あしひきの山遠き月を空におきて月影高き末の架け橋
ashihiki no yama tōki tsuki o sora ni okite tsukikage takaki sue no kakehashi | Leg-wearying, Above the distant mountains, the moon Hangs in the sky; Soaring moonbeams A bridge between the peaks. |
Shōhaku 肖柏 (1443-1527)
あしひきの山遠き月を空におきて月影高き末の架け橋
ashihiki no yama tōki tsuki o sora ni okite tsukikage takaki sue no kakehashi | Leg-wearying, Above the distant mountains, the moon Hangs in the sky; Soaring moonbeams A bridge between the peaks. |
Shōhaku 肖柏 (1443-1527)
[One of] two poems about the early moon by Hashihito no Ōura.
倉橋の山を高みか夜隠りに出で来る月の光乏しき
kurapasi no yama wo takami ka yogomori ni idekuru tuki no pikari tomosiki | Is it Kurahashi Mountain’s height? In the depths of night The emerging moon’s Light is feeble, indeed. |
Hashihito no Ōura
間人大浦
Left
年深き入江の秋の月見ても別惜しまぬ人やかなしき
toshi fukaki irie no aki no tsuki mitemo wakare oshimanu hito ya kanashiki | Late on in the year Above the bay one evening, Glimpsing the moon: That he cares not at their parting – Is that a source of sadness? |
A Servant Girl
1199
Right (Win)
ともすれば別を知らぬ浪の上にかきなす音をも人は問けり
tomo sureba wakare o shiranu nami no ue ni kakinasu ne o mo hito wa toikeri | As ever, In ignorance of our parting, Upon the waves The strains I pluck Bring folk to ask me why… |
Ietaka
1200
Both Gentlemen state: the poems are based on ‘The Song of the Lute’ and have no faults to mention.
In judgement: both the Left and the Right are based on ‘The Song of the Lute’ and the Left, beginning with ‘late on in the year’ (toshi fukaki) is pleasant, but ‘that he cares not at their parting’ (wakare oshimanu) and what follows seems rather insufficient, in addition to simply seeming to recall Xunyang River and lack a conception of the poet’s own love. The Right has ‘in ignorance of our parting’ (wakare o shiranu), while ‘bring folk to ask me why’ (hito wa toikeri) also has a slight conception that the lady has not asked why either. Thus, the Right should win.
Composed when a man who had said she could definitely rely on him to come with the evening, said she would not see him until the 20th of the month.
契りおきし人も梢の木間よりたのめぬ月の影ぞもりくる
tigiri okisi Fito mo kozuwe no ko no ma yori tanomenu tuki no kage zo morikuru |
He promised, but He does not come, and from the treetops Through the trees The fickle moon’s Light comes dripping. |
Horikawa, from the Regent’s Household
摂政家堀川
Left (Tie).
故郷に見し面影も宿りけり不破の関屋の板間洩る月
furusato ni mishi omokage mo yadorikeri fuwa no sekiya no itama moru tsuki |
Back home I saw her face, and It lodges here, At the Barrier House at Fuwa, In the moonlight leaking through the boards. |
A Servant Girl
1007
Right.
人恋ふる我ながめよ思けり須磨の関屋の有明の月
hito kouru ware nagameyo omoikeri suma no sekiya no ariake no tsuki |
Loving you, I will ever gaze, I thought, At the Barrier House at Suma On the dawntime moon. |
Nobusada
1008
The Right state: the Left’s poem is good. The Left state: the Right’s poem lacks any faults to indicate.
In judgement: the Left’s ‘Barrier House at Fuwa’ (fuwa no sekiya) followed by ‘the moonlight leaking through the boards’ (itama moru tsuki) is truly charming. In addition, if one wonders why ‘I saw her face’ (mishi omokage mo) has been used, it is certainly reminiscent of the poem ‘The dawntime moon, too, lodges in the waters clear’, but an improvement on it. It is difficult to say, however, that the Right’s ‘At the Barrier House at Suma on the dawntime moon’ (suma no sekiya no ariake no tsuki) is in any way inferior.
Left (Win).
我が恋は片裏染めの唐衣かへして寝るや色に見ゆるらむ
wa ga koFi Fa kata’urazome no karakoromo kaFesite nuru ya iro ni miyurururamu |
For my love An inner-dyed Cathay robe I will reverse – in sleep, then, I wonder will I see passion’s hues? |
Shichirō 七郎
[Minamoto no Ie’yori 源家職]
31
Right.
寝ぬままに月を眺めて明かすかな闇には恋もなぐさかじかし
nenu mama ni tuki wo nagamete akasu kana yami ni Fa koFi mo nagusamazikasi |
While sleepless I gaze upon the moon ‘til dawn! For in the darkness my love Would gain no consolation! |
Saburō 三郎
[Minamoto no Kanemasa 源兼昌]
32
Left (Win).
思ひあまりながむる空の掻き曇り月さへ我を厭ひつるかな
omoFi’amari nagamuru sora no kakikumori tuki saFe ware wo itoFituru kana |
Filled full with love The sky on which I turn my gaze Is drowned in darkness; Even the moon from me Does shy! |
The Consultant Middle Captain 宰相中将
[Minamoto no Kuninobu 源国信]
25
Right.
嵐吹く夜寒の里の寝覚めにはいとど人こそ恋ひしかりけれ
arasi Fuku yo samu no sato no nezame ni Fa itodo Fito koso koFisikarikere |
Stom winds rage Round my night-chilled home; Starting from sleep How much more do I love her now… |
The Minister of Justice 刑部卿
[Minamoto no Akinaka 源顕仲]
26
我見ても類覚えぬ月の夜はふりぬる人ぞ待つ問はれける
ware mitemo tagui oboenu tsuki no yo wa furinuru hito zo matsu towarekeru |
I see it yet, I cannot recall its like; On a moonlit night I have grown old Awaiting your coming! |
Minamoto no Yorimasa
源頼政
Composed gazing at the moon when there were baseless rumours about her.
如何にせむ歎の杜は茂けれど木の間の月の隱れなき世を
ika ni semu nageki no mori Fa sigekeredo ko no ma no tuki no kakurenaki yo wo |
What am I to do? The sacred groves of Nageki with grief Grow lush, yet Between the trees, from the moon There is no hiding in this world. |
The Daughter of Tachibana no Toshimune
橘俊宗女
The Names of the Buddhas
甲斐無くて月日はふれど年暮れて仏の御名を聞くぞうれしき
kainakute tsukihi wa furedo toshi kurete hotoke no mina o kiku zo ureshiki |
Pointlessly The days and months go by, yet At year’s twilight The Buddhas’ names I hear with joy! |