Tag Archives: shitagusa

Teiji-in uta’awase 27

Left (Tie)

たれによりおもひくだくるこころぞはしらぬぞひとのつらさなりける

tare ni yori
omoi’kudakuru
kokoro zo wa
shiranu zo hito no
tsurasa narikeru
For who is it that
Love should distraught make
My heart?
That she realises not reveals
Her cruelty!

Mitsune
53

Right

はづかしのもりのはつかにみしものをなどしたくさのしげきこひなる

hazukashi no
mori no hatsuka ni
mishi mono o
nado shitakusa no
shigeki koi naru
Shyly in Hazukashi
Forest, briefly
Did I glimpse her, so
Why as undergrowth
So lush has my love grown?

Mitsune
54

Hon’in sadaijin-ke uta’awase 10

Evergreens

ちりかはる心なけれどみやまぎのときはは秋もしられざりけり

chirikawaru
kokoro nakeredo
miyamagi no
tokiwa wa aki mo
shirarezarikeri
A flighty
Heart, has it not, yet
Deep within the mountains, that the trees
Are evergreen, even the autumn
Seems not to know…

19

Gentian

した草の花をみつればむらさきに秋さへふかくなりにけるかな

shitagusa no
hana o mitsureba
murasaki ni
aki sae fukaku
narinikeru kana
When in the undergrowth
Flowers I do see, their
Violet in
Autum much deeper
Has become!

20

Kanpyō no ōntoki chūgū uta’awase 6

Round Six

Left

夏山のみねのこずゑのたかければなく郭公こゑかはるかな

natsuyama no
mine no kozue no
takakereba
naku hototogisu
koe kawaru kana
The summer mountain
Peaks have treetops
So high, that
The crying cuckoo’s
Calls stand for them.

11

Right (Win)

おほあらきのもりの下草茂りあひてふかくも夏のなりにけるかな

ōaraki no
mori no shitagusa
moriaite
fukaku mo natsu no
narinikeru kana
In Ōaraki
Forest the undergrowth
Has grown so thick, that
Deep summer is
Surely here!

Mitsune
12

Horikawa-in Enjo Awase 15

人しれぬ袖ぞ露けき逢ふことはかれのみまさる山のした草

hito shirenu
sode zo tsuyukeki
au koto wa
kare nomi masaru
yama no shitagusa
Unknown to all
My sleeves are drenched with dew;
For our meetings
Excel only in being withered
As the scrub grass on the mountainside.

[Nakako,] The Suō Handmaid
29

In reply.

おく山の下かげ草はかれやする軒ばにのみはおのれなりつつ

oku yama no
shitakagegusa wa
kare ya suru
nokiba ni nomi wa
onore naritsutsu
Deep within the mountains, have
The grasses growing in the trees’ dark shade
Really withered away?
Simply beneath your eaves,
Is where I ever am…

The Consultant Middle Captain
30

A picture of the eaves of a traditional Japanese house.
Image by joyfultta from Pixabay

Love VIII: 2

Left (Win)
今はさはあはれと思へ菅の根の長き心の程は見つらん

ima wa sa wa
aware to omoe
suga no ne no
nagaki kokoro no
hodo wa mitsuran
Now, indeed, let you
Think fondly of me!
The grasses’ roots run
Long, my heart’s
Love will you see…

Lord Suetsune
1023

Right
世とゝもにかはくまもなき我袖や潮干もわかぬ浪の下草

yo to tomo ni
kawaku ma mo naki
wa ga sode ya
shioi mo wakanu
nami no shitagusa
With the passing time,
Not a moment dry
Are my sleeves;
Low tide does not reveal
The seaweed beneath the waves…

Lord Takanobu
1024

The Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults to indicate. The Left state: the Right’s poem is clichéd.

In judgement: the Right, in addition to being clichéd, can say no more than that love means wet sleeves. The Left’s ‘grasses’ roots’ (suga no ne) is certainly better.

SZS XIII: 793

Composed on the conception of Love, when he held a poetry contest at his residence while he was a Middle Captain.

我が恋は海女の刈る藻に乱れつつかわく時なき浪の下草

wa ga koFi Fa
ama no karu mo ni
midaretutu
kaFaku toki naki
nami no sitagusa
My love is
As seaweed reaped by fisher-girls,
Ever tangled, and
Not a moment dry
Have the weeds beneath the waves…

Supernumerary Middle Councillor [Fujiwara no] Toshitada
権中納言俊忠

Tentoku 4 Dairi uta’awase 30-31

Left.

夏草のなかを露けみかき分けて刈る人なしにしげる野辺かな

natu kusa no
naka o tuyukemi
kakiwakete
karu Fito nasi ni
sigeru nobe kana
The summer grasses
Midst is dew-drenched;
Forging through,
With no one to reap them
This meadow is lush, indeed!

Tadami

Right.

夏ふかくなりぞしにけるおほあらきの杜の下草なべて人かる

natu Fukaku
nari zo sinikeru
oFoaraki no
mori no sitagusa
nabete Fito karu
Deep within the summer
It is now:
At Ōaraki
In the sacred groves, the undergrowth
Is arrayed for men to reap it!

Kanemori