Heat Haze
しづけくて吹きくる風もなき空にみだれてあそぶいとぞみえける
shizukekute fukikuru kaze mo naki sora ni midarete asobu ito zo miekeru | Even a gently Blowing breeze Is absent from the skies, where A playful tangled Thread of haze appears. |
Tadafusa
Heat Haze
しづけくて吹きくる風もなき空にみだれてあそぶいとぞみえける
shizukekute fukikuru kaze mo naki sora ni midarete asobu ito zo miekeru | Even a gently Blowing breeze Is absent from the skies, where A playful tangled Thread of haze appears. |
Tadafusa
Spring Dawn
あづさ弓はるかにみれば山のはによこ雲わたるあけぼののそら
azusayumi haruka ni mireba yama no ha ni yokogumo wataru akebono no sora | A catalpa bow Seen in the distance: Across the mountains’ edge Trail streaks of cloud in The sky at dawn. |
Higo
Left. Spring
あら玉の年もかはらぬふるさとの雪のうちにも春はきにけり
aratama no toshi mo kawaranu furusato no yuki no uchi ni mo haru wa kinikeri |
To the fresh jeweled Year the change has yet to come, yet Around my familiar home Even within the snows The spring is here! |
1
Ninnaji gojūshu, Kenkyū 1 [1190]
Right
冬ながら花ちる空のかすめるは雲のこなたに春やきつらむ
fuyu nagara hana chiru sora no kasumeru wa kumo no konata ni haru ya kitsuramu |
It’s winter now, yet Are the blossom-scattering skies Hazed Beneath the clouds by The arrival of spring, perhaps? |
2
Left (Win)
鳥の音は戀しき人の何なれや逢夜はいとひ逢はぬ夜は待つ
tori no ne wa koishiki hito no nani nare ya auyo wa itoi awanu yo wa matsu |
The cock’s crow: For my darling, What might it mean? Hated on nights we meet, and Longed for when we do not… |
Lord Kanemune
1049
Right
いかにして空とる程もはし鷹のしばしもこひに身を休むらん
ika ni shite sora toru hodo mo hashitaka no shibashi mo koi ni mi o yasumuran |
Why, when Hunting in the skies, does The sparrowhawk Briefly in the trees Take his ease? |
Ietaka
1050
The Gentlemen of the Right state: ‘What might it mean?’ (nani nare ya) fails to match. Ending ‘longed for’ (matsu) is overly definite. The Gentlemen of the Left state: what has hunting in the skies got to do with love?
In judgement: it has been said that ‘cock’s crow’ (tori no ne) and ‘what might it mean’ fail to match. Then there is also ‘definite’ (futsugiri). These are nothing but expressions which I do not know and find difficult to understand. ‘The sparrowhawk hunting in the skies’ (hashitaka no sora toru hodo) and ‘take his ease in the trees’ (koi ni yasumuran) both have only a faint conception of love, and I wonder about alluding to hawking. The Left failing to match, too, may be a term used in coursing for deer. Well, even if the deer do not match, as it has the conception of love, the Left should win.
Left
時しもあれ空飛ぶ鳥の一聲も思ふ方より來てや鳴らん
toki shi mo are sora tobu tori no hitogoe mo omou kata yori kite ya naruran |
Now, when I am wondering, A bird, soaring through the skies, Gives a single call; From whence I love Does it come, I wonder? |
A Servant Girl
1045
Right (Win)
天の戸を明けぬと告ぐる鳥の音も獨寢る夜はさもあらばあれ
ama no to o akenu to tsuguru tori no ne mo hitori neru yo wa sa mo araba are |
“The gates of Heaven Are open!” announces A cock’s crow, though On a night spent sleeping alone, It matters not at all… |
The Supernumerary Master of the Empress Household Office
1046
The Right state: what gives rise to the idea in the Left’s poem? The Gentlemen of the Left state: there are no faults we can find.
In judgement: what sort of bird is it that ‘soaring through the skies gives a single call’ (sora tobu tori no hitogoe)? I wonder if there is a suitable source for this? That being said, I doubt the Gentlemen of the Right’s point is pertinent. It has been stated that the Right’s poem lacks any faults. It must win.
Left (Win).
思ひあまりながむる空の掻き曇り月さへ我を厭ひつるかな
omoFi’amari nagamuru sora no kakikumori tuki saFe ware wo itoFituru kana |
Filled full with love The sky on which I turn my gaze Is drowned in darkness; Even the moon from me Does shy! |
The Consultant Middle Captain 宰相中将
[Minamoto no Kuninobu 源国信]
25
Right.
嵐吹く夜寒の里の寝覚めにはいとど人こそ恋ひしかりけれ
arasi Fuku yo samu no sato no nezame ni Fa itodo Fito koso koFisikarikere |
Stom winds rage Round my night-chilled home; Starting from sleep How much more do I love her now… |
The Minister of Justice 刑部卿
[Minamoto no Akinaka 源顕仲]
26
Clouds
吹く風に漂ふ空の浮き雲をいつまでよそのものとかは見む
fuku kaze ni tadayou sora no ukigumo o itsu made yoso no mono to ka wa mimu |
With the gusting breeze Fluttering through the skies go Drifting clouds; For how long will such distant Things I see? |
Higo, from the Residence of the Kyōgoku Regent
京極関白家肥後
Imperial Visits to the Fields
あはせつるましろのたかも心あらば神こしちかくて空にとらなん
awasetsuru mashiro no taka mo kokoro araba mikoshi chikakute sora ni toranan | I have encountered A snow-white hawk, that Had he but sense The nearby imperial palanquin Would take into the skies! |
Minamoto no Kanemasa
源兼昌
Imperial Visits to the Fields
空とらぬたかもあらじな御かり野に雲の上人あはずとおもへば
sora toranu taka mo araji na mikarino ni kumo no uebito awazu to omoeba | Not hunting in the skies – Such a hawk there is not! In the imperial hunting grounds The folk from above the clouds Will never encounter one, I feel… |
Tadafusa
Imperial Visits to the Fields
あかねさすみかりの小野にたつきぎす空とるたかにあはせつるかな
akane sasu mikari no ono ni tatsu kigisu sora toru taka ni awasetsuru kana | Shining madder red, From the imperial hunting grounds Pheasants take flight; Hawks hunting in the skies Are they sure to meet! |
Minamoto no Nakazane
源仲実