ (soko made) is just something that fisher-girls do. The Left must win.
Composed as a poem on blossom.
桜咲く比良の山風吹くままに花になりゆく志賀の浦浪
| sakura saku Fira no yamakaze Fuku mama ni Fana ni nariyuku siga no uranami |
Cherries flower on Hira Mountain while Breezes blow All turned to blossom are The waves on Shiga’s shore. |
Middle Captain of the Inner Palace Guards, Left Division, [Fujiwara no] Yoshitsune
左近中将良経
Composed on the conception of blossom at a former estate.
ささ浪や志賀の都は荒れにしを昔ながらの山桜かな
| sasanami ya siga no miyako Fa arenisi wo mukasi nagara no yamazakura kana |
Wavelets wash The capital at Shiga – All ruined now, but Just as long ago are The mountain cherry blooms. |
Anonymous
Topic unknown.
さ夜ふくるままに汀や凍るらむ遠ざかりゆく志がの浦波
| sayo Fukuru mama ni migiFa ya koForuramu toFozakariyuku siga no uranami |
Is it while brief night Comes on that the waters’ edge Does seem to freeze? Ever more distant grow The waves on Shiga’s shore… |
Kaikaku
快覚
Left (Win).
君ゆへにいとふも悲し鐘の聲やがて我世もふけにし物を
| kimi yue ni itou mo kanashi kane no koe yagate wa ga yo mo fukenishi mono o |
For lack of you, I am In sorrow and despite; The tolling of the bell reveals That so swiftly has my life Reached its eventide… |
A Servant Girl.
847
Right.
玉箒手にとる程も思きやかりにも戀を滋賀の山人
| tamahōki te ni toru hodo mo omoiki ya kari ni mo koi o shiga no yamabito |
A jewelled broom I’ll take in hand now, Could that have been my thought? Briefly in love now as The old man of Shiga Mountain! |
Ietaka.
848
The Right state: we wonder about the appropriateness of ‘swiftly’ (yagate). The Left state: should one mention a monk in a poem about Love?
In judgement: the configuration of the Left’s ‘In sorrow and despite; the tolling of the bell’ (itou mo kanashi kane no koe) sounds pleasant, so ‘swiftly’ does not seem unsuited. The Left wins.
Left (Win).
浪ぞ寄る来てもみるめはなき物を浦見馴れたる志賀の里人
| nami zo yoru kitemo mirume wa naki mono o urami naretaru shiga no satobito |
The waves roll in, Approaching yet, seaweed Have I none And accustomed to despair am I Like one dwelling in Shiga… |
A Servant Girl.
761
Right.
君故に涙の川に揺らさるるみをつくしともなり果てねとや
| kimi yue ni namida no kawa ni yurusaruru miotsukushi tomo narihatene to ya |
For your sake In a river of tears I am afloat; Though I am not a channel buoy, Is that how I am to reach my end? |
Lord Tsune’ie
762
The Right state: the Left’s initial line is unsatisfactory. The Left state: the Right’s central line is also unsatisfactory.
In judgement: it is not just that the Right’s central line is unsatisfactory. A channel buoy, planted in a river and rotting away is quite a commonplace occurrence. For something to be ‘afloat’ (yurasaru), you would need to refer to flotsam, either of wood or bamboo. The Left should win.
Left (Win).
浦風やとはに浪こす濱松のねにあらはれてなくちどりかな
| ura kaze ya towa ni nami kosu hamamatsu no ne ni arawarete naku chidori kana |
The breeze across the bay Endlessly breaks waves upon The beach-bound pines Washed roots, as comes the sound of Plover calls… |
91
Right
志賀の浦や氷もいくえゐるたづの霜の上毛に雪は降つゝ
| shiga no ura ya kōri mo ikue iru tazu no shimo no uwage ni yuki wa furitsutsu |
In the bay at Shiga Many-fold the layers of ice: There, the cranes, Frost upon their feathers stand In the ever-falling snow. |
92
A New Year’s Day poem, composed on the Hie shrine.
さゞなみやしがのはまゝつふりにけりたがよにひけるねの日なるらん
| sazanami ya shiga no hamamatsu furinikeri ta ga yo ni hikeru ne no hi naruran |
Where the wavelets strike On Shiga beach the pine trees Have grown old; Whose reign might have seen you plucked On a new year’s day, I wonder. |
Master of the Dowager Empress’ Household Office Toshinari
藤原俊成