命だにあらば逢ふ瀬を松浦川かへらぬ波もよどめとぞ思ふ
| inochi dani araba ause o matsuragawa kaeranu nami mo yodome to zo omou |
Had I but life left For a rushed meeting I would await, but Matsura River’s Ever parting waves Are silted up, I fear… |
Teika
定家
Tag Archives: waves
Horikawa hyakushu 1455
SKS VII: 211
Composed to be presented as part of a hundred poem sequence, when former Emperor Reizei was Crown Prince.
風をいたみ岩うつ波の己のみくだけてものを思ふ頃かな
| kaze wo itami iFa utu nami no onore nomi kudakete mono wo omoFu koro kana |
The howling winds Strike waves against the crags; I alone, Am shattered, gloom Filling my thoughts these days… |
Minamoto no Shigeyuki
源重之
Sanboku kikashū I: 5
KYS IV: 284
Composed on the conception of snow as part of a hundred poem sequence.
いかにせむ末の松山なみこさば峯の初雪きえもこそすれ
| ika ni semu suwe no matuyama nami kosaba mine no Fatuyuki kie mo koso sure |
What am I to do? If upon the pine-clad peak of Sué The waves should break, The first snows upon the peak Would vanish clear away! |
Minister of the Treasury [Ōe no] Masafusa
大藏卿匡房
GSS IX: 522
GSIS XIV: 770
tonasegawa
戸無瀬河岩間に立たむ筏師や浪に濡れても暮を待つらん
| tonasegawa iwama ni tatamu ikadashi ya nami ni nuretemo kure o matsuran |
At the river Tonase Bursting from between the rocks The raftsman If he would be wet with waves Should surely wait for evening? |
Fujiwara no Toshinari
From ‘The Hundred Poem Sequence Composed at the House of the Minister of the Right’ (1172)
Love III: 6
Left (Win).
袖の波胸の煙は誰も見よ君が憂き名の立つぞ悲しき
| sode no nami mune no kemuri wa tare mo miyo kimi ga ukina no tatsu zo kanashiki |
The waves upon my sleeves, and The smoke rising from my breast – Let all see them! But should you, my love, be called heartless, That would make me sad… |
731
Right.
うとからぬ人こそ今は恨みけれ忍びしほどの心強さを
| utokaranu hito koso ima wa uramikere shinobishi hodo no kokorozuyosa o |
My family and friends Now I do Despise: For when our love was hidden, They were all so cold… |
732
The Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults to indicate. The Left state: by prioritising the emotions of the relatives, the poem does not clearly express the conception of Love.
In judgement: the initial section of the Left’s poem sounds fine, but the final ‘would make me sad’ (kanashiki) is going too far. The Gentlemen of the Left have accurately described the faults of the Right’s poem, but beyond that there is nothing praiseworthy in the poem’s style, either. Thus I make the Left the winner.
Love III: 1
Left.
身にあまる恋は中々よかりけり人目を包む歎きなければ
| mi ni amaru koi wa nakanaka yokarikeri hitome o tsutsumu nagekinakereba |
Made known to all Love is much Better! Hiding from prying eyes: The grief of that is gone! |
721
Right (Win).
みさごゐる磯の松が根浪かけてあらわれにける戀ぞわりなき
| misago iru iso no matsu ga ne nami kakete arawarenikeru koi zo warinaki |
An osprey rests Upon the sea-shore pine, roots Washed by the waves, and Revealed; Love is hopeless… |
722
The Gentlemen of the Right state: ‘better’ (yokarikeri), really? The Left state: ‘hopeless’ (warinaki), too!
Shunzei’s judgement: the Right’s poem seems like it should win. With such a superlative use of ‘better’, I wonder if how good the poem can be!