Topics
| Cherry | Cuckoos | Moon | Snow | Felicitations |
Poets
| Left | Right |
| Lord Dainagon [Kōkaku] | Lord Chūnagon [Kyōen] |
| Lord Saburō | Ushigimi |
| Retired from the world on Mount Uji [Eien] | Senior Assistant Minister Past Lecturer [Kakuyo] |
| Cell of the Fragrant Elephant [Shin’ei] | Cell of the Everlasting Truth [Tanshū] |
| Controller’s Graduate [Shinkei] | Kerin’in Graduate [Yūzen] |
| Cell of Fragrant Cloud [Shōchō] | Cell of Compassionate Light [Sōen] |
| Lady Kazusa | Lady Shikibu |
Judge
Mototoshi
Former Director of the Bureau of Carpentry, Toshiyori[i]
Cherry
Round One
Left
みやまにはしひがかざをれはやけれどふもとのはなはことしさくめり
| miyama ni wa shii ga kaza’ore hayakeredo fumoto no hana wa kotoshi sakumeri | Deep within the mountains, Brushwood is broken by the wind So swiftly, yet In the foothills the blossom Will bloom this year, it seems.[ii] |
Lord Dainagon
1
Right
ちるはなをさそふとみつるはる風のうはのそらにもすててけるかな
| chiru hana o sasou to mitsuru harukaze no uwa no sora ni mo sutetekeru kana | The scattered blossoms Look to be beckoned by The spring breezes, Even high up in the skies To be abandoned! |
Lord Chūnagon
2
I would say there’s no reason to say that the poem of the Left is superb, yet it does have a little bit of interest. The poem of the Right’s ‘Even high up in the skies /To be abandoned!’ completely fails to exceed vulgar diction. Thus, I make the Left the winner.
The poem of the Left’s ‘Brushwood is broken by the wind’ and so forth cannot be called ordinary and is an extremely charming use of diction. However, if the branches are broken and lost, then it would appear difficult for them to bloom, yet the addition of ‘yet’ to ‘swiftly’ gives the impression that there are branches remaining, thus following this with ‘Will bloom this year, it seems’ appears clumsy.
The poem of the Right has nothing remarkable about it, and no particular errors. Even so, because except in exceptional circumstances, the Left must win the first round, I make the Left the winner.
[i] This match was initially judged by Fujiwara no Mototoshi, but at some point after this, one of the participants, Sōen, submitted an ‘Appeal’ (chinjō) claiming these were unfair, and Toshiyori was asked to re-judge the match. The result is that there are two manuscript traditions for this event, one with Mototoshi’s judgements and one with Toshiyori’s. I am including both sets of judgements here.
[ii] The end of winter-beginning of the Twelfth Month. みやまにははやまのあらしあらげなりしひのかざをれいくそかかれり miyama ni wa / hayama no arashi / aragenari / shii no kaza’ore / ikuso kakareri ‘Deep within the mountains / Across the timber slopes the storm wind / Rages; / Brushwood is broken by the wind / O’er countless tens of trees.’ Sone no Yoshitada (Yoshitada-shū 342)
Left (Win).
冬ごもる賤の妻木に事添ひて風も折ける嶺の椎柴
| fuyugomoru shizu no tsumaki ni koto soite kaze mo orikeru mine no shiishiba |
Hemmed in by winter, Woodsmen make kindling, Just as The wind, too, does break The brushwood on the peak. |
569
Right.
冬寒み椎の眞柴を折鎖せど宿には風もたまらざりけり
| fuyu samumi shii no mashiba o orisasedo yado ni wa kaze mo tamarazarikeri |
In winter’s chill Evergreen brushwood I break to stop my door, yet My dwelling the wind Does naught to stop… |
570
The Right wonder about the use of ‘just as’ (koto soite). The Left merely state that the Right’s poem is ‘commonplace’ [tsune no koto nari].
Shunzei’s judgement: In the Left’s poem, should it not be ‘to the woodsmen’s kindling/add, will you?’ (shizu no tsumaki ni/soeyo to ya)? Using ‘just as’ (koto soite) does not seem a suitable expression in that it sounds somewhat pompous [yōyōshiku kikoyuru hodo]. As for the Right’s poem, ‘in winter’s chill’ (fuyu samumi) is an ordinary expression. ‘I break to stop my door, yet’ (orisasedo), too, lacks strong feeling. The final section of the Left’s poem, though, sounds pleasant [yoroshiku kokoyu]. It should win.
Left.
山人の便りなりとも岡邊なる椎の小枝は折ずもあらなむ
| yamabito no tayori naritomo okabenaru shii no koyade wa orazu mo aranamu |
For the mountain folk Essential they may be, but Upon the hillside The brushwood branches I would have them leave unbroken… |
567
Right.
山深く賤の折りたく椎柴の音さへ寒き朝ぼらけかな
| yama fukaku shizu no oritaku shiishiba no oto sae samuki asaborake kana |
Deep within the mountains Woodsmen break and burn The brushwood; That sound brings the chill To me this dawning… |
568
The Right wonder what the intention is in the Left’s poem of regretting the breakage of ‘brushwood branches’. The Left say that the Right’s poem, ‘recalls a famous poem by one of the other gentlemen of the Right.’
Shunzei’s judgement: Simply using the old-fashioned koyade in place of the more current shiishiba does not improve the sound of the poem, I think. Starting ‘Deep within the mountains’ (yama fukaku) and then continuing ‘Woodsmen break and burn’ (shizu no oritaku) – is this supposed to convey the conception of felling trees [shiba o koru kokoro ni ya]? I hardly think that if one lived in the mountains, the sound of trees being cut and burnt would make one feel the chill. The diction of ‘deep within the mountains’ does not seem appropriate [‘yama fukaku’ no kotoba, kanai mo sezaru]. Given that it does sound old-fashioned, koyade does not sound like a winner, either. The poems are of equal quality.
家にあれば笥に盛る飯を草枕旅にしあれば椎の葉に盛る
| ipe ni areba keni moru ipi wo kusamakura tabi ni shi areba sipi no pa ni moru |
When I am at home The pots are full of rice, but Pillowed on the grass On this journey now Only the chinquapin leaves are plentiful… |
Prince Arima
有間皇子
