New Year’s Day
もろ人の花見む春のはじめとや今日は思ひのひらけぬるかな
morobito no hana mimu haru no hajime to ya kyō wa omoi no hirakenuru kana | For crowds of folk Does blossom viewing springtime Begin, I wonder? Today such thoughts Have opened up! |
Daishin
Left
藻塩やく海人のまくかたならねども恋のそめきもいとなかりけり
moshio yaku ama no makuka tanaranedomo koi no someki mo ito nakarikeri | Burning seaweed for salt, Scattering on the shore are the fisher-girls; Not just so, but From the tumult of love Is there little respite. |
Kenshō
1169
Right (Win)
思ひにはたぐひなるべき伊勢の海人も人を恨みぬ袖ぞ濡れける
omoi ni wa taguinarubeki ise no ama mo hito o uraminu sode zo nurekeru | In thoughts of love Are we the same: The diver girls at Ise, Gazing at bay, with no sight of you My sleeves are soaked. |
Ietaka
1170
The Right state: there is a theory that ‘scattering on the shore’ (ama no makukata) is actually ‘waiting’ (matekata). How should this phrase be correctly be understood here? In response, the Left: the poem was composed from the standpoint that ‘scattering on the shore’ is correct. The Later Selection texts vary between ku and te, but ‘without surcease’ (itoma nami) is an appropriate expression for burning seaweed for salt. In both the Collection of a Myriad Leaves and the Tales of Ise there is the expression ‘ceaseless salt burning (shio yaku itoma nashi). In addition, there is the Ise Priestess Consort’s poem ‘Scattering on the shore, the fisher-girls rake seaweed’, where te would not be suitable. Izumi Shikibu’s poem:
伊勢の海の海人のあまたのまてかたにおりやとるらん浪の花なみ
ise no umi no ama no amata no matekata ni ori ya toruran nami no hananami | By the sea at Ise Crowds of fisher-girls A’waiting To be plucked – A row of blossoms on the waves. |
is written with te, but ‘crowds of fisher-girls’ seems to suit the conception of burning seaweed. The Right still find fault: in the Muroyama Lay Priest’s Collection in a Tortoiseshell Mirror, Hideaki’s poem is written with mate. In addition, it evokes a scene of evaporation pools, and is there such an activity as scattering salt on the shore? In response: the salt kilns are on the shore. It is they which are scattered. People from the area have told me as much. In addition, mate could mean looking for razor clams (mategai) in the sand. And the girls would not be completely occupied doing this. In response, the Right: that is not the only possible meaning of mate. When the fisher-girls are busy with their work, and have no respite from it, one uses itoma nami. The Left have no criticisms to make of the Right’s poem.
In judgement: the Left’s poem, with the initial ama no makukata, followed by the final section ‘from the tumult of love is there little respite’ (koi no someki mo ito nakarikeri) fails to sound elegant. There should be no confusion over this issue. Lord Hide’aki’s poem in the Later Selection is plainly ‘a diver-girl does wait without surcease’ (ama no matekata itoma nami). On this matter, long ago when I was in attendance upon His Majesty, Emperor Sutoku, he presented me with the commentaries on problematic poems by a certain personage written as he remembered them, and His Majesty asked, ‘People say there are many errors in this text – is this true?’ to which I replied, ‘When it came to making things, there are errors in even those made by the wisest men of old. What you could call imperfect scholarship.’ In the midst of talking about this and that, I mentioned problems in the Later Selection, and that this matekata poem was written maku; I didn’t provide any commentary, just simply said, ‘This is matekata. The fact that there are texts which erroneously write maku have produced some doubt over this,’ and when people later heard that I had said this, his followers got confused and thought I meant maku was correct. ‘Without surcease’ (itoma nami) is particularly suitable for matekata. ‘Waiting’ (matekata) and ‘burning seaweed for salt’ (moshio yaku) are both things which fisher-girls do endlessly – there is no difference between them. Both the Collection of a Myriad Leaves and the Tales of Ise say ‘fisher-girls without surcease’ (ama no itoma nashi). Nowhere does it say ‘scattering’ (makukata). In addition, the shore where they burn seaweed for salt on the beach (hama ni shio yaku kata) bears no resemblance to scattering salt (shio o maku). Moreover, as for the Ise Virgin Consort’s poem, there are many texts which have mate, and any versions of both this anthology and of the Later Selection, too, which have maku are erroneous. There is also a poem in reply to the Consort’s poem ‘Scattered on the shore, / Raking, the fisher-girls gather / Sea-salt weed: / Where does the smoke / Rise to, I ask, my love?’ There are many who argue that this should be maku, but it simply means that the fisher-girls are busy. Matekata and itomanaki koto mean the same thing. In conclusion, we must have regard to the Later Selection poem. Hide’aki has left only a few poems, but was surrounded by poets of peerless talent. Whichever way one looks at it, he was not one to produce an erroneous poem. The Right’s poem has nothing special about it, but as the Left uses ‘from the tumult of love is there little respite’ which sounds old-fashioned and unpleasant, and there is no evidence that makukata is correct, the Right wins.
Left (Win)
蟲の音も秋を限りと恨むなりたえぬ思やたぐひなるらん
mushi no ne mo aki o kagiri to uramu nari taenu omoi ya tagui naruran |
The insects’ cries do Mark the bounds of autumn With despair; Are endless thoughts of love To be my only fellow? |
Lord Kanemune
1073
Right
夏蟲もうら山しきは秋の夜の露にはもえぬ思ひなりけり
natsumushi mo urayamashiki wa aki no yo no tsuyu ni wa moenu omoi narikeri |
The fireflies are A source of envy, On an autumn night When dewfall damps down The fires of my passion… |
Ietaka
1074
The Gentlemen of the Right: the Left’s poem has no faults to mention. The Gentlemen of the Left state: we wonder about the appropriateness of ‘dewfall damps down’ (tsuyu ni wa moenu).
In judgement: the Left’s poem has been stated to be without fault by the gentlemen present. In the Right’s poem, I wonder if saying, ‘dewfall damps down’ is meaning nothing burns in autumn? On the matter of using the term ‘summer insects’ (natsumushi) to refer to fireflies, I do wonder whether it is appropriate to imply with one’s composition that there are no such insects in autumn. Although in the Collection of Poems to Sing Aloud, fireflies occur in the Summer section, among the same collection’s Chinese poems there is ‘in the dark before dawn innumerable fireflies start from the autumn grasses’. Furthermore, in Pan Anren’s ‘Rhapsody on Autumn Inspirations’ he says, ‘Glittering fireflies shine by the palace gate, and crickets sing from the eaves of the fence’. Even though there are countless cases of Autumn fireflies, how can one have composed suggesting that there are not? Thus, the Left wins.
A chrysanthemum from Tonase in Ōi. Blended with silver, dropped from a waterfall. Although it falls from a great height, it makes no sound.
滝つ瀬はただ今日ばかり音なせそ菊一花に思ひもぞます
taki tu se Fa tada keFu bakari oto na se so kiku Fitobana ni omoFi mo zo masu |
O, rushing waters of the cataract Just on this day alone Make no sound! That a single chrysanthemum bloom May completely fill my thoughts. |
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