穂にも出でぬ角田の稲葉うち靡きくるればかよふ秋風の声
| ho ni mo idenu kadoda no inaba uchinabiki kurureba kayou akikaze no koe |
The ears have sprouted In the paddies of Kadoda Fluttering Back and forth at dusk With the whispers of the Autumn wind. |
Ietaka
家隆
Monthly Archives: March 2016
Nōinshū 108
Love IV: 13
Left.
物思へばひま行く駒も忘られてくらす涙を先おさふらん
| mono’omoeba hima yuku koma mo wasurarete kurasu namida o mazu osauran |
Sunk in gloomy thought, That the hours had flown so fast I did forget; First, the tears shadowing my sight I should suppress… |
A Servant Girl.
805
Right (Win).
人知れぬ戀忘れ貝拾ひかね塩の干る間も袖は濡れけり
| hito shirenu koi wasuregai hiroikane shio no hiru ma mo sode wa nurekeri |
Unknown to all is My love, and a forgotten mussel shell I could not find, so Even when the beach is daytime dry My sleeves are soaked. |
The Provisional Master of the Empress’ Household Office.
806
The Right state: while ‘shadowed’ (kakikurasu) is a normal turn of phrase, we find ‘tears shadowing my sight’ (kurasu namida) to be unsatisfactory. The Left state: we wonder about the appropriateness of using shio no hiru ma alone for a play on words with hiru.
In judgement: The Left’s ‘That the hours had flown so fast I did forget’ (hima yuku koma mo wasurarete) gives the impression that the conception of the poem ought to be of waiting for dusk, but ‘First, the tears shadowing my sight I should suppress’ (kurasu namida o mazu osauran) seems to be something entirely different. As for the Right’s ‘Even when the beach is daytime dry my sleeves are soaked’ (shio no hiru ma mo sode wa nurekeri), I ask you, how can you think daytime isn’t a part of the phrase? The Right must win.
Love IV: 12
Left.
ひとり寢の袖の名殘の朝じめり日影に消えぬ露もありけり
| hitorine no sode no nagori no asajimeri hikage ni kienu tsuyu mo arikeri |
Sleeping solo My sleeves remain Damp in the morning; The sunlight leaves untouched The dewfall there. |
A Servant Girl.
803
Right (Win).
道芝を分けて露けき袖ならば濡れても暮を待たまし物を
| michishiba o wakete tsuyukeki sode naraba nuretemo kure mo matamashi mono o |
If the roadside grasses, Have brushed dewfall On these sleeves, May to dampen them again, ‘til evening I would wish to wait… |
Ietaka.
804
The Right state: we find no faults in the Left’s poem. The Left state: there is a very recent poem, ‘If he would be wet with waves should surely wait for evening?’.
In judgement: simply saying, ‘Sleeping solo my sleeves remain damp in the morning’ (hitorine no sode no nagori no asajimeri) seems to lack the conception of love. I wonder who might have written the ‘recent poem’, ‘If he would be wet with waves should surely wait for evening?’ mentioned by the Right? How, indeed, can we avoid poems which are not in the anthologies? In any case, the poem here is ‘May to dampen them again, ‘til evening I would wish to wait’ and the initial line is different. This level of resemblance between poems is not uncommon. The Right’s poem is pleasant. It should win.
SZS XIII: 820
Composed on the conception of swearing one’s love in the middle of the day:
涙にや朽ちはてなましから衣袖のひるまと頼めざりせば
| namida ni ya kutiFatenamasi karakoromo sode no Firuma to tanomezariseba |
With tears Completely rotted will be My Cathay robe For to daytime dry the sleeves There is no one I can trust. |
Nakahara no Kiyoshige
中原清重
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)
Izumi shikibu nikki 81
KKS XV: 777
Love IV: 11
Left.
雲かゝり重なる山を越えもせず隔てまさるは明くる日の影
| kumo kakari kasanaru yama o koe mo sezu hedate masaru wa akuru hi no kage |
Trailed with cloud, The layered mountains I have not gone beyond, but What stands between us most is The light of the brightening sun. |
Lord Sada’ie.
801
Right (Win).
いさ命思ひは夜半に盡き果てぬ夕も待たじ秋の曙
| isa inochi omoi wa yowa ni tsukihatenu yūbe mo mataji aki no akebono |
I know not what’s to become of my life! All my thoughts of love in the hours of night Are quite exhausted, and I cannot wait for evening On this autumn dawn… |
Nobusada.
802
The Right state: from ‘Trailed with cloud’ (kumo kakari) to ‘The light of the brightening sun’ (akuru hi no kage), all is entirely unacceptable, is it not? The Left state: we wonder about the acceptability of ‘I know not what’s to become of my life’ (isa inochi).
In judgement: the Right have said that the Left’s poem is unacceptable from beginning to end, but can one really go so far as to say that? Furthermore, the Left query whether ‘I know not what’s to become of my life’, but I wonder whether I can recall this phrase being that bad. However, one is accustomed to saying that ‘this spring dawn’ (haru no akebono) is elegant, and although ‘this autumn dawn’ (aki no akebono) is a modern expression, the faults of the Left’s poem are particularly problematic, so the Right should win.
Love IV: 10
Left.
朝戸出の妹が振りこす黒髪は見るよそ目さへ心亂れぬ
| asa tode no imo ga furikosu kurokami wa miru yosome sae kokoro midarenu |
In the morning, opening the door Draped with my love’s Tresses of black: The sight any Heart would excite! |
Kenshō.
799
Right.
立ちかへり惜しみし袖の移り香をよそにも今は思こそやれ
| tachikaeri oshimishi sode no utsuriga o yoso ni mo ima wa omoi koso yare |
Reluctant To leave, upon my sleeves Her scent was left, and Now, so far away, It recalls her still… |
Jakuren.
800
The Right state: the Left’s poem is pretentious. The Left state: the conception of morning fails to appear in the Right’s poem.
In judgement: Although the Left’s ‘tresses of black’ (kurokami) is used extremely frequently, the configuration of combining it with ‘my love, opening the door in the morning’ (asa tode no imo) whose ‘sight any heart would excite’ (miru yosome sae kokoro midare) is terrifying, is it not? The Right’s ‘upon my sleeves her scent was left’ (sode no utsuriga) does not sound objectionable. Although the conception of morning there is lacking, the Left simply has ‘tresses of black’ the ‘heart would excite’, which does not sound particularly in keeping with Love so, overall, the round should tie.