Cogon grass and the Same
Round Fifteen
Left
うき人を驚かすべき方ぞなきうらやましきは荻の上風
| ukibito o odorokasubeki kata zo naki urayamashiki wa ogi no uwakaze | That cruel girl: To make her notice me I have no way at all! How I envy The wind blowing o’er the cogon grass! |
Lecturer Kakuga
29
Right
荻原やよかぜぞつらき音せずはねてこそ人を夢にみましか
| ogiwara ya yokaze zo tsuraki oto sezu wa nete koso hito o yume ni mimashika | O, plain of cogon grass, How unkind is the wind tonight! For without your sound, then Indeed, I would sleep that she I would glimpse within my dreams… |
The Head
30
The conception of love sounds superior at present in envying the ‘wind blowing o’er the cogon grass’ than it does in the ‘unkind is the wind tonight’.
Round Fourteen
Left
つれもなき人にみせばや花薄うらなく風に靡くけしきを
| tsure mo naki hito ni miseba ya hanasusuki uranaku kaze ni nabiku keshiki o | To that cruel Girl would I show The flowering silver grass, In the artless wind Inclining… |
Lord Masakane, Controller and Head Chamberlain
27
Right
くる人も絶えぬる宿の糸すすきほに出て誰を招くなるらん
| kuru hito mo taenuru yado no itosusuki ho ni idete tare o maneku naruran | His visits have Ceased to this house, so The slender silver grass Bursting into bud—who Might it be beckoning? |
Tadasue
28
The Left’s poem, up to ‘would I show’ is poetic, but I do not feel that the expression ‘In the artless wind / Inclining’ is elegant. For the topic of love, it seems to me that both the beginning and the end of the poem is a slight case of ‘As a bamboo stalk / Has joints, from years gone by old-fashioned phrases’ lingering! The Right’s ‘Ceased to this house, so / The slender silver grass’ lacks anything remarkable about it, and seems excessively overgrown, so it’s impossible to decide on anyone as the winner or loser here.
I’ve recorded a short video on the topic of my recent article on attitudes to material of Sinitic origin in waka composition and criticism! Take a look if you don’t feel like reading through the whole text!
I’ve just had a new article published online in the journal Japan Forum, entitled ‘Confusion over Cathay: attitudes to Chinese material in mediaeval Japanese poetic criticism’. This emerged from my studies of the ‘Poetry Contest in Six Hundred Rounds’ (Roppyakuban uta’awase 六百番歌合) as well as my general consideration of uta’awase criticism – more to come on that in a while, I hope!
The abstract of the article is:
This article investigates the reception and usage of Sinitic material within mediaeval Japanese poetic criticism, specifically focussing on the Roppyakuban uta’awase (‘Poetry Contest in Six Hundred Rounds’; 1193–94). It challenges the simplistic binary of the ‘wakan dialectic’ by analysing how poets and critics practically engaged with Sinitic material. The study highlights the conflicting attitudes between the contest’s judge, Fujiwara no Shunzei, and the participant Kenshō. Evidence from the contest reveals that while poets frequently incorporated Sinitic allusions and diction, Shunzei often criticised such usage, arguing that distinct aesthetic standards applied to uta (Japanese poetry) versus shi (Sinitic poetry). Conversely, Kenshō actively utilised Sinitic sources to validate his poetic positions and challenge Shunzei’s critical authority. Ultimately, the article demonstrates that while early mediaeval poet/critics did regard Sinitic material as a resource for the composition and criticism of uta, such usage could be contested and was subject to wider critical standards governing waka composition.
If that has whet your appetite to find out more, you can find the article here. It’s open access, so anyone can read it!
Silver Grass and the Same
Round Thirteen
Left
ほに出てもなどかひもなき花薄思ひこめてぞ有るべかりける
| ho ni idetemo nadoka kai mo naki hanasusuki omoikomete zo arubekarikeru | My feelings burst from bud, but Somehow, to no avail at all, O, blossoming silver grass! Keeping them closed up— That’s what I should have done! |
Major Archbishop
25
Right
うしとのみ人の心はいはれ野にまねくすすきを何か頼まん
| ushi to nomi hito no kokoro wa iwareno ni maneku susuki o nanika tanoman | Simply cruel is That girl’s heart— Upon Iware Plain In the beckoning silver grass How can I place my trust? |
Head
26
Left and Right appear to be of about the same standard.
Love and tales.[i]
| wakarenishi mukashi wa tsuyu ka asajiwara ato naki nobe ni akikaze zo fuku | Since they were parted, Were those ancient times dewdrop brief? Across the cogon grass Upon the trackless plain The autumn wind is blowing! |
546
[i] The ‘tale’ here is the Song of Everlasting Woe about the doomed love between Yang Guifei and Emperor Xuanzong
