When she was alone, an equiry arrived from someone as to how she was, so she attached this to a morning glory and sent it to him.
夕暮のさびしき物は朝顔の花を頼める宿にぞ有りける
| yuFugure no sabisiki mono Fa asagaFo no Fana wo tanomeru yado ni zo arikeru |
The evening is So lonely: A morning glory Bloom alone is trustworthy At my house! |
Anonymous
心すむ尾上の松の風にまた鹿の音たぐふ秋の夕暮
| kokoro sumu onoe no matsu no kaze ni mata shika no ne taguu aki no yūgure |
Across the enlightened Pines of Onoe The wind, once more Resembles a stag’s cry On an autumn evening. |
夕暮れの霙に染みや溶けぬらむ樽漬づ度に雫落つなり
| yūgure no mizore ni shimi ya tokenuramu taru hizu tabi ni shizuku otsunari |
Is it that the evening Sleet is sharp and Seems unmelting? When the barrels are drenched By falling droplets… |
Minamoto no Kanemasa
源兼昌
Composed at the time a hundred poem sequence was presented, during the reign of former Emperor Horikawa.
山里は淋しかりけり木枯らしの吹く夕暮の日暮の声
| yamazato Fa sabisikarikeri kogarasi no Fuku yuFugure no Figurasi no kowe |
A mountain dwelling Seems lonely: When the chill winter wind Blows on an evening with The sunset cicadas’ song… |
Fujiwara no Nakazane
藤原仲実
今来むと契りしほどの夕暮は荻のは風ぞ人頼めなる
| ima komu to chigirishi hodo no yūgure wa ogi no ha kaze zo hito tanomenaru |
That he would come now He did vow, but On that evening The wind passing o’er the silver grass fronds Alone was faithful to me! |
Fujiwara no Akinaka
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.
Left (Tie).
君がりと浮きぬる心まよふらん雲はいくへぞ空の通ひ路
| kimigari to ukinuru kokoro mayouran kumo wa iku e zo sora no kayoiji |
To your home Drifts my heart In seeming confusion; How may layers must the clouds Pass though on the heavenly paths? |
A Servant Girl.
923
Right.
思やるながめも今は絶えぬとや心をうづむ夕暮の雲
| omoiyaru nagame mo ima wa taenu to ya kokoro o uzumu yūgure no sora |
Lost in thought I gazed at you, but now Is it that it’s done that Buries my heart beneath The evening skies? |
Ietaka.
924
The Right state: we would have preferred it to have been ‘is it that my heart drifts?’ (ukinuru kokoro ya). The Left state: the Right’s poem lacks faults.
In judgement: the final sections of both poems seem fine. For strict correctness, the Left should have had ‘my drifting heart does seem confused’ (ukinuru kokoro wa mayourashi), but because this would not fit with the poem, he has left it as ‘in seeming confusion’ (mayouran). The poem is fine as it is, without introducing ‘is it that my heart’ (kokoro ya). I don’t know what to make of the expression ‘to your home’ (kimigari), but ‘how may layers must the clouds pass though on the heavenly paths?’ (kumo wa iku e zo sora no kayoiji) is charming. Then again, the Right’s ‘buries my heart beneath the evening skies?’ (kokoro o uzumu yūgure no sora) has a gentle beauty about it. Thus, the round should tie.
Left (Tie).
隔てける籬の島のわりなきに住む甲斐なしや千賀の塩釜
| hedatekeru magaki no shima no warinasa ni sumu kai nashi ya chika no shiogama |
Barring our way is The fence – Magaki Isle: So unreasonable That living close is pointless, as if We were at Chika’s salt-kilns! |
Kenshō
885
Right.
忍ぶ草竝ぶ軒端の夕暮に思ひをかはすさゝがにの糸
| shinobugusa narabu nokiba no yūgure ni omoi o kawasu sasagani no ito |
A weeping fern lies Between our almost touching eaves; In the evening Love will pass Along the spider’s thread. |
Ietaka
886
The Right state: the Left’s ‘Magaki Isle’ (magaki no shima) and ‘Chika’s salt kiln’s’ (chika no shiogama) do not seem that nearby, do they? They only evoke closeness through wordplay. The Right state: we find no faults to indicated in the Left’s poem.
In judgement: the Left’s ‘Magaki Isle’ and ‘Chika’s salt kilns’, even if they are not that close, do not display a lack of technique in the conception of the current composition. I do wonder what to think about ‘so unreasonable’ (warinasa ni), though. The Right’s weeping ferns, with the spider’s behaviour transmitting the feelings of love, does not seem unreasonable either. This round, too, the poems are comparable and should tie.
Composed on seeming like the cool of an autumn evening at Lord Toshitsuna’s house.
夏山の楢の葉そよぐ夕暮はことしも秋の心地こそすれ
| natuyama no nara no Fa soyogu yuFugure Fa kotosi mo aki no kokoti koso sure |
In the summer mountains The oak leaves whisper softly With the evening: This year, too, autumn Feels upon me… |
Minamoto no Yoritsuna (1025-1097)
源頼綱
Left (Win).
戀詫びて我と眺めし夕暮も馴るれば人の形見がほなる
| koiwabite ware to nagameshi yūgure mo narureba hito no katamigao naru |
Suffering with love I have gazed Upon the evening dark, So used to it that it Has become your keepsake! |
Lord Sada’ie.
827
Right.
明ぼののあはればかりは忍ぶれど今日をば出でず春の夕暮
| akebono no aware bakari wa shinoburedo kyō oba idezu haru no yūgure |
The dawn’s Sadness, I do just Bear, but, oh, Today, it will never come – The evening in springtime! |
Nobusada.
828
The Right state: when one understands the purport of the Left’s poem, it comes as a revelation. The Left state: in the Right’s poem we are unable to grasp the sense of ‘it will never come’ (idezu). In addition, the conception of Love seems lacking.
In judgement: both poems ‘evenings’ are support by little diction, yet the conception of Love is profound, indeed, such that my own shallow knowledge finds it difficult to grasp. However, the Right’s ‘Today, it will never come’ (kyō oba idezu) certainly does seem difficult to comprehend. I would have to say that the Left’s ‘So used to it that it’ (narureba hito no) is marginally superior.