Composed on plovers on the road to the barrier.
あはぢしまかよふちどりの鳴く声にいくよねざめぬすまの関もり
| awajishima kayou chidori no naku koe ni ikuyo nezamenu suma no sekimori | Around Awaji Isle The plovers fly about; Their calling cries Start him awake on how many nights— The barrier warden of Suma? |
Minamoto no Kanemasa
When responding to the topic ‘widely spaced they are’ in the reign of the Tenryaku emperor.
なれゆくはうき世なればやすまのあまのしほやき衣まどほなるらん
| nareyuku wa ukiyo nareba ya suma no ama no shioyaki koromo madōnaruran | Affection Turns to cruelty, does it not? The fisher folk at Suma Burn salt in robes with Wide gaps, it seems…[1] |
Princess Yoshiko, Junior Consort
[1] An allusive variation on KKS XV: 758.
Topic unknown.
すまのあまのしほやき衣をさをあらみまどほにあれや君がきまさぬ
| suma no ama no siFoyaki koromo wo sa wo arami madoFo ni are ya kimi ga kimasanu | The fisher folk at Suma Burn salt in robes So crudely woven – The gaps as wide as Your infrequent visits. |
Anonymous
During the reign of the Tamura Emperor, when he was confined to Suma in the province of Tsu for certain reasons, he sent this to someone in the capital.
わくらばにとふ人あらばすまの浦にもしほたれつつわぶとこたへよ
| wakuraba ni toFu Fito araba suma no ura ni mosiFo taretutu wabu to kotaFeyo | If of me Folk should come enquiring, then as On the beach at Suma The seaweed ever drips, I suffer—answer that! |
Ariwara no Yukihira
Left (Tie).
故郷に見し面影も宿りけり不破の関屋の板間洩る月
| furusato ni mishi omokage mo yadorikeri fuwa no sekiya no itama moru tsuki |
Back home I saw her face, and It lodges here, At the Barrier House at Fuwa, In the moonlight leaking through the boards. |
A Servant Girl
1007
Right.
人恋ふる我ながめよ思けり須磨の関屋の有明の月
| hito kouru ware nagameyo omoikeri suma no sekiya no ariake no tsuki |
Loving you, I will ever gaze, I thought, At the Barrier House at Suma On the dawntime moon. |
Nobusada
1008
The Right state: the Left’s poem is good. The Left state: the Right’s poem lacks any faults to indicate.
In judgement: the Left’s ‘Barrier House at Fuwa’ (fuwa no sekiya) followed by ‘the moonlight leaking through the boards’ (itama moru tsuki) is truly charming. In addition, if one wonders why ‘I saw her face’ (mishi omokage mo) has been used, it is certainly reminiscent of the poem ‘The dawntime moon, too, lodges in the waters clear’, but an improvement on it. It is difficult to say, however, that the Right’s ‘At the Barrier House at Suma on the dawntime moon’ (suma no sekiya no ariake no tsuki) is in any way inferior.
Left.
夜を重ね心の関のかたきかなわが音は鳥の空音ならねば
| yo o kasane kokoro no seki no kataki kana wa ga ne wa tori no sorane naraneba |
Night upon night The barriers upon your heart Stand firm, indeed! For the sounds I make are no cock’s False crow! |
Lord Ari’ie
1001
Right (Win).
人知れぬうらみにあまる浪の上を抑ふる袖や須磨の関守
| hito shirenu urami ni amaru nami no ue o osauru sode ya suma no sekimori |
She cannot know The prospect of my despair; Dashed upon the waves Are my sleeves Barrier Wardens at Suma? |
Jakuren
1002
The Right state: why specifically refer to a ‘false crow’ (sorane)? This makes it sound as if the barrier would not be opened for a real bird’s cry. In response, the Left: as there is the precedent of a barrier being opened in response to a false crow, the poem draws upon this to refer to ‘the sounds I make’ (wa ga ne) – we fail to see why this is problematic. The Left state: we find no faults in need of identification in the Right’s poem.
In judgement: it seems difficult to distinguish between ‘the sounds I make’ and the ‘false crow’ in the Left’s poem, and the Right’s ‘dashed upon the waves are my sleeves’ (osauru sode) is pleasant. Thus, the Right wins.
Left (Tie).
身に堪へぬ思ひを須磨の関据ゑて人に心をなどとどむらん
| mi ni taenu omoi o suma no seki suete hito ni kokoro ni nado todomuran |
Unable to endure This love; at Suma By the barrier am I placed; Within my heart why Does she remain so firmly? |
Lord Sada’ie
999
Right.
逢坂の関のこなたに名をとめてこれより過ぐる嘆せよとや
| ausaka no seki no konata ni na o tomete kore yori suguru nageki seyo to ya |
On Meeting Hill Barrier’s inner side Must I stay, they say; Ever pass your days In grief! Is that your only message? |
Lord Takanobu
1000
The Right state: ‘This love; at Suma’ (omoi o suma) sounds antiquated. In addition, how can one be placed by the barrier? The Left state: in the Right’s poem what is the ‘passing grief’ (suguru nageki)?
In judgement: the Gentlemen of the Right’s criticism of wondering ‘how one can be placed by the barrier’ suggests they have never been installed as Barrier Wardens! Both ‘at Suma by the barrier’ and ‘Meeting Hill Barrier’ are of the same quality. The round should tie.