Left
さりともと待べき程の情かは人頼めなる蛛のふるまゐ
sari tomo to
matsubeki hodo no
nasake ka wa
hito tanomenaru
kumo no furumai |
However faint, I thought,
Through all my waiting hours
Were his feelings,
He can be trusted,
Says the spider’s spinning! |
Lord Ari’ie
1071
Right (Win)
はかなくぞさもあらましに待たれぬる頼めぬ宵の蜘蛛のふるまゐ
hakanaku zo
sa mo aramashi ni
matarenuru
tanomenu yoi no
kumo no furumai |
Fleeting, but
So be it, then, I thought,
Awaiting;
How unreliable is this night’s
Spider’s spinning… |
Lord Takanobu
1072
Left and Right together: both poems are about spiders, and have no faults to mention.
In judgement: both poems seem elegant in their reference to ‘spider’s spinning’ (kumo no furumai). However, the Left’s central section recalls ‘Men are not trees or stone – they have feelings’ – while this is elegant diction in Chinese composition, it does not seem so in our own poetry. The Right’s ‘so be it then, I thought’ (sa mo aramashi) is fine, but ‘unreliable is this night’ (tanomenu yoi) sounds as if the night is already over. Princess Sotōri, too, has ‘must surely come tonight’ (kubeki yoi nari), but then appears to have ‘a certain sign’ (kanete shirushi mo). Still, this is surely describing a situation where one once had doubts, but feel that tonight is reliable. The Right is slightly superior.
Left (Tie)
思ひかねうち寢る宵もありなまし吹だにすさめ庭の松風
omoikane
uchineru yoi mo
arinamashi
fuki dani susame
niwa no matsukaze |
Unable to bear the pains of love, and
Dozing through the night –
That happens sometimes;
O, just blow gently,
Breeze through the garden pines! |
A Servant Girl
1043
Right
思ひかねながむれば又夕日さす軒端の岡の松もうらめし
omoikane
nagamureba mata
yūhi sasu
nokiba no oka no
matsu mo urameshi |
Unable to bear the pains of love,
When I gaze out, once more
The evening sun shines
Past my eaves, where on the hillside
Even the pines seem resentful… |
Ietaka
1044
Same as the previous round.
In judgement: here we have ‘O, just blow gently’ (fuki dani susame), and the Right has ‘Past my eaves, where on the hillside’ (nokiba no oka no): these recollect the poems ‘in the depths of sleep I tread to you’ (uchinuru naka ni yukikayou) and ‘the beams strike the hillside through the pine needles’ (sasu ya okabe no matsu no ha); both sound elegant. I make this round a tie.
庭に立つ麻布小衾今宵だに妻よしこせぬ麻ち小衾
niFa ni tatu
asade kobusuma
koyoFi dani
tuma yosikosenu
asati kobusuma |
Standing in the grounds,
Hemp, turned meagre bedding, but
Even on this night
My wife will not draw near
My hempen bedding! |
Left (Win).
さはらずは今宵ぞ君を頼むべき袖には雨の時わかねども
sawarazu wa
koyoi zo kimi o
tanomubeki
sode ni wa ame no
toki wakanedomo |
If you were unhindered
On this night, then, my love,
In you I could trust;
But on my sleeves the rain
Falls without surcease… |
Lord Sada’ie.
945
Right.
來ぬ人を待つ夜更け行秋の雨は袖にのみ降る心地こそすれ
konu hito o
matsu yo fukeyuku
aki no ame wa
sode ni nomi furu
kokochi koso sure |
When a man who fails to come
Is awaited and the night grows late,
The autumn rain
Falls on my sleeves, alone –
That is what I feel! |
Ietaka.
946
The Right state: the phrase ‘if you were unhindered’ (sawarazu wa) sounds poor. The Left state: the Right have simply composed a poem just like Lord Yorimasa’s君戀ふとながめあかせる夜の雨は袖にしも降る心地こそすれ kimi kou to / nagame akaseru / yoru no ame wa / sode ni shimo furu / kokochi koso sure ‘That you love me / I have heard enough / This night when the rain / Upon my sleeves especially does fall – / That is what I feel!’.
In judgement: the Left are said to have a poor-sounding phrase, and the Right to have referred to Yorimasa’s poem. That it is difficult to entirely avoid to referring poems outside of the anthologies is something which people still seem to be unable to remember, but the Gentlemen of the Left have recalled this well. The final section of the Right’s poem does bear an uncanny resemblance to Yorimasa’s poem. If there should be a prior example of a phrase’s use, then while it maybe poor-sounding, the Left should win.
On wind.
泊瀬風かく吹く宵はいつまでか衣片敷き我がひとり寝む
patuse kaze
kaku puku yopi pa
itu made ka
koromo katasiki
wa ga pitori nemu |
The winds at Hatsuse
Blow so tonight:
How long will it last?
A single spread robe
Where I sleep alone… |
Anonymous
Left.
いつも聞く物とや人の思らむ來ぬ夕暮れの秋風の聲
itsumo kiku
mono to ya hito no
omouramu
konu yūgure no
akikaze no koe |
Always do I hear
The same, is that what
He thinks?
This evening, when he has not come
Whispers the autumn wind. |
A Servant Girl.
933
Right (Win).
心あらば吹かずもあらなん宵宵に人待つ宿の庭の松風
kokoro araba
fukazu mo aranan
yoiyoi ni
hito matsu yado no
niwa no matsukaze |
If you have any pity,
Then I would not have you blow
Night after night
While I wait for him, through my home’s
Garden pines, o, wind! |
Nobusada.
934
Both Left and Right state: we can grasp the sense of the opposing poem.
In judgement: I am unable to tell what it is that ‘does not come one evening’ (konu yūgure). ‘Whispers the autumn wind’ (akikaze no koe) is also perhaps rather novel. The Right’s ‘Garden pines, o, wind!’ (niwa no matsukaze) sounds pleasant. It should win.
夏草のかりの宵とはわびしくも我に秋風吹き初めつるか
natu kusa no
kari no yoFi to Fa
wabisiku mo
ware ni akikaze
Fukisometuru ka |
The summer grasses
Brief night
Is touched with sorrow, too:
Upon me has the autumn breeze
Begun to blow? |
Left (Win).
頼めぬを待ちつる宵も過果てゝつらさ閉ぢむる片敷の床
tanomenu o
machitsuru yoi mo
sugihatete
turasa tojimuru
katashiki no toko |
He did not say he’d come, and so
To waiting through the night
I have put an end,
Sealing my unhappiness
In a single bed… |
Lord Sada’ie.
835
Right.
我戀や衛士の焚く火となりぬらん夜のみひとり燃えあかす哉
wa ga koi ya
eshi no taku hi to
narinuran
yoru nomi hitori
moeakasu kana |
Has my love, like
Conscripts’ kindled flame
Become?
Through the night alone
Afire? |
Lord Tsune’ie.
836
The Right state: we wonder about the appropriateness of both ‘sealing’ (tojimuru) and ‘a single bed’ (katashiki no toko). The Left state: it sounds as if the ‘conscripts’ kindled flame’ (eshi no taku hi) is alone.
In judgement: the Left’s poem, beginning with ‘to waiting through the night I have put an end’ (machitsuru yoi mo sugihatete) and then continuing with ‘sealing my unhappiness’ (tsurasa tojimuru) does not sound bad, but ‘single bed’ should surely have been ‘sleeve’ (sode). The ‘conscripts kindled flame’ would certainly not have been ‘burning alone’ (hitori moyu). The Left should win, it seems.
'Simply moving and elegant'