Hunting
せこなはにひきこめらるるしかばかりあはれ心のゆくかたぞなき
sekonawa ni hikikomeraruru shika bakari awaregokoro no yukukata zo naki | Snares Have caught The stag, so simply Pitying his lot, He has nowhere to go. |
Lord Tomo’ie, Senior Third Rank
Left
あき山に恋する鹿の声たてて鳴きぞしぬべき君がこぬよは
akiyama ni koisuru shika no koe tatete naki zo shinubeki kimi ga konu yo wa | In the autumn mountains A loving stag Cries out, I could die from weeping On nights you fail to come to call… |
116[1]
Right
契りけむ心ぞつらき七夕の年にひとたびあふは逢ふかは
chigiriken kokoro zo tsuraki tanabata no toshi ni hito tabi au wa au ka wa | The vow Of a pitiless heart: The Weaver Maid, But once a year Will meet; can it be true? |
Fujiwara no Okikaze
117[2]
[1] Shokukokinshū XII: 1194/Shinsen man’yōshū 119
[2] Kokinshū IV: 178/Shinsen man’yōshū 460/Kokin rokujō I: 143
Left
おく山に紅葉ふみわけ鳴く鹿の声きく時ぞ秋はかなしき
okuyama ni momiji fumiwake naku shika no koe kiku toki zo aki wa kanashiki | Deep within the mountains Forging through the scarlet leaves When a belling stag’s Cry I hear, indeed, Autumn is so sad. |
82
Right
わがために来る秋にしもあらなくに虫の音聞けば先ぞかなしき
wa ga tame ni kuru aki ni shimo aranaku ni mushi no ne kikeba saki zo kanashiki | Not for my sake Has autumn come And yet, When the insects’ cries I hear What lies ahead is sad, indeed. |
83
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Dowager Empress during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.
あき山に恋する鹿の声たてて鳴きぞしぬべき君がこぬよは
akiyama ni koisuru shika no koe tatete naki zo shinubeki kimi ga konu yo wa | In the autumn mountains A loving stag Cries out, I could die from weeping On nights you fail to come to call… |
Anonymous
さをしかのしがらみふする秋はぎはたまなす露ぞつつみたりける
saoshika no shigarami fusuru akihagi wa tama nasu tsuyu zo tsutsumitarikeru | Ah, the stag, Entangled, tripped On the autumn bush clover; Dewdrops turned gemlets Have wrapped him all around. |
21
かみなみのみむろの山をわけゆけばにしきたちきる心ちこそすれ
kaminami no mimuro no yama o wakeyukeba nishiki tachikiru kokochi koso sure | Deities dwell Upon Mount Mimuro, where I forge my way, Cutting and sewing the brocade of leaves, I feel! |
22
Left (Tie)
この比の心の底をよそに見ば鹿鳴く野邊の秋の夕暮
kono koro no kokoro no soko o yoso ni miba shika naku nobe no aki no yūgure |
Of late Of the depths of my heart Were you to catch a distant glimpse: A stag belling in the meadow On an autumn evening… |
A Servant Girl
1067
Right
暮れかゝる裾野の露に鹿鳴きて人待つ袖も涙そふ也
kurekakaru susono no tsuyu ni shika nakite hito matsu sode mo namida sou nari |
Twilight Drapes dewfall on the mountains’ skirts, With a stag’s sad cry; Awaiting him, my sleeves, too, Are wet with tears. |
Nobusada
1068
Left and Right together: we find no faults to mention.
In judgement: it would be impossible to ever exhaust the overtones of feeling in ‘a stag belling in the meadow on an autumn evening’ (shika naku nobe no aki no yūgure) in the Left’s poem; in the Right’s poem the configuration and conception of ‘awaiting him, my sleeves, too, are wet with tears’ (hito matsu sode mo namida sou nari) is richly evocative. I find it extremely hard to put both poems down, so this round, again, is a tie of quality.