On mountains.
秋されば雁飛び越ゆる龍田山立ちても居ても君をしぞ思ふ
| aki sareba kari tobi koyuru tatutayama tatitemo witemo kimi o shi zo omopu |
When the autumn comes, And the geese fly over Mount Tatsuta, Standing up, or sitting down Ever do I think of you… |
Anonymous
Tag Archives: Tatsuta
Autumn III: 30
Left.
龍田姫今はの比の秋風に時雨をいそぐ人の袖かな
| tatsuta hime ima wa no koro no aki kaze ni shigure o isogu hito no sode kana |
Princess Tatsuta, At this time, now, With the autumn winds Does hurry along the showers Upon folks’ sleeves. |
479
Right.
あはれなる身のたぐひとも思来し秋も今はの夕暮の空
| awarenaru mi no tagui tomo omoikoshi aki mo ima wa no yūgure no sora |
How sad Am I and so, too, I’d thought was Autumn, now ended With the evening skies. |
480
The Right state that ‘hurry along the showers’ (shigure o isogu) is lacking in technique [jutsu nashi]. The Left merely say that the Right’s poem ‘isn’t bad.’
Shunzei’s judgement: Both poems use ‘now’ (ima wa) in their diction [kotoba], in conjunction with a powerful [sechinaru] conception [kokoro] of regretting autumn’s passing. Nevertheless, the Gentleman of the Left has said the Right’s poem ‘isn’t bad’ and the Gentleman of the Right has said that of the Left ‘lacks technique’. I feel, however, that the initial conception ‘Princess Tatsuta, at this time, now’ (tatsuta hime ima wa) does not refer only to autumn [but could be used for winter, too]. The Right’s ‘Autumn, now ended with the evening skies’ (aki mo ima wa no yūgure no sora) is also somewhat lacking in technique, is it not? Thus, the round lacks a clear winner, or loser.
Autumn I: 6
Left.
打ち寄する浪より秋の龍田川さても忘れぬ柳陰かな
| uchiyosuru nami yori aki no tatsutagawa satemo wasurenu yanagikage kana |
Approaching on The waves, comes autumn to The Tatsuta River; And yet, I cannot forget The willows’ shade. |
311
Right.
秋淺き日影に夏は殘れども暮るゝ籬は荻の上風
| aki asaki hikage ni natsu wa nokoredomo kururu magaki wa ogi no uwakaze |
Faintly autumnal is The sunlight, with summer Yet remaining; At evening by the rough-woven fence Blows a breeze o’er the silver-grass. |
312
The Right say the Left’s poem is ‘particularly good.’ The Left state that, ‘“Faintly autumnl” (aki asaki) grates on the ear, and we also cannot grasp the use of “evening by the rough-woven fence” (kururu magaki).’
Shunzei states, ‘The Left’s “approaching on the waves” (nami yori aki no), seems particularly charming, but when taken together with “willows’ shade” (yanagi kade)– the Tatsuta River has long been the subject of composition on “flowing scarlet autumn leaves”, and even now this gives a slightly poetic effect; “willows’ shade” has been used in composition, both in ancient times and more recently, but does it not seem commonplace now? The Right’s poem is in the same vein as that of the Right in Round One Hundred and Fifty-Two, yet I do not find “faintly autumnal” to be unpleasant. “Evening by the rough-woven fence”, too, has charm. The Left’s poem has vocabulary in accordance with the contents; the Right unusual expressions. In this combination, the round must tie.’
Summer I: 1
Left (Tie).
龍田山わかみどりなる夏木立もみぢの秋もさもあらばあれ
| tatsutayama waka midorinaru natsu kodachi momiji no aki mo sa mo araba are |
On Tatsuta Mountain The fresh, green Summer clustered trees Autumn’s scarlet leaves Do match. |
181
Right (Tie).
面影は時雨し秋の紅葉にてうすもへぎなる神南備の森
| omokage wa shigureshi aki no momiji nite usumoeginaru kamunabi no mori |
Bringing to mind Shower-dampened, autumn Scarlet leaves: The pale, grass-green Sacred groves… |
182
The Right say, ‘The Left’s poem seems to be have the same conception as the composition by Emperor Sūtoku, “Autumn’s clear moon/Do match” (tsuki sumu aki mo sa mo araba are).’ In reply, the Left say, ‘It is entirely to be expected that there should be such a resemblance,’ and then remark about the Right’s poem, ‘It sounds as if scarlet leaves are its main point, and the topic has been rendered secondary. Furthermore, “pale, grass-green” (usumoeginaru) does not seem to clearly relate to anything.’
Shunzei simply says, ‘“Tatsuta Mountain”(tatsutayama), “sacred groves” (kamunabi no mori), “fresh, green” (wakamidori) and “pale, grass-green” are all appropriate to the form, and there does not appear to be a clear winner, or loser.’
KKS XVIII: 995
Topic unknown.
誰がみそぎ木綿つけ鳥か唐衣たつたの山におりはへてなく
| ta ga misogi yuFutukedori ka karakoromo tatuta no yama ni oriFaFete naku |
For whose lustration is This mulberry cloth? A cockerel Crows upon the Cathay robe Cut out on Tatsuta Mountain, Endlessly calling. |
Anonymous
This poem relies upon an elaborate series of overlapping word plays and images in order to achieve its effect.
First, we have ta ga misogi yuFu tuke ‘For whose lustration ceremony is this mulberry cloth fastened?’. This overlaps with yuFutukedori ka karakoromo ‘A cockerel crows’ (karakoromo sounded to old Japanese ears like a cock’s crow). In turn, this overlaps with karakoromo tatu ‘A Cathay robe cut out’, which overlaps with tatuta no yama ‘Tatsuta Mountain’. Karakoromo was, in fact, a makura kotoba conventionally associated with tatu. A further double meaning is achieved in the final line where oriFaFete ‘endlessly’, is derived from a verb, oriFaFu 織延ふ, meaning ‘weave at great length’.
Additionally, implicit in the poem is the knowledge that a Cathay robe would have been made out of brocade (nisiki 錦), which was an image frequently used in poetry to describe the panoply of scarlet autumn leaves at places such as Tatsuta.
So, the poem presents us with a progression of images: from the simplicity of the sacred mulberry cloth to the richness of the brocade robe; the cockerel used in a religious ceremony, recollecting the lustration, while simultaneously being an embroidered decoration on the Chinese robe, with his crows echoing endlessly through the autumn leaves at Tatsuta, and frozen into an endless crow upon the garment.
Entō Onhyakushu 63
龍田山まがふ木の葉のゆかりとて夕つけ鳥に木枯の風
| tatsuta yama magau ko no ha no yukari tote yūtsukedori ni kogarashi no kaze |
To Tatsuta Mountain’s Blended leaves Is linked This mulberry cloth – upon the cockerel Blows the bitter wind. |
SKKS VI: 566
SKKS IV: 302
When he was a Middle Counsellor or a Captain, at home he was made to compose a poem on the spirit of early autumn in a mountain hut.
あさぎりやたつたの山のさとならで秋きにけりとたれかしらまし
| asagiri ya tatsuta no yama no sato narade aki kinikeri to tare ka shiramashi |
The morning mist Rises on the mount of Tatsuta Where stands my home-were it not for that, That Autumn is here, Who would know, I wonder? |
The Hōshōji Lay Priest and Former Regent and Grand Minister [Fujiwara no Tadamichi] (1097-1164)
MYS IX: 1747
SKKS I: 91
When he presented a hundred-poem sequence.
しらくもの春はかさねてたつた山をぐらのみねに花にほふらし
| shira kumo no haru wa kasanete tatsuta yama ogura no mine ni hana niourashi |
The white clouds of Spring Have covered o’er Mount Tatsuta – And on the peak of Ogura The blossom is in full flower, it seems. |
Fujiwara no Sada’ie
藤原定家