A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Empress Dowager during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.
君こふる涙の床にみちぬれば身をつくしとぞ我はなりぬる
| kimi koFuru namida no toko ni mitinureba mi wo tukusi to zo ware Fa narinuru | Loving you With tears my bed Has completely filled, so A channel buoy, exhausted, Have I become. |
Fujiwara no Okikaze
逢ふ事やこよひこよひとかよふまに空忘れして月日へにけり
| au koto ya koyoi koyoi to kayou ma ni sora wasureshite tsukihi henikeri | I wonder will we meet Tonight, maybe tonight, I think, and While I’m on my way, Forgetful of the skies, Days and months have passed me by. |
Kuninobu, the Minamoto Middle Counsellor
5
In reply.
あや莚をとなるまでも恋ひずしてまだきに床を忘るべしやは
| ayamushiro oto naru made mo koizushite madaki ni toko o wasurubeshi ya wa | My patterned blanket Lies far away, and yet Lacking love How swiftly my bed Might you be able to forget? |
Daishin, in service to His Former Majesty
6
ゆめののちむなしきとこはあらじかしあきののなかもこひしかりけり
| yume no nochi munashiki toko wa araji kashi aki no no naka mo koishikarikeri | After a dream of you The emptiness of my bed I feel not, I think, for Amid the autumn meadows I do love you still. |
63
もみぢばのたまれるかりのなみだにはあきの月こそかげやどしけれ
| momijiba no tamareru kari no namida ni wa aki no tsuki koso kage yadoshikere | The scarlet leaves Clog the goose Tears, where It I the autumn moon’s Light finds lodging. |
64
Left (Win)
忘れずは馴し袖もやこほこほるらむ寝ぬ夜の床の霜のさむしろ
| wasurezu wa nareshi sode mo ya kōruramu nenu yo no toko no shimo no samushiro | If she should forget me not, Would those oh so familiar sleeves, too, Freeze solid? In bed on a sleepless night Frost forms on my chilly blankets… |
Lord Sada’ie
1139
Right
分てこそ中より塵は積もりぬれ恋の病に沈むさ筵
| wakete koso naka yori chiri wa tsumorinure koi no yamai ni shizumu samushiro | Split down The middle, dust Has piled up! Sunk in the sickness Of love upon this blanket! |
Lord Takanobu
1140
Left and Right together state: we find no faults to mention.
In judgement: the conception of being lost in thought of another’s sleeves ‘in bed on a sleepless night frost forms on my chilly blankets’ (nenu yo no toko no shimo no samushiro) is certainly elegant. The scene in the Right’s poem, with the blanket divided in half, with one covered with dust, and the other where the speaker lies lovesick, is distasteful and I do not find it appealing, so thus, the Left wins.
Left
君とわが寝しさむしろの塵なれば形見がてらにうちも払はず
| kimi to wa ga neshi samushiro no chiri nareba katami ga tera ni uchi mo harawazu | My love and I Did sleep upon these blankets, so Even the dust there Is a memento – I cannot brush it away! |
Lord Suetsune
1135
Right (Win)
ひとり寝の床のさ筵朽ちにけり涙は袖をかぎるのみかは
| hitorine no toko no samushiro kuchinikeri namida wa sode o kagiru nomi ka wa | Sleeping solo on My bed’s blankets, They have rotted away; Tears on more than sleeves Have that effect… |
Ietaka
1136
The Right state: ‘did sleep’ (neshi) is particularly unimpressive. The Left state: ‘more than sleeves’ (sode o kagiru) is, perhaps, over-definite.
In judgement: in the Left’s poem, despite ‘did sleep upon these blankets’ (neshi samushiro) referring to something which definitely exists, it still sounds as if there is not much poetic expression in the poem. ‘Is a memento’ (katami ga tera) fails to resemble ‘for blossom viewing’ (hanami ga tera). As for the Right’s poem, I certainly would not say that ‘tears on more than sleeves have that effect’ (namida wa sode o kagiru nomi ka wa) is over-definite. It is somewhat difficult to make out on hearing, but the configuration is poetic, indeed, so the Right should win, it seems.
Left
君ゆへにわれさへうとく成はてゝ塵のみゐたる床のさむしろ
| kimi yue ni ware sae utoku narihatete chiri nomi itaru toko no samushiro |
For him So distant have I Become; Dust alone gathers On the matting of my bed. |
Lord Ari’ie
1131
Right (Win)
さむしろも哀とや思ふあらましに來ぬ君待つとうち拂ふをば
| samushiro mo aware to ya omou aramashi ni konu kimi matsu to uchiharau o ba |
Does my matting, too, Feel pity, I wonder? As waiting for one who never comes I sweep it clean… |
The Supernumerary Master of the Empress’ Household Office
1132
The Right state: the Left’s poem is not bad. The Left state: the final section of the Right’s poem is unsatisfactory.
In judgement: Both poems use ‘matting’ (samushiro), and the Left’s is not bad in form, but the theme of a person who has grown to hate their own bed so much that dust alone gathers there is completely different from that of the previous round – what sort of lover might they have had, one wonders! Although I wonder about the final section of the Right’s poem, it does not seem to regret the overall conception of love and so wins the round.
Left
うちとけて誰に衣を重ぬらんまろがまろ寝も夜深き物を
| uchitokete tare ni koromo o kasanuran maro ga marone mo yobukaki mono o |
Loosening them, With whom does he clothes Pile together? Sleeping all alone How deep this night is… |
A Servant Girl
1121
Right (Win)
思わび寝る夜の床の露しげみ身のしろ衣かす人もがな
| omoiwabi neru yo no toko no tsuyu shigemi mi no shirogoromo kasu hito mo gana |
In the grief of love, Sleeping at night, my bed Is soaked through with dew; To lend me an over-mantle Is there no one at all… |
Lord Tsune’ie
1122
The Right state: the final section of the Left’s poem is difficult to grasp. The Left state: the Right’s poem has no faults to mention.
In judgement: the Left’s ‘sleeping all alone how deep this night is…’ (maro ga marone mo yobukaki mono o) does not sound as if it links with the initial section of the poem. ‘Alone’ (maro) is also unacceptable. The Right’s ‘to lend me an over-mantle’ (mi no shirogoromo) sounds elegant. I make it the winner.
Left
独寝を今は何にかになぐさめん隣の笛も吹やみぬなり
| hitorine o ima wa nani ni ka nagusamen tonari no fue mo fukiyaminu nari |
Sleeping solo, Now, how can I Console myself? For the flute next door Has ceased to play… |
Kenshō
1081
Right (Win)
よなよなは枕になれし笛竹のいかなる床にふしかはるらん
| yonayona wa makura ni nareshi fuetake no ikanaru toko ni fushi kawaruran |
Night after night By my pillow used to be A flute, but What bed is it that He has gone to lie in now? |
Ietaka
1082
The Right state: the Left’s poem is mundane. The Left state: what does it mean that a flute is used to lying by a pillow?
In judgement: the Left’s poem has ‘for the flute next door has ceased to play’ (tonari no fue mo fukiyaminu nari), but I wonder if this should not be ‘for the flute next door will cease to play’ (tonari no fue mo fukiyamu). In the rhapsody which Xiang Xu wrote on thinking of times long gone, he says this about a neighbour playing an old flute, ‘Next door, there is a man who plays the flute. The sound emerges, echoing clear,’ without any suggestion that he has stopped playing, so I wonder how appropriate it is in this poem to say that the playing has stopped. The diction of the Right’s poem, ‘by my pillow use to be’ (makura ni nareshi) seems fine. Thus, the Right wins.
Left (Win)
うらやまず臥す猪の床はやすくとも歎も形見寢ぬも契りを
| urayamazu fusu i no toko wa yasukutomo nageku mo katami nenu mo chigiri o |
I do not envy The boar lounging in his bed: He may be at ease, yet Grief, too, is a memento; Lying sleepless marks our bond… |
Lord Sada’ie
1061
Right
いかにわれ臥す猪の床に身をかへて夢の程だに契結はん
| ika ni ware fusu i no toko ni mi o kaete yume no hodo dani chigiri musuban |
Somehow I To a boar lounging in his bed Would change myself, and For just a brief dream’s length Would form a bond with you… |
Lord Takanobu
1062
The Gentlemen of the Right state: the initial line of the Left’s poem sounds poor. The sense of the ending, too, is difficult to grasp. The Gentlemen of the Left state: we wonder about the appropriateness of changing oneself into a bed.
In judgement: both Left and Right refer to ‘a boar lounging in his bed’ (fusu i no toko), and it has been mentioned that the initial line of the Left’s poem sounds poor, and that its ending is difficult to grasp. There really are a number of unacceptable aspects to this poem, are there not, so I cannot add any further words to what has been said. The Right’s poem is not suggesting that one change oneself into a bed. It is saying that one should briefly become a boar, that one might dream briefly of love. How can one possibly see the dream of a boar lying asleep? It certainly seems inferior to ‘not envying a lounging boar’.