Preparing Tribute 貢調
笛竹のつかひはいつかこちくらんあなまちどほの道のあひだや
| fue take no tsukai wa itsuka kochi kuran ana machidō no michi no aida ya | Blowing on his bamboo flute When will the messenger Arrive here? O, the wait feels as long As the roads he travels on! |
Kanemasa
Love on Sight
比叡の山その大嶽は隠れねど猶水のみは流れてぞ降る
| Fie no yama sono oFotake Fa kakurene to naFo midu nomi Fa nagarete zo Furu |
Hie Mountain: Its mighty peak Is not concealed, and yet, And yet, waters alone Flow ever downwards… |
Minamoto no Toshiyori
源俊頼
Sleet
ひまをあらみ竹のすがきの下さえてよなよなふるは霙なりけり
| hima o arami take no sugaki no shita saete yonayona furu wa mizore narikeri | Having gaps The lattice bamboo fence Is chill beneath, as Night after night falls Sleet. |
Tadafusa
Left.
筒井つゝ井筒にかけし丈よりも過ぬや通ふ心深さは
| tsutsui tsutsu itsutsu ni kakeshi take yori mo suginu ya kayou kokoro fukasa wa |
The pipe well Covered over: More than its height Have passed The depths of our hearts. |
Kenshō.
853
Right (Win).
筒井つにかけしためしをいかに我結び知らせん春の若水
| tsutsui tsu ni kakeshi tameshi o ika ni ware musubi shirasen haru no wakamizu |
The pipe well Was covered once, So how can I Tell you that cupping my hands For Spring’s water, makes me young once more. |
Lord Takanobu.
854
The Right state: the upper section of the Left’s poem is little different from its origin poem, while its lower part is grating on the ear. The Left state: the Right’s poem has no particular faults to mention.
In judgement: in addition to the use of ‘the pipe well’ (tsutsui tsu) by both Left and Right not being that unusual, the Left’s ‘pipe well’ having surpassed its height does not sound that profound in conception. ’Spring’s water, makes me young’ (haru no wakamizu) isn’t bad, so the Right wins.
梅の花散らまく惜しみ我が園の竹の林に鴬鳴くも
| ume no pana tiramaku wosimi wa ga sono no take no payasi ni ugupisu naku kamo |
The plum blossom Will scatter, so full of regret In my garden’s Bamboo grove Does the warbler cry. |
Junior Secretary Aji no Okishima
少監阿氏奥島
Left.
あまたたび竹の灯し火かゝげてぞ三世の佛の名をば唱る
| amata tabi take no tomoshibi kakagete zo miyo no hotoke no na oba tonaeru |
Many times The torches of bamboo Are flourished, and The three worlds’ Buddhas’ Names proclaimed. |
595
Right.
明やらぬ夜の間の雪は積もるとも氷れる罪や空に消らん
| akeyaranu yo no ma no yuki wa tsumoru tomo kōreru tsumi ya sora ni kiyuran |
There’s no light Within this night of snowfall Drifting, yet My frozen sins Do vanish into the skies… |
596
The Gentlemen of the Right state: we must say that the Left’s poem has no faults. The Gentlemen of the Left state: we wonder about the expression ‘frozen sins’ (kōreru tsumi).
Shunzei’s judgement: saying ‘torches of bamboo’ (take no tomoshibi) in order to refer to the ‘three worlds’ Buddhas’, is a somewhat unusual expression. The Right’s ‘my frozen sins do vanish into the skies’ (kōreru tsumi ya sora ni kiyuran) seems elegant [yū ni miehaberu], but refers only to the sins vanishing, and the conception of the Buddhas’ names seems somewhat lacking. Comparing the two poems, they must tie.
Left (Win).
河竹のなびく葉風も年暮れて三世の佛の御名を聞くかな
| kawatake no nabiku hakaze mo toshi kurete miyo no hotoke no mina o kiku kana |
Bamboo by the river, Leaves streaming in the breeze, and The ending of the year, with The three worlds’ Buddhas Honoured names – I hear them both… |
591
Right.
嬉しくも罪は夜の間に消えぬ也暮行く年や身に積るらむ
| ureshiku mo tsumi wa yo no ma ni kienu nari kureyuku toshi ya mi ni tsumoruramu |
How pleasant that One’s sins in the space of a night Do disappear, and The year fading into dusk Seems to lie upon me! |
592
The Gentlemen of the Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults. The Gentlemen of the Left state: the Right’s poem is pedestrian [tsune no koto nari].
Shunzei’s judgement: the sound of ‘Bamboo by the river, leaves streaming’ (kawatake no nabiku), leading to ‘the three worlds’ Buddhas’ (miyo no hotoke) is not a particularly good expression. In the Right’s poem, if it was changed to ‘the disappearance of one’s sins is pleasant, but’ (tsumi no kiyuru koto wa ureshiki o), this would be more in line with the conception of the final section of the poem. By beginning ‘how pleasant that’ (ureshiku mo) it sounds as if the poet is pleased to bear another year, too. I wonder, is ‘bamboo by the river’ a recollection of the Palace Gardens? The Left should win.
Left (Tie).
雪折の竹の下道跡もなし荒れにしのちの深草の里
| yuki ore no take no shitamichi ato mo nashi arenishi nochi no fukakusa no sato |
Snow-snapped Bamboo trails Bear no tracks After the storm At the estate of Fukakusa. |
95
Right
大伴の御津の濱風吹はらへ松とも見えじうづむ白雪
| ōtomo no mitsu no hama kaze fukiharae matsu tomo mieji uzumu shirayuki |
In Ōtomo Upon the beach at Mitsu, wind, Blow clean The pines, for they seem unlike themselves, Buried in drifted snow. |
96
On returning from a certain place when it was late at night.
竹の葉に玉ぬく露にあらねどもまだ夜をこめて起きにけるかな
| take no Fa ni tama nuku tuyu ni aranedomo mada yo wo komete wokinikeru kana |
Upon the bamboo leaves, Dewdrops, like threaded jewels Are there none, yet Still within the bounds of night Have I arisen. |
On young bamboo.
若竹や橋本の遊女ありやなし
| wakatake ya hashimoto no yūjo ari ya nashi |
There’s young bamboo At Hashimoto, where women-of-pleasure dwell- I wonder, do they have any? |