Category Archives: San’I minamoto no hirotsune ason uta’awase

San’i minamoto no hirotsune ason uta’awase 5

Summer grasses as the season wears on

Left

あさみどりむらむら見えし若草の夏とともにぞふかく成りける

asamidori
muramura mieshi
wakakusa no
natsu to tomo ni zo
fukaku narikeru
Pale green and
Seeming to cluster all together
The fresh sprouting grass stalks
And the summer, too,
Have grown deeper.

Lord Kanehiro
9

Right

夏草はかりはつさるとみしかど鹿ふすばかりなりも行くかな

natsu kusa wa
karihatsusaru to
mishikado
shika fusu bakari
nari mo yuku kana
The summer grasses
Have started to be reaped, or
So it seems, yet
The deer simply to rest
Upon them, now make their way!

Ki no Yasumori
10

San’i minamoto no hirotsune uta’awase 4

Distant colours of blossom in full bloom

Left

なつかしきかこそ袖までにほふなれ花の木ずゑは遥かなれども

natsukashiki
ka koso sode made
niou nare
hana no kozue wa
harukanaredomo
That comforting, familiar
Fragrance has reached my very sleeves
And scented them;
Though the blossom-laden treetops
Lie far away…

Minamoto no Masamitsu, Assistant Director of the Bureau of Medicine
7

Right

花ざかりさきそめしよりあかなくによその梢を折りつつぞみる

hanazakari
sakisomeshi yori
akanaku ni
yoso no kozue o
oritsutsu zo miru
Since a profusion of blossom
Began to bloom,
Unable to sate myself,
Distant treetops
Will I ever break off and gaze upon.

Minamoto no Masamitsu, Assistant Director of the Bureau of Medicine
8

San’i minamoto no hirotsune ason uta’awase 11

Round Eleven: The scent of blossom in the fields at dusk

Left

宮木野や尋ねてきつる藤ばかましるくもにほふゆふまぐれかな

miyagino ya
tazunetekitsuru
fujibakama
shiruku mo niou
yū magure kana
To Miyagi Plain
Have come visiting
The asters?
So startling their scent
In the twilight dusk!

Ōe no Masasuke, Student of Law[1]
21

Right

今よりはいそぎもゆかじ入日さす野山の花ぞ匂ひましける

ima yori wa
isogi mo yukaji
irihi sasu
noyama no hana zo
nioimashikeru
More than this moment
There seems no purpose in haste, as
The setting sun shines
The blossom in the mountain meadows
Has a scent sublime.

Lord Tadamoto
22


[1] Ōe no Masasuke 大江盛佐. The identity of this individual remains uncertain, as he does not appear in the genealogy of the Ōe family. There was, however, a Fujiwara no Masasuke 藤原盛佐, who was appointed to the position of Senior Secretary of the Echizen province on the 23rd day of the First Month Kōji 康治 1 [10.2.1142], some forty years after this contest was held. The title used for Masasuke here, Student of Law (myōbōshō 明法生) indicates that he was enrolled in the Law department of the imperial university (daigakuryō 大学寮) at the time, and so would have been a young man. It is possible that for a minor noble it could take decades to gain an appointment to a provincial administration, so it is possible that this is Fujiwara no Masasuke, but this remains speculation. In any case this is his sole poem in a poetry competition.

San’i minamoto no hirotsune ason uta’awase 10

Round Ten:  Insects’ songs from behind thickets of grass

Left

たづねくるかひもあるかな草村に我まつむしの声ぞきこゆる

tazunekuru
kai mo aru kana
kusamura ni
ware matsumushi no
koe zo kikoyuru
Paying a visit here—
Has some point, I think!
Among the grassy thickets
I pine crickets’
Song in my ears.

A Court Lady

19

Right

松虫のこゑもたえせぬ草むらはたづねぬ人も尋ねきにけり

matsumushi no
koe mo taesenu
kusamura wa
tazunenu hito mo
tazunekinikeri
Pine crickets’
Songs I would have ever carry on
Among the grassy thickets
The one who has not called
Has finally paid a visit!

A Court Lady

20

San’i minamoto no hirotsune ason uta’awase 9

Round Nine: Quiet thoughts at Tanabata

Left

八重葎しげる軒ばをかき分けて星合の空をながめつるかな

yae mugura
shigeru nokiba o
kakiwakete
hoshiai no sora o
nagametsuru kana
Eightfold thickets
Grow lushly beneath my eaves;
Pulling them apart upon
The sky of trysting stars
Will I turn my gaze!

Taira no Sadatsugu[1]

17

Right

七夕のあふよの程は思ひやる心さへこそ空にすみけれ

tanabata no
au yo no hodo wa
omoiyaru
kokoro sae koso
sora ni sumikere
Tanabata is
A night for meeting—throughout it
I am filled with longing:
Even my very heart
Does dwell among the skies.

Fujiwara no Kaneyuki[2]

18


[1] Taira no Sadatsugu 平貞継. The identity of this individual is unclear. This poem is his sole appearance in a poetry contest.

[2] 藤原兼行

San’i minamoto no hirotsune ason uta’awase

Shinpen kokka taikan no.129
Heian-chō uta’awase taisei no.
Title散位源広綱朝臣歌合
Romanised TitleSan’i minamoto no hirotsune ason uta’awase
Translated TitlePoetry Contest held by Lord Minamoto no Hirotsune, Ranked without Office
Alternative Title(s)
Date5/Chōji 1 [5.1104]
Extant Poems32
Identifiable ParticipantsN
JudgementsN
TopicsPine seedlings on the Day of the Rat (子日小松); Being quiet in company with a bush warbler (鶯閑中友); A mountain hut concealed by haze (霞隔山家); Distant colours of blossom in full bloom (花満遠色); Summer grasses as the season wears on (夏草漸滋); Wisteria blooming by a river bank (藤花廻岸); A profusion of deutzia flowers in full bloom (卯花盛開); Cicadas singing between the trees (林間蝉声); Quiet thoughts at Tanabata 閑思七夕; Insects’ songs from behind thickets of grass (叢裏虫声); The scent of blossom in the fields at dusk (野花暮馥); Scarlet leaves dyed with dew (露染紅葉); Colours of chrysanthemums at the base of a fence (籬菊色色); First snow seen at dawn (暁見初雪); Fulling cloth late at night (深夜擣衣); Cranes in a garden (庭上鶴馴)

Go to the contest

San’i minamoto no hirotsune ason uta’awase 8

Cicadas singing between the trees (林間蝉声)

Round Eight

Left

ゆくかげの雲の林になく蝉はこゑも友にぞたかくきこゆる

yuku kage no
kumo no Fayashi ni
naku semi Fa
kowe mo tomo ni zo
takaku kikoyuru
The light moves with
The clouds and from amongst the trunks
Singing cicadas’
Songs all
Sound louder.

僧俊賀
15

夏木立繁き梢に鳴く蝉の声きくからにあつくもあるかな

natu kodati
sigeki kozuwe ni
naku semi no
kowe kiku kara ni
atuku mo aru kana
In clustered summer trees
Verdant tops
The cicadas sing;
Is it from listening
That I feel the heat…

僧俊義
16