The Garden Match held by the Chancellor at the Eastern Mansion
When His Lordship, the Chancellor, was having the Eastern Mansion refurbished, he divided his sons into teams and having a large number of charming plants grown in pots on the eastern and western sides of the main hall, he matched poems composed on the names of these plants. These poems are as follows.
Left – Pine
あだしきのちるにもさらににぬまつはちとせこえふるしるべなりけり
| adashiki no chiru ni mo sara ni ninu matsu wa chitose koefuru shirube narikeri | The other trees’ Scattering is e’en more Unlike the pines— Passing through a thousand years Is their singular sign. |
1a
あたらしき春にもさらににぬまつはちとせこえこぬしるべなりけり
| atarashiki haru ni mo sara ni ninu matsu wa chitose koekonu shirube narikeri | A new Spring is e’en more Unlike the pines— That it last not a thousand years Is a singular sign. |
1b
Right
たれもみなちとせこえくるまつにのみひさしきことはならへとぞ思ふ
| tare mo mina chitose koekuru matsu ni nomi hisashiki koto wa narae to zo omou | Every single one, without exception, Passes through a thousand years— That the pines, alone, Are eternal: Learn that! Or so I feel… |
2
Round Three
Left (Tie)
あはれとやかみもおもはむすみのえのふかくたのみをかくるみなれば
| aware to ya kami mo omowamu suminoe no fukaku tanomi o kakuru mi nareba | ‘How sad,’ does The God, too, think? For at Suminoe Deep in devotions Am I entangled… |
Lord Tsunemori
105
Right
たのみつるこのひとむらの人ごとにちとせをゆづれすみよしのまつ
| tanomitsuru kono hitomura no hito goto ni chitose o yuzure sumiyoshi no matsu | Devoted are This group of folk, so To each and every one Grant a thousand years, O, pines of Sumiyoshi! |
Lord Yorisuke
106
The poem of the Left, saying ‘deep in devotions’ and suchlike, is pleasant, I have to say. Does the poem of the Right’s ‘this group of folk’ refer to the current poets or to the speaker’s own household? Well, whichever it is, the conception of devotion does not appear to be slight, but again I say this is a tie.
ももしきにしもはおくともきくの花ちよの冬までうつろふなゆめ
| momoshiki ni shimo wa okutomo kiku no hana chiyo no fuyu made utsurounayume | Upon the hundred-fold palace The frost may fall, yet These chrysanthemum blooms, Though winter last a thousand ages, Will not fade, at all… |
[Minamoto no] Koremochi
5
きくのはなちとせみまくのほしければをしみしよるのあくるもしらず
| kiku no hana chitose mimaku no hoshikereba oshimi yoru no akuru mo shirazu | O, chrysanthemums! For a thousand years to gaze on them Is my desire, then The regrets of night’s Dawn I would never know! |
[Fujiwara no] Kunimoto
6
Original
こまなべてきみがみにくるかすがのはまつかさしげしあめにさはるな
| koma nabete kimi ga mi ni kuru kasugano wa matsukasa shigeshi ame ni sawaru na | Mounts aligned, My Lord has come to see Kasuga Plain, where The plentiful pinecones mean He’ll be untroubled by rain! |
43
Left (Win)
ぬれつつもあめにはゆかむまつかさのちとせのはるをもらさざらなむ
| nuretsutsu mo ame ni wa yukamu matsukasa no chitose no haru o morasazaranamu | Even dampened By the rain, let us go! For the pinecones Over a thousand years of springtimes Will surely not allow a single drip! |
44[1]
Right
かすがののまつかさだにもなかりせばあめふるさとにわれこましやは
| kasugano no matsukasa dani mo nakariseba ame furu sato ni ware komashi ya wa | If on Kasuga Plain Even pinecones Were there not, then, To the rainswept ancient capital Why would I come at all? |
45
[1] This poem is included in Ise-shū (107) with the headnote ‘From the time of the Kasuga Poetry Match’, implying that this is Ise’s work, even if she is not identified as the poet in the text here.
Original
かすがののけふのみゆきをまつばらのちとせのはるはきみがまにまに
| kasugano no kyō no miyuki o matsubara no chitose no haru wa kimi ga manimani | On Kasuga Plain Today’s progress Awaited have the pine groves, A thousand years of springtimes, Just as my Lady’s thoughts. [1] |
Mitsune
31
Left
ゆくさきのはるをとほくしまかすればいまはちとせのうたがひもなし
| yukusaki no haru o tōkushi makasureba ima wa chitose no utagai mo nashi | Future Springtimes to distant times May we entrust, for Now that she will live a thousand years more There is no doubt, at all. |
32
Right (Win)
むれたちてわれをまつてふかすがののみどりふかくやおもひそめけむ
| muretachite ware o matsu chō kasugano no midori fukaku ya omoisomekemu | Growing crowded together, and Awaiting me are the pines On Kasuga Plain— Why should their green so deeply Seem to think of me? |
33
[1] A minor variant of this poem occurs in Mitsune-shū (325) with the same headnote as for poem (22), above.
A poem by Kamō, the dancing girl.
雪嶋 巌尓殖有 奈泥之故波 千世尓開奴可 君之挿頭
ゆきのしま いはほにうゑたる なでしこは ちよにさかぬか きみがかざしに
| yuki no sima ipapo ni uwetaru nadesiko pa tiyo ni sakanu ka kimi ga kazasi ni | Snow lies heavy on the garden’s Rocks where grow The pinks: O, won’t you bloom a thousand years? That my Lord may wear you in his hair… |
Composed at the Kameyama mansion, in the Eighth Month, Kenji 2 [September 1276], when the first topic announced was ‘the colour of pines floating on a pond’.
池水に松のちとせをうつしても君にふたたびあふがうれしさ
| ikemizu ni matsu no chitose o utsushitemo kimi ni futatabi au ga ureshiki | In the pond waters The pine’s thousand years Are reflected, yet Once more, my Lord, To meet you brings me joy! |
The Regent and Former Prime Minister
摂政前太政大臣
