Tag Archives: warbler

Kyōgoku no miyasudokoro uta’awase 06

Original

うぐひすのなきつるなへにかすがののけふのみゆきをはなとこそみれ

uguisu no
nakitsuru nae ni
kasugano no
kyō no miyuki o
hana to koso mire
While the warbler
Sings on
Kasuga Plain
Today, accompanying the progress, snow
As blossom does appear.[1]

16

Left (Win)

いまはしもはなとぞいはむかすがののはるのみゆきをなにとかは見む

ima wa shimo
hana to zo iwamu
kasugano no
haru no miyuki o
nani to ka wa mimu
Now, of all,
The blossom, I would describe,
On Kasuga Plain, as
Springtime progress snow—
What else can I say?

17

Right

ふるさとにゆきまじりたるはなと見ばわれにおくるなのべのうぐひす

furusato ni
yukimajiritaru
hana to miba
ware ni okuru na
nobe no uguisu
Around the ancient capital
Have I gone amidst the snow—
If as blossom I did see it, then,
O, don’t send me off,
Warbler upon the plain!

18


[1] SIS 1044 attributed to Fujiwara no Tadafusa ‘Headnote ‘Among the many poems presented by provincial officials, when the Kyōgoku Lady of the Bedchamber visited Kasuga.’

Daikōtaigōgū daijin kiyosuke-ason ke uta’awase 02

Round Two

Left

鶯は春をしりてもなきぬなる我が身は春をしらでこそなけ

uguisu wa
haru o shiritemo
nakinunaru
wa ga mi wa haru o
shirade koso nake
The warbler
Knowing of the springtime
Cries out, but
My sorry self, of spring
All unknowing, cries.

Masashige
3

Right (Win)

杣人よをののおとしばしとどめなん谷の鶯はつねなくなり

somabito yo
ono no oto shibashi
todomenan
tani no uguisu
hatsune nakunari
O, woodcutter,
Your axe’s sound, briefly
Won’t you stop?
For the warbler in the valley
Has let out his first call…

Kenshō
4

The Left’s poem, too, is smooth; the Right poem’s diction is halting, but its conception does not sound bad. It should win, I’d say.

Daikōtaigōgū daijin kiyosuke-ason ke uta’awase 01

Warblers

Round One

Left (Tie)

鶯のなく木の本にふる雪はは風に花のちるかとぞみる

uguisu no
naku ki no moto ni
furu yuki wa
hakaze ni hana no
chiru ka to zo miru
The warbler
Sings from in a tree, its roots
Covered by falling snow;
Breeze stirred by its wingbeats, blossom
Does seem to scatter.

Lord Kiyosuke
1

Right

うぐひすのなきて木づたふ梅がえにこぼるる露や涙なるらん

uguisu no
nakite kozutau
ume ga e ni
koboruru tsuyu ya
namida naruran
The warbler
Crying flits from
Branch to plum branch;
Has the dripping dew
His tears, perhaps, become?

Shun’e
2

Both Left and Right proceed smoothly, but what are we to make of the line ‘Crying flits’ in the Right’s poem? As this is also an expression which implies that dew is falling, these should tie.

MYS X: 1988

On blossom.

鶯之 徃来垣根乃 宇能花之 猒事有哉 君之不来座

うぐひすのかよふかきねのうのはなのうきことあれやきみがきまさぬ

ugupisu no
kayopu kakine no
unopana no
uki koto are ya
kimi ga kimasanu
The warbler
Flits around my brushwood fence’s
Deutzia blooms—
Is there some sad event which
Stops my Lord from coming?

Anonymous

A kuzushiji version of the poem's text.
Created with Soan.