Tag Archives: years

Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 60

Round Ten

Left (Win)

かぞふればやとせへにけりあはれわがしづみしことはきのふとおもふに

kasoureba
yatose henikeri
aware wa ga
shizumishi koto wa
kinō to omou ni
When I count them up,
Many years have passed, but
Sadness
Overcomes me for the events
Of yesterday, I feel…

Lord Sanesada
119

Right

いたづらにふりぬるみをもすみよしのまつはさりともあはれしるらむ

itazura ni
furinuru mi o mo
sumiyoshi no
matsu wa sari tomo
aware shiruramu
How quickly
Age has come upon my flesh, too—
Sumiyoshi’s
Pines must that
Sadness know too well…

Lord Toshinari
120

The poem of the Left: these are not matters which could be understood by just anyone, yet even a superficial glance at it reveals that its conception and configuration display and exceptional sadness. How true it is that off all the myriad things in our lives it is the events of yesterday and today that we recall, and this is how we pass through the years and months, so how difficult, indeed, it is to supress the configuration of ‘When I count them up, / Many years have passed’! As for the Right’s poem, well, the conception of the initial section is pedestrian at best, although the latter section does seem to have some conception to it in places and shows some signs of thought. It is the poor composition of the judge, who is into his dotage. Once more, therefore, I have not rendered judgement, however, I feel that the deity would determine in favour of the Left.

Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 58

Round Eight

Left

よのなかをうみわたりつつとしへぬることはつもりのかみやたすけむ

yo no naka o
umiwataritsutsu
toshi henuru
koto wa tsumori no
kami ya tasukemu
In this mundane world,
An endless sea of suffering,
Have my years gone by;
Might Tsumori’s
Deity save me, I wonder?

Dharma Master Shun’e
115

Right (Win)

いへのかぜわがみのうへにすずしかれかみのしるしをあふぐとならば

ie no kaze
wa ga mi no ue ni
suzushikare
kami no shirushi o
augu to naraba
My house’s breeze of fortune
To my sorry self
I would bring cool, if
For a sign from the God
I were to seek…

Lord Sanekuni
116

The Left’s conception is charming, beginning with ‘An endless sea of suffering’ and following this with ‘Might Tsumori’s / Deity save me, I wonder?’, but ‘endless sea of suffering’ does not sound like acceptable diction. The Right’s conception of ‘For a sign from the God / I were to seek’ sounds charming, so I make it the winner.

Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 52

Round Two

Left (Tie)

すみよしときこゆるさとにいとはずはおきどころなきみをやどさばや

sumiyoshi to
kikoyuru sato ni
itowazu wa
okidokoro naki
mi o yadosaba ya
A pleasant place to live is Sumiyoshi’s
Estate, or so I’ve heard, but
If it provide no comfort, then
My restless
Self might it attract…

Lord Kinshige
103

Right

すぎていにしあきにおくれてしもがるるきくやわがみのたぐひなるらむ

sugite inishi
aki ni okurete
shimogaruru
kiku ya wa ga mi no
tagui naruramu
Past and gone is
Autumn, but lingering,
Frost-burned
Chrysanthemums—is my sorry self
Just like them, I wonder?

Enjitsu
104

Neither the poem of the Left, nor of the Right, sound as if they have any particular faults. Nevertheless, in the case of such poems the assessment varies depending upon the speaker. While the poem of the Left is, indeed, pitiful, it also sounds a bit crude. It would be elegant, I think, if it were a woman’s poem. As for the Right’s poem, if we take it as an expression of grief over orphanhood, then in the final analysis it’s charming as it matches the conception of a scion of a noble house picturing himself as the monarch of the flowers. Then again, we do have the poem by the Enkyū Third Prince:

うゑおきしきみもなきよにとしへたる花は我が身のここちこそすれ

ueokishi
kimi mo naki yo ni
toshi hetaru
hana wa wa ga mi no
kokochi koso sure
You planted them here,
My Lord, though gone from this world,
These many years past—
The flowers and my sorry self
Both feel the same…[1]

This would seem to be in the same vein. Given that the speaker of both poems is unclear, for the moment, these tie.


[1] Composed when viewing the blossom at the Enshūji and recalling former Emperor Gosanjō (KYS IX: 518).

Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 23

Left (Tie)

すみよしのきしうつなみにてる月はこかげもあかしまつのむらだち

sumiyoshi no
kishi utsu nami ni
teru tsuki wa
kokage mo akashi
matsu no muradachi
At Sumiyoshi
Upon the waves, striking the shore,
Shines the moon—
The shadows of the trees are bright
Among the crowding pines.

Chūnagon, in service to the Former Ise Virgin[1]
45

Right

としふりてかみさびにけるすみのえのきしのたまもをみがく月かげ

toshi furite
kamisabinikeru
suminoe no
kishi no tamamo o
migaku tsukikage
Ancient in years is
The dread
Suminoe
Shore, where gemweed
Is polished by the moonlight.

Novice Sokaku[2]
46

The Left’s poem has a truly charming conception, with ‘Upon the waves, striking the shore, / Shines the moon’ reflecting and making the pines’ shadows shine. However, what are we to make of the use of ‘bright’ here? My late master once stated that he had too often heard such diction being used. The poem of the right appears to have pleasant configuration and diction, but, while it is only natural to say that the Suminoe’s shore is dread, I wonder about the appropriateness of going so far as to say that gemweed is? It’s going a bit far, I think, to bring in ‘gemweed’ simply to link it to ‘polish’. Nevertheless, the configuration of the poem appears pleasant, so I call this a tie.


[1] Zen-saigū no Chūnagon前斎宮中納言

[2] Shami Sokaku沙弥素覚

SZS XX: 1261

Composed when Middle Counsellor Ienari had gone to Sumiyoshi and they were composing poems.

神世よりつもりのうらにみやゐしてへぬらんとしのかぎりしらずも

kamiyo yori
tsumori no ura ni
miya’ishite
henuran toshi no
kagiri shirazu mo
Since the Age of Gods
At the Bay of Tsumori
Has there been a shrine;
The years it will endure
Know no bounds at all!

Major Counsellor Takasue

Kyōgoku no miyasudokoro uta’awase 07

Original

わかなつむとしはへぬれどかすがのののもりはけふやはるをしるらむ

wakana tsumu
toshi wa henuredo
kasugano no
nomori wa kyō ya
haru o shiruramu
Plucking fresh herbs do
The years pass by, yet
On Kasuga Plain,
The wardens today
Must truly know ‘tis spring. [1]

Mitsune
19

Left (Tie)

けふ見てぞわれはしりぬるはなはなほかすがののべのものにぞありける

kyō mite zo
ware wa shirinuru
hana wa nao
kasuga no nobe no
mono ni zo arikeru
Today did I see, and
Understood it well, that
Blossom, truly,
Upon the meadows of Kasuga
Is best of all.

20

Right

ありへてもかすがののもりはるにあふはとしもわかなもつめるしるしか

arihete mo
kasuga no nomori
haru ni au wa
toshi mo wakana mo
tsumeru shirushi ka
Over passing ages,
For the wardens of Kasuga,
Encountering the springtime,
The years and the fresh herbs, both,
Have garnered as a sign, perhaps.

21


[1] A variant of this poem occurs in Shokugosenshū: In the twenty-first year of the same era, on a day when the Kyōgoku Lady of the Bedchamber visited the shrine at Kasuga, he composed this in place of the official from the province of Yamato. としごとにわかなつみつつかすが野ののもりもけふやはるをしるらん toshi goto ni / wakana tsumitsutsu / kasugano no / nomori mo kyō ya / haru o shiruran ‘Every single year / Ever plucking fresh herbs / On Kasuga Plain / The wardens, too, today / Must truly know ‘tis spring.’Mitsune (XVI: 1032/1029)

Daikōtaigōgū daijin kiyosuke-ason ke uta’awase 30

Round Thirty

Personal Grievances

Left (Tie)

としをへて梅も桜もさくものを我が身のはるにまちぞかねぬる

toshi o hete
ume mo sakura mo
saku mono o
wa ga mi no haru ni
machi zo kanenuru
The years go by and
The plum and cherry, too,
Burst into bloom, yet
For the springtime of my sorry self
It is so hard to have waited!

Kiyosuke
59

Right

数ならで年へぬる身は今さらに世をうしとだにおもはざりけり

kazu narade
toshi henuru mi wa
ima sara ni
yo o ushi to dani
omowazarikeri
Innumerable are
The years I’ve passed, but
Right now, that
The world is a cruel place, even
I do not think.

Shun’e
60

Both of these have no faults to point out, but also no superlative parts either.

Daikōtaigōgū daijin kiyosuke-ason ke uta’awase 27

Round Twenty-Seven

Left

我が恋はすさの入江のこもり江のおもひこめても年をふるかな

wa ga koi wa
susa no irie no
komorie no
omoikomete mo
toshi o furu kana
My love is as
Susa Inlet’s
Hidden creeks:
Ever filling my thoughts
As the years pass by!

Masashige
53

Right (Win)

わが恋はおとなし河の浪なれやおもひかくれどきく人もなし

wa ga koi wa
otonashigawa no
nami nare ya
omoikakuredo
kiku hito mo nashi
Is my love
As the River Silent’s
Waves?
Passion fills me, yet
She never listens at all…

Atsuyori
54

The Right’s conception and diction are suitable and the overall impression is not bad at all.