Tag Archives: shimo

Naidaijin-ke uta’awase 24

Round Twelve

Left

霜枯に移ひ残る村菊はみる朝ごとにめづらしきかな

shimogare ni
utsuroinokoru
muragiku wa
miru asa goto ni
mezurashiki kana
Burned by frost,
Faded and lingering
A cluster of chrysanthemums
When I see them every morn
Strikes me afresh!

Lord Toshitaka
47

Right (Both Judges – Win)

置くしものなからましかば菊のはな移ふ色をけふみましやは

oku shimo no
nakaramashikaba
kiku no hana
utsurou iro o
kyō mimashi ya wa
Fallen frost
Were there none, then
Chrysanthemum blooms
Faded hues
I would not see today…

Lord Tamezane
48

Toshiyori states: the first poem has nothing remarkable about it, apart from the undesirable use of ‘clustered chrysanthemums’. The second poem’s sense could be that when the frost has fallen, the chrysanthemum won’t display faded hues, but it is a mistake to link frost fall and being able to see them. However, if we interpret is as meaning it has fallen, so we can then view them for a long time, well, I can understand that, and will make it the winner.

Mototoshi states: this poem has no faults, but it does not appear to be a poem suited to a poetry match—it’s just rather dull. The poem of the Right, too, lacks anything worth pointing out and just says that the poet wants to gaze upon faded hues today—this seems a bit cliched, but I’d say it’s superior.

Naidaijin-ke uta’awase 22

Round Ten

Left

植ゑしその心も置かぬ白菊はあだなる霜に移ひにけり

ueshi sono
kokoro mo okanu
shiragiku wa
adanaru shimo ni
utsuroinikeri
I planted them, yet
Unconcerned are
The white chrysanthemums,
For with the faithless frost
Have they faded.

Lord Munekuni
43

Right (Both Judges – Win)

菊のはな夜のまに色やかはれると霜を払ひて今朝みつるかな

kiku no hana
yo no ma ni iro ya
kawareru to
shimo o haraite
kesa mitsuru kana
The chrysanthemum blooms
Within the space of but one night their hue
Will change, I thought, so
Brushing away the frost
Will I gaze on them this morn!

Lord Kanemasa

44

Toshiyori states: the first poem uses ‘unconcerned’, doesn’t it. The second poem’s sequencing is undesirable, yet ‘brushing away the frost’ sounds like that really is the case. It seems superior.

Mototoshi states: one has to ask what on earth a chrysanthemum might be concerned about! As for the Right, ‘Within the space of but one night their hue’ is vague, I think, but ‘brushing away the frost and gazing’ is certainly charming—it is still lodged within my aged heart.

Naidaijin-ke uta’awase 20

Round Eight

Left (T – Win; M – Tie)

冬枯にうつろひ残る白菊はうは葉に置ける霜かとぞみる

fuyugare ni
utsuroi nokoru
shiragiku wa
uwaba ni okeru
shimo ka to zo miru
Sere in winter,
Faded and lingering
A white chrysanthemum as,
Fallen upon its upper leaves,
Frost does appear, perhaps?

Lord Morikata
39

Right

露じもの暁置きのあさごとに移ひまさるしらぎくの花

tsuyujimo no
akatsuki oki no
asa goto ni
utsuroi masaru
shiragiku no hana
Frosty dewdrops
With the dawn fall—arising
Every morning
Fading fairer become
The white chrysanthemum blooms.

Lord Michitsune
40

Toshiyori states: I have the feeling that I have never heard the expression ‘sere in winter’, and I certainly have no recollection of it being in the Collection of a Myriad Leaves. The poem of the Right is smooth and extremely charming; I’m very familiar with the expression ‘dew fallen in the morning when I arise’, and here there seems to be some reason for it, doesn’t there! Still, the first poem is better.

Mototoshi states: the expression ‘faded and lingering’ is difficult to distinguish. In addition, saying ‘Fallen upon [the flower’s] upper leaves, / Frost’ is a severe misjudgment. The poem of the Right has the tautology ‘with the dawn fall’ and then ‘every morning’. Clearly neither of these appears to win or lose, so I make this a tie.

Naidaijin-ke uta’awase 17

Round Five

Left (T – Tie; M – Win)

秋はてて霜枯れぬれどきくの花残れる色は深くみえけり

aki hatete
shimogarenuredo
kiku no hana
nokoreru iro wa
fukaku miekeri
With the end of autumn
Burned by frost they are, yet
The chrysanthemum blooms’
Lingering hues
Appear all the deeper.

Lady Shinano
33

Right

白ぎくも移ひにけりうき人のこころばかりとなにおもひけむ

shiragiku mo
utsuroinikeri
ukibito no
kokoro bakari to
nani omoikemu
This white chrysanthemum, too
Has faded; ‘tis simply as
My cruel lady’s
Heart—
I wonder why would I think so?

A Court Lady
34

Toshiyori states: the first poem has ‘With the end of autumn / Burned by frost they are’ and this gives the impression that there is nothing remaining. But saying that autumn has ended, yet one can still see the chrysanthemums, so, in the end, ‘hues appear all the deeper’ means there is a mismatch between the beginning and end of the poem. As for the second poem, it’s a commonplace style of composition to say that you despise someone who has forgotten you, but this is certainly a love poem, and it does not resemble a chrysanthemum one. Nevertheless, there’s nothing particular to point out in this poem and it has some vague parts, so I say this is a tie.

Mototoshi states: the phrase ‘Lingering hues / Appears all the deeper’ doesn’t say what these look like or how they appear. In addition, the poem’s style is not that superlative, and its diction seems halting. With that being said, however, the poem of the Right does not resemble one regretting the chrysanthemums in the slightest. It expresses the feelings of despite between a man and woman who have parted and become distant from each other using the metaphor of the chrysanthemum, and thus the conception of the topic lacks depth, so again the Left has to win.

Naidaijin-ke uta’awase 16

Round Four

Left (M – Tie)

白砂の霜よに置きてみつれども移ふ菊はまがはざりけり

shirotae no
shimo yo ni okite
mitsuredomo
utsurou kiku wa
magawazarikeri
White as mulberry cloth.
Frost has fallen tonight
I see, and yet
The faded chrysanthemums
I can clearly tell apart.

Lord Masakane
31

Right (T – Win)

八重菊の花の袂をあかずとや霜のうはぎを猶かさぬらん

yaegiku no
hana no tamoto o
akazu to ya
shimo no uwagi o
nao kasanuran
Of eightfold chrysanthemum
Bloomed sleeves
I cannot get my fill, but
Is a frosty jacket
Yet laid upon them?

Lord Tadafusa
32

Toshiyori states: the assemble company have stated about the first poem that in the absence of the moon or the stars it would difficult to distinguish chrysanthemums from the frost, and it certainly sounds like this would be the case. In the latter poem, we need to think of who it is that is feeling that they cannot get their fill of bloomed sleeves—the person wearing them should be included, or if the chrysanthemums are, perhaps, the subject, then ‘eightfold chrysanthemum’ is an error. Even so, the style of the poem seems elevated.

Mototoshi states: the poem stating ‘White as mulberry cloth. / Frost has fallen tonight’ is a bit hackneyed, and it then continues ‘The faded chrysanthemums / I can clearly tell apart’—I question whether one would really mistake faded chrysanthemums and frost. As for the Right’s poem, which says ‘Bloomed sleeves / I cannot get my fill’, well, this really is difficult to grasp. I spent quite a bit of time going back and forth agonizing over whether these were a person’s sleeves or those of the chrysanthemum! I feel that the diction in both poems is skillful, but there’s a lack of necessary information, so it’s impossible to decide a winner or loser here.

Kinkai wakashū 388

In the Twelfth Month of Kempō 5 [January 1218], I stayed at a monk’s cell at the Eifukuji on account of a directional taboo. When I returned home the following morning, I left behind a jacket

春まちてかすみの袖にかさねよと霜のころものおきてこそゆけ

haru machite
kasumi no sode ni
kasaneyo to
shimo no koromo no
okite koso yuke
Awaiting the springtime,
Sleeves of haze,
O, layer up!
A frosty robe
I leave you as I go!

388