Tag Archives: tamoto

Horikawa-in Enjo Awase 14

きてなれし袂は人に見せてましつらき涙の色のかはらば

kitenareshi
tamoto wa hito ni
misetemashi
tsuraki namida no
iro no kawaraba
I was wont to wear
These sleeves—to him
I would display them:
If heartless tears
Should change their hues…

Yurika, from the Hall of the Junior Consort
27

In reply.

忍草しのぶる程のよがれにはなにに心も袖もぬるらん

shinobugusa
shinoburu hodo no
yogare ni wa
nani ni kokoro mo
sode mo nururan
A fond fern
I do recall as
My nightly visits cease, so
Why is my heart and
Sleeves, too, so drenched?

The Assistant Lieutenant of the Middle Palace Guards, Left Division
28

Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase 25

かりのみとうはのそらなるなみだこそあきのたもとのつゆとおくらめ

kari nomi to
uwa no sora naru
namida koso
aki no tamoto no
tsuyu to okurame
The geese simply from
The skies above
Do drop their tears;
It is in autumn that my sleeves
Seem to gather dewdrops.

49

山がはのたきつせしばしよどまなむあきのもみぢのいろとめて見む

yamagawa no
takitsuse shibashi
yodomanamu
aki no momiji no
iro tomete mimu
The mountain river’s
Rapids seem briefly
Stilled;
Autumn’s scarlet leaves’
Hues have halted it, I see.

50

SZS III: 137

Composed on the conception of changing into summer clothes, when a Hundred Poem Sequence was presented to His Majesty, Emperor Horikawa.

けふかふるせみの羽ごろもきてみればたもとに夏はたつにぞ有りける

kyō kauru
semi no hagoromo
kitemireba
tamoto ni natsu wa
tatsu ni zo arikeru
With the change today,
A robe of cicada wings
I do put on and see
Upon my sleeves that summer
Has, indeed, arrived!

Fujiwara no Mototoshi

SZS III: 136

Composed on the conception of changing into summer clothes, when a Hundred Poem Sequence was presented to His Majesty, Emperor Horikawa.
夏ごろもはなのたもとにぬぎかへて春のかたみもとまらざりけり

natsugoromo
hana no tamoto ni
nugikaete
haru no katami mo
tomarazarikeri
For summer garb
Blossom-laden sleeves
I remove, and with the change
Those keepsakes of springtime
Fail to linger on.

Former Middle Counsellor Masafusa

Love VIII: 16

Left
玉章のたえだえになるたぐひかな雲井に雁の見えみ見えずみ

tamazusa no
taedae ni naru
tagui kana
kumoi ni kari no
miemi miezumi
His jewelled missives
Have become intermittent
It seems, just like
The geese up in the skies,
Glimpsed, and then not seen at all…

Lord Ari’ie
1051

Right (Win)
思かぬる夜はの袂に風ふけて涙の河に千鳥鳴くなり

omoikanuru
yowa no tamoto ni
kaze fukete
namida no kawa ni
chidori nakunari
Unable to bear my love,
At midnight my sleeve is
Stirred by the wind, and
Upon a river of tears
The plovers are crying…

Nobusada
1052

The Gentlemen of the Right state: we find no faults to mention in the Left’s poem. The Gentlemen of the Left state: we wonder about the reason for emphasising ‘upon a river of tears the plovers’ (namida no kawa ni chidori).

In judgement: the Left on a lover’s letters becoming intermittent, and saying ‘the geese up in the skies, glimpsed, and then not seen at all’ (kumoi ni kari no miemi miezumi) has a charming conception, and elegant diction. The Right, saying ‘at midnight my sleeve is stirred by the wind’ (yowa no tamoto ni kaze fukete) and continuing ‘the plovers are crying’ (chidori nakunari) has a configuration and diction which sounds fine, too. The criticisms of the Gentlemen of the Left are nothing more than ‘a fisherman fishing beneath his pillow’! Although the conception of the Left’s poem is charming, the configuration of the Right’s poem is slightly more notable, so it should win.