Daikōtaigōgū daijin kiyosuke-ason ke uta’awase 02

Round Two

Left

鶯は春をしりてもなきぬなる我が身は春をしらでこそなけ

uguisu wa
haru o shiritemo
nakinunaru
wa ga mi wa haru o
shirade koso nake
The warbler
Knowing of the springtime
Cries out, but
My sorry self, of spring
All unknowing, cries.

Masashige
3

Right (Win)

杣人よをののおとしばしとどめなん谷の鶯はつねなくなり

somabito yo
ono no oto shibashi
todomenan
tani no uguisu
hatsune nakunari
O, woodcutter,
Your axe’s sound, briefly
Won’t you stop?
For the warbler in the valley
Has let out his first call…

Kenshō
4

The Left’s poem, too, is smooth; the Right poem’s diction is halting, but its conception does not sound bad. It should win, I’d say.

Daikōtaigōgū daijin kiyosuke-ason ke uta’awase 01

Warblers

Round One

Left (Tie)

鶯のなく木の本にふる雪はは風に花のちるかとぞみる

uguisu no
naku ki no moto ni
furu yuki wa
hakaze ni hana no
chiru ka to zo miru
The warbler
Sings from in a tree, its roots
Covered by falling snow;
Breeze stirred by its wingbeats, blossom
Does seem to scatter.

Lord Kiyosuke
1

Right

うぐひすのなきて木づたふ梅がえにこぼるる露や涙なるらん

uguisu no
nakite kozutau
ume ga e ni
koboruru tsuyu ya
namida naruran
The warbler
Crying flits from
Branch to plum branch;
Has the dripping dew
His tears, perhaps, become?

Shun’e
2

Both Left and Right proceed smoothly, but what are we to make of the line ‘Crying flits’ in the Right’s poem? As this is also an expression which implies that dew is falling, these should tie.

Entō ōn’uta’awase 17

Round Seventeen

Cuckoos

Left (Tie)

さのみやは心あるべき時鳥ね覚の空に一声もがな

sanomi ya wa
kokoro arubeki
hototogisu
nezame no sora ni
hitogoe mogana
Not much of
The heart can you know,
O, cuckoo, but
On waking from the sky
I would hear a single call.

A Court Lady
33

Right

やはた山むかひの里の郭公しのびしかたの声もかはらず

yawatayama
mukai no sato no
hototogisu
shinobishi kata no
koe mo kawarazu
By Yawata Mountain,
At the estate of Mukai,
A cuckoo,
Fondly remembers someone
With a changeless song!

Lord Ietaka
34

The Left’s poem would seem to fail to reflect the essential meaning of the topic of cuckoos by having it not yet being heard, and thus its overall technique seems dreadful. The Right’s poem also lacks any superlative elements, they must tie.

Entō ōn’uta’awase 16

Round Sixteen

Left

桜さく吉野の山の山風にふもとをこめて花にほふらし

sakura saku
yoshino no yama no
yamakaze ni
fumoto o komete
hana niourashi
Cherries bloom
In the mountains of Yoshino, where
The mountain breezes
Make even the foothills
Aglow with blossom.

Tomoshige
31

Right (Win)

花の色はあまりにけりなつくばねのこのもかのもにかかる白雲

hana no iro wa
amarinikeri na
tsukubane no
kono mo kano mo ni
kakaru shirakumo
The blossoms’ hues
Have overflowed[1]
The peak of Tsukuba—
Near and far, both,
Draped with clouds of white.[2]

Dharma Master Zenshin
32

The Left’s poem has no faults worth mentioning and, furthermore, is not particularly remarkable. The Right’s poem refers to the peak of Tsukuba; while this is generally thought of as a mountain, it is not necessarily limited to mountains and there are, I think, a bunch of instances where it means a place with lots of trees; however, because here it also conveys the conception of mountains, from the use of pleasant poetic technique, the Right should win.


[1] Zenshin is clearly referencing Ono no Komachi’s famous: Topic unknown. 花の色はうつりにけりないたづらにわが身世にふるながめせしまに hana no iro wa / utsurinikeri na / itazura ni / wa ga mi yo ni furu / nagame seshi ma ni ‘The blossoms’ hues / Have already faded away, / While in idle thoughts / My life goes by, / As I watch the long rains fall.’ (KKS II: 113).

[2] An allusive variation on: Eastern poem: a poem from Hitachi. 筑波嶺のこのもかのもに影はあれど君がみかげにます陰はなし tsukuba ne no / kono mo kano mo ni / kage aredo / kimi ga mikage ni / masu kage wa nashi ‘On the peak of Tsukuba / Here and there / Lie shadows, yet / To your shadow, my love (my Lord) / They cannot compare!’ Anonymous (KKS XX: 1095).

Entō ōn’uta’awase 15

Round Fifteen

Left (Win)

山たかみみだれてにほふ花桜人もすさめぬ春やへぬらん

yama takami
midarete niou
hanazakura
hito mo susamenu
haru ya henuran
In these mountain heights
The riotous glow of
Blooming cherries:
Is there no one to sing their praises
As spring passes by?[1]

Chikanari
29

Right

行末の山のかひより昨日みし雲もさながら桜なりけり

yukusue no
yama no kai yori
kinō mishi
kumo mo sanagara
sakura narikeri
On my way
Through mountain passes
Yesterday I saw
Clouds of white—all were
Cherries![2]

Ie’kiyo
30

The Right’s poem, having ‘mountain passes yesterday I saw’ sounds like it conveys the conception of Tsurayuki’s poem well, but isn’t it a bit pointless to end up with something that sounds like a Travel poem? The Left’s poem has the fine conception of the old poem which goes ‘In these mountain heights / There is no one to sing the praises of / You cherry blossoms’, so thus it must win.


[1] An allusive variation on: Topic unknown. 山たかみ人もすさめぬさくら花いたくなわびそ我みはやさむ yama takami / hito mo susamenu / sakurabana / itaku na wabi so / ware mihayasamu ‘In these mountain heights / There is no one to sing the praises of / You cherry blossoms. / Do not be aggrieved / For I will do it.’ Anonymous (KKS I: 50).

[2] An allusive variation on: When he was instructed by His Majesty to compose a poem, he composed this and presented it. 桜花さきにけらしもあしひきの山の峡よりみゆる白雲 sakurabana / sakinikerashi mo / ashihiki no / yama no kai yori / miyuru shirakumo ‘The cherry blossom / Seems to have bloomed, and from / The leg-wearying / Mountain passes / Appears white billowing clouds.’ Tsurayuki (KKS I: 59)

Entō ōn’uta’awase 14

Round Fourteen

Left (Win)

ちりちらず花より外の色ぞなきかさなる山の嶺の春風

chiri chirazu
hana yori hoka no
iro zo naki
kasanaru yama no
mine no harukaze
Scattered, or not,
Other than the blossoms’
Hues are there none
Layered upon the mountain
Peaks by the breeze in springtime.[1]

Shō
27

Right

かづらきやたかまの山はうづもれて空に棚引く春のしら雲

kazuragi ya
takama no yama wa
uzumorete
sora ni tanabiku
haru no shirakumo
In Kazuragi
Takama Mountain
Is buried by
Trailing across the skies
Clouds of white in springtime.

Nagatsuna
28

The Left’s poem appears fine. The Right’s poem, having ‘Takama Mountain is buried’ is both pretentious and does not link to anything. The Left must win.


[1] An allusive variation on: On a folding screen for the Kamo Virgin, for the place showing people going along a mountain path. ちりちらずきかまほしきをふるさとの花見て帰る人もあはなん chiri chirazu / kikamahoshiki o / furusato no / hana mitekaeru / hito mo awanan ‘Are they scattered, or not, is / What I would ask, but / The ancient estate’s / Blossom having seen and returned— / Those folk I would have you meet.’ Ise (SIS I: 49)

Entō ōn’uta’awase 13

Round Thirteen

Left (Win)

桜花空にあまぎる白雲の棚引きわたるかづらきの山

sakurabana
sora ni amagiru
shirakumo no
tanabikiwataru
kazuragi no yama
The cherry blossoms,
As sky-sweeping
Clouds of white
Drape all across
Kazuragi Mountain.

Takasuke
25

Right

さくらさくながらの山のながき日も昔をこひぬ時のまぞなき

sakura saku
nagara no yama no
nagaki hi mo
mukashi o koinu
toki no ma zo naki
The cherries bloom
Changeless on Nagara Mountain;
The lengthy days to
Those beloved bygone
Moments do not compare.

Shimotsuke
26

Neither Left nor Right has any faults worth mentioning. The Right’s poem appears tranquil, with an artless quality. It has a moving sensibility of longing for the past, but the Left’s poem should just about win, I think.