Left (Win) 誰となく寄せては返る浪枕浮きたる舟の跡もとどめず
tare to naku yosete wa kaeru namimakura ukitaru fune no ato mo todomezu To no one Cleaving, they return; Pillowed on the waves The drifting boats’ Wakes fail to linger long…
A Servant Girl 1151
Right 何方を見ても忍ばむ難波女の浮き寝の跡に消ゆる白浪
izukata o mitemo shinobamu naniwame no ukine no ato ni kiyuru shiranami Whither Should I look in longing? With a girl from Naniwa I slept briefly, but her Wake vanishes among the whitecaps…
Jakuren 1152
Both Left and Right together state: neither poem is bad.
In judgement: both poems seem elegant in configuration and diction, but the Right’s ‘girl from Naniwa’ (naniwame) raises the same issue as ‘diving girl’, only more so – there is not even evidence on this from inclusion in the Collection of Poems to Sing, is there? The Left’s ‘cleaving, they return; pillowed on the waves’ (yosete wa kaeru namimakura) really does seem like a pleasure girl, so I must say it is superior.
Left (Win) 心通ふゆききの舟のながめにもさしてかばかり物は思はじ
kokoro kayou yukiki no fune no nagame ni mo sashite ka bakari mono wa omowaji Her heart goes out On the back-and-forth of boats That fill her gaze, but Surely her Thoughts will not be as mine…
Lord Sada’ie 1149
Right 舟のうち浪の上なる浮き寝には立ち帰るとて袖ぞ濡れける
fune no uchi nami no ue naru ukine ni wa tachikaeru tote sode zo nurekeru Within a boat, Atop the waves I sleep but briefly and When I am to leave, How soaked are my sleeves…
Lord Tsune’ie 1150
As the previous round.
In judgement: the use of ‘surely’ (sashite) in the final section of the Left’s poem sounds like it has been deliberately used to evoke a connection with the earlier ‘boat’ (fune). The initial section of the Right’s poem draws, yet again, on Mochitoki’s over-long line. The latter section also sounds like a deliberate use of evocative language, and the final line lacks impact. It is inferior to the Left’s poem.
Love and Trees. いかなれば朽ちぬる袖ぞ波かかる岩根の松もさてこそはあれ
ika nareba kuchinuru sode zo nami kakaru iwane no matsu mo sate koso wa are For some reason My sleeves have rotted, Washed by waves As pines rooted on the rocks – That is how they are…
Matsuyoi no kojijū
待宵の小侍従
Love and Grasses. 我が恋は隠れぬにおふる草なれや思ふ心を知る人のなき
wa ga koi wa kakurenu ni ouru kusa nare ya omou kokoro o shiru hito no naki Can my love Lie hidden in the growing Grasses? For the feelings in my heart Are known to no one at all…
Fujiwara no Tadamichi
Love and Bridges. 同じくはいもがりゆかば恋すてふ名取の橋を踏まずもあらなん
onajiku wa imogari yukaba koisu chō natori no hashi o fumazu mo aranan ‘Tis ever the same If to my darling’s house I make my way, To love, Upon Natori’s loose-tongued bridge I shall not set my foot.
Fujiwara no Tadamichi
Love and Bridges. 難波がた入江に渡すまろき橋踏みそめしとや人は思はん
naniwagata irie ni watasu marokibashi fumisomeshi to ya hito wa omowan At the Naniwa tidelands Crossing the shore is A bridge of logs; Do I take that first step upon it? Did someone think once…
Fujiwara no Tadamichi
Love and Barriers. 恋しさをなげかざらまし吾妹子に逢坂山の関なかりせば
koishisa o nagekazaramashi wagimoko ni ausakayama no seki nakariseba Her sweetness Would be no source of sorrow, Had not my darling The Mount of Meeting Hill’s Barrier before her…
Fujiwara no Tadamichi
Love and Rivers. 思ふ事水ぐき河にかき流し見れど渡の人に見せなん
omou koto mizuguki kawa kakinagashi miredo watari no hito ni misenan My feelings As overflowing rivulets Do race, and Though they will be plain, to the surrounding Folk shall I display them…
Fujiwara no Tadamichi
小筑波の茂き木の間よ立つ鳥の目ゆか汝を見むさ寝ざらなくに
otukuba no sigeki ko no ma yo tatu tori no me yuka na o mimu sanezaranakuni At Tsukuba Between the lushly growing trees, As a darting bird Did I catch a glimpse of you? Though ‘tis not that you were not asleep…
Anonymous
Composed on Love after Parting during the reign of Former Emperor Nijō (1143-1165; r. 1158-1165).
水無瀬川流れてとこそ思ひしかこはいかにしてたえはじめけむ
minasegawa nagarete to koso omoishi ka ko wa ika ni shite taehajimekemu The River Minase Rapidly runs – did I think that once? Now what am I to do That our parting has begun?
Minister of Justice [Fujiwara no] Norikane 刑部卿範兼
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'Simply moving and elegant'