Groves 原
なにしおはばとらやふすらん東路にあるといふなるもろこしの原
| na ni shi owaba tora ya fusuran azuma ji ni aru to iu naru morokoshi no hara | If the name fits, then Do, indeed, tigers rest Upon the eastern roads, where They say lies Morokoshi grove? |
Tadafusa
Tag Archives: tora
Love VIII: 23
Left (Tie)
身を捨てゝ思へといはゞ唐国の虎臥す谷に世をもつくさん
| mi o sutete omoe to iwaba karakuni no tora fusu tani ni yo o mo tsukusan |
‘Abandon all restraint, and Love me!’ say that, and In far Cathay, In a valley where tiger’s lie Would I end my life! |
Kenshō
1065
Right
もろこしの虎臥す嶋もへだつらん思はぬ中のうときけしきは
| morokoshi no tora fusu shima mo hedatsuran omowanu naka no utoki keshiki wa |
In Cathay, Isles where tigers lie Stand in between: A heedless love’s Chill is such a sight! |
Jakuren
1066
Left and Right together: both tigers do not seem to emphasise anything in particular.
In judgement: both poems refer to ‘tigers’ (tora), with the Left having ‘a valley where tigers lie’ (tora fusu tani) and the Right ‘isles where tigers lie’ (tora fusu shima). These seem to be an attempt to differ from the standard ‘meadow’ (nobe). Saying ‘valley’ or ‘isles’ makes both poems sound modern. They are of the same quality.
Love VIII: 22
Left (Win)
唐国の虎臥す野邊に入るよりもまどふ戀路の末ぞあやうき
| karakuni no tora fusu nobe ni iru yori mo madou koiji no sue zo ayauki |
In far Cathay are Meadows where tigers lie, But rather than entering there, The confusing paths of love Are, at the end, more dangerous… |
Lord Ari’ie
1063
Right
我宿は人もかれ野の淺茅原通ひし駒の跡もとゞめず
| wa ga yado wa hito mo kareno no asajiwara kayoishi koma no ato mo todomezu |
At my home Is only a withered field Of cogon grass; The mount who once did cross it Has left no lingering tracks… |
Ietaka
1064
The Gentlemen of the Right state: how can love be dangerous? The Gentlemen of the Left state: the Right’s poem has no faults to mention.
In judgement: saying that the ‘paths of love are, at the end’ (koiji no sue) dangerous is perfectly commonplace. ‘Is only a withered field of cogon grass’ (hito mo kareno no asajiwara) seems to simply have taken the poem ‘Sedge fields lie / Around the estate of Fushimi, / All long overgrown; / He who passed across them / Has left no tracks at all…’ and swapped in ‘mount who once did cross it’ (kayoishi koma). Changing a man into a mount is discomposing, indeed. Again, the Left should win.