Winter Poems Twenty Rounds
Left
かきくもりあられふりしけ白玉をしける庭とも人の見るがに
| kakikumori arare furishike shiratama o shikeru niwa to mo hito no miru gani | Clouds rush in Dropping scattered hailstones; Pearl Strewn, my garden I would that he would see… |
119
Right
天の河ふゆは空までこほるらし石間にたぎつ音だにもせず
| ama no kawa fuyu wa sora made kōrurashi iwama ni tagitsu oto dani mo sezu | The River of Heaven in Winter: the very skies Seem frozen, with Between the rocky crags rushing No sound at all. |
120
Left
夏の夜のまつばもそよと吹く風はいづれか雨の声にかはれる
| natsu no yo no matsuba mo soyo to fuku kaze wa izure ka ame no koe ni kawareru | On a summer night The pine needles rustling With the gusting wind At some point to raindrops’ Sound has changed. |
64
Right
夜やくらき道やまどへる郭公我が宿をしもすぎがてにする
| yo ya kuraki michi ya madoeru hototogisu wa ga yado o shimo sugigateni naku | Is it night’s darkness? Or, have you lost your way, Oh, cuckoo? By my house You cannot pass, it seems, and so you sing. |
65[1]
[1] Kokinshū III: 154, attributed to Ki no Tomonori.
Round Eight
Left
秋風の吹来る声はやまながらなみ立ちかへるおとぞきこゆる
| akikaze no fukikuru koe wa yama nagara nami tachikaeru oto zo kikoyuru | The autumn breeze’s Cry comes gusting; And in the mountains, The sound of waves washing back and forth Comes to my ears. |
15
Right
すみの江の松を秋風吹くからにこゑうちそふる沖つ白なみ
| suminoe no matsu o akikaze fuku kara ni koe uchisouru oki tsu shiranami | At Suminoe The pines by the autumn breeze Are blown, so The sound lies atop The whitecaps in the offing. |
16
This match took place when, hearing that his courtiers were composing poetry, His Majesty ordered them to compose love poems to the ladies in attendance.
おもひあまりいかでもらさんおく山の岩かきこむる谷の下みづ
| omoi’amari ikade morasan okuyama no iwa kakikomuru tani no shitamizu | My passion’s full, so How should it o’erflow? Deep within the mountains Hemmed in by crags are The waters of the valley floor… |
Major Counsellor Kinzane
1
In reply
いかなれば音にのみきく山川の浅きにしもはこころよすらん
| ika nareba oto ni nomi kiku yamakawa no asaki ni shimo wa kokoro yosuran | For some reason, I simply hear the sound Of a mountain stream; Into the shallows, indeed, has Your heart been swept, it seems! |
[Nakako,] The Suō Handmaid
2
Left (Tie)
昔聞く君が手馴れの琴ならば夢に知られて音をも立てまし
| mukashi kiku kimi ga tenare no koto naraba yume ni shirarete ne o mo tatemashi |
Long ago, I heard Your favourite Zither play – if that were me, then In your dreams I would be known, and Make a sound most sweet within your sleep… |
Lord Sada’ie
1093
Right
わぎも子が心のひかぬ琴の音は我まつにこそ通はざりけれ
| wagimoko ga kokoro no hikanu koto no ne wa wa ga matsu ni koso kayowazarikere |
My darling’s Heartstrings are not tugged By my zither’s strains, so Though I pine for her ‘Tis of no use at all… |
The Supernumerary Master of the Empress’ Household Office
1094
The Right state: the Left’s poem gives the impression of being based on something – but what? The Left state: the Right’s poem has no faults to mention.
In judgement: there is nothing unusual about the Left’s poem. It simply seems to be in the conception of the Man’yōshū poem where, ‘a Japanese zither made from the wood of the parasol tree transforms into a maiden in a dream, and says “When will / The day come that / I shall sing / Making his lap / My pillow?”’ I also have the feeling that it is alluding to the subsequent poem, however. So, it is certainly not the case that it is not based on anything. The Right’s poem has ‘heartstrings are not tugged’ (kokoro no hikanu) and then the metaphorical ‘though I pine for her’ (wa ga matsu ni koso), so is certainly not lacking in conception either. They are equivalent and tie.