Tag Archives: yowa

Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 50

Round Twenty-Five

Left

うちしぐれものさびしかるあしのやのこやのねざめにみやここひしも

uchishigure
mono sabishikaru
ashi no ya no
koya no nezame ni
miyako koishi mo
A slight shower is
All the more lonely
In a reed-roofed
Hut in Koya, starting awake and
Longing for the capital more…

Lord Sanesada
99

Right

あはれにもよはにすぐなるしぐれかななれもやたびのそらにいでつる

aware ni mo
yowa ni sugu naru
shigure kana
nare mo ya tabi no
sora ni idetsuru
How sad is
At midnight a passing
Shower!
Have you, too, on a journey
Into the skies departed?

Lord Toshinari
100

The configuration of the Left’s poem, beginning with ‘All the more lonely’ and concluding with ‘Longing for the capital more’, has already penetrated the boundaries of mystery and depth. It sounds particularly pleasant. The poem of the Right is the judge’s own meagre work. Thus, in accordance with precedent I shall refrain from rendering a judgement.

Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 34

Round Nine

Left (Win)

うらさむくしぐるるよはのたびごろもきしのはにふにいたくにほひぬ

ura samuku
shigururu yowa no
tabigoromo
kishi no hanyū ni
itaku nioinu
The bay is cold with
Midnight showers, as
My traveller’s robe
With the shore’s ochre clay
Is deeply stained.

Taifu
67

Right

おもへただみやこのうちのねざめだにしぐるるそらはあはれならずや

omoe tada
miyako no uchi no
nezame dani
shigururu sora wa
aware narazu ya
Simply think of me, when
Within the capital
You start from sleep—
A showery sky is
Sad, isn’t it?

Sadanaga
68

While configuration of the Left’s poem, saying ‘With the shore’s ochre clay / Is deeply stained’ feels crude, it does appear to be in the style of the Myriad Leaves. As for the Right’s poem, its conception is good, but starting, ‘Simply think of me’ begs the question of who this is said to. Such diction is used in poetry exchanges or love poems, in particular. The Left’s poem is most likely superior.

Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 32

Round Seven

Left (Tie)

きしちかみたびねのとこをうつなみのかへるひまにぞしぐれとはしる

kishi chikami
tabine no toko o
utsu nami no
kaeru hima ni zo
shigure to wa shiru
Close by the coast
My journey’s bed is
Struck by waves;
In the space as they withdraw,
I know that showers are falling.

Dharma Master Yūsei
63

Right

しばのとをたたくあらしのおとにまたしぐれうちそふたびのよはかな

shiba no to o
tataku arashi no
oto ni mata
shigure uchisou
tabi no yowa kana
Upon my brushwood door
The storm wind came a’knocking;
The sound then
Laced with showers,
At midnight on my travels!

Norimori
64

In the Left’s poem, it sounds as if the shower is continuing to fall quietly, yet it then appears to have the conception that one knows the showers are falling in the gaps between the waves breaking. In the Right’s poem, ‘The storm wind came a’knocking; / The sound then’ sounds charming, but I do wonder about how it looks to have lines beginning beginning with both ‘brushwood door’ [shiba no to] and ‘showers’ [shigure]. Thus, again, these tie.

Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 28

Round Three

Left

まきのやのしぐれのおとにゆめさめてみやここひしきねにぞぬれぬる

maki no ya no
shigure no oto ni
yume samete
miyako koishiki
ne ni zo nurenuru
Beneath a roof of cypress boards
The sound of showers
Wakes me from my dreams, and
Longing for the capital
I drench myself with weeping.

Chūnagon
55

Right (Win)

たびねするのぢのしばやにおとづれてすぐるはよはのしぐれなりけり

tabinesuru
noji no shibaya ni
otozurete
suguru wa yowa no
shigure narikeri
Sleeping on my travels
Cross the plains in a brushwood hut
A sound comes calling,
Passing by at midnight—
A shower.

Sokaku
56

The style of the Left’s poem is elegant but, in addition to feeling that there may well be cypress roofs in places other than the capital, the final line is insufficient, I think. The Right’s poem has nothing remarkable about it, but it sounds pleasant. I make it the winner.

Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 27

Round Two

Left (Win)

ならしばのたびのいほりにおとづれてしぐれもいまぞやまめぐりする

narashiba no
tabi no iori ni
otozurete
shigure mo ima zo
yama megurisuru
Oak boughs make
My traveller’s hut, where
I am visited by the sound of
Showers—they, too, now
Are on pilgrimage through the mountains.[1]

Shōkaku
53

Right

たびごろもうらがなしかるあさぢふによはのしぐれよいかにせよとぞ

tabigoromo
uraganashikaru
asajū ni
yowa no shigure yo
ika ni seyo to zo
In my traveller’s garb and
Sad at heart among
The clumps of cogon grass,
O, midnight shower,
Tell me, what I am I to do?[2]

Jakuchō
54

While both Left and Right sound pleasant, I make the Left the winner, because it sounds slightly more moving at present, with a traveller’s hut being visited by showers.


[1]Alluding to: Composed when caught in a shower, while making a pilgrimage to one hundred temples in Higashiyama.  もろともに山めぐりするしぐれかなふるにかひなき身とはしらずや morotomo ni / yamamegurisuru / shigure kana / furu ni kainaki / mi to wa shirazu ya  ‘Together with me / On my mountain pilgrimage are / The showers! / ‘Tis pointless to fall / On my sorry self, don’t you know!’ Master of the Left Capital Office Michimasa (SKS IV: 149)

[2] Alluding to: 旅ごろもうらがなしさにあかしかね草の枕は夢もむすばず tabigoromo / uraganashisa ni / akashikane / kusa no makura wa / yume mo musubazu  ‘In my traveller’s garb / My heart-sickness / I cannot lift, for / My grassy pillow / Brings no dreams, at all…’ Hikaru Genji (Genji monogatari 223)

Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 26

Showers at one’s lodgings on a journey

Round One

Left

しぐれするもみぢのにしきゆかしきにあけてをたたむふたむらのやま

shiguresuru
momiji no nishiki
yukashiki ni
akete o tatamu
futamura no yama
Under the showers
The scarlet leaves’ brocade
I long to see, so
With the dawn let’s set forth
To Mount Futamura!

Jakunen
51

Right (Win)

みやこにもおもひやすらむくさまくらうちしぐれたるよはのねざめを

miyako ni mo
omoiyasuramu
kusamakura
uchishiguretaru
yowa no nezame o
Even in the capital
Might you think of me?
On a grassy pillow
With a shower
Awoken at midnight…

Suke
52

The Left poem’s ‘With the dawn let’s set forth / To Mount Futamura’ sounds charming, but as we can see from Lord Kanesuke’s poem ‘Futami Bay / Let’s see with the dawn’, it is quite pedestrian. Then there is the expression ‘long to see’—this really isn’t appropriate diction for poetry. I will admit that it appears from time to time in imperial anthologies, and so it is certainly permissible depending upon the style of the poem, though. There’s also the term ‘long to know’—one really shouldn’t use diction in a poetry match which doesn’t express the poet’s true feelings. As for the Right’s poem, it’s also quite pedestrian to say that showers fall on one’s way on a journey, but don’t necessarily fall in the capital, but saying that folk there might think of you waking on your journey, well, why wouldn’t they do that? The conception of the poem is pleasant, and I make it the winner.