tachikawaru haru o shire tomo misegao ni toshi o hedatsuru kasumi narikeri
‘The turn to Spring I would you know!’ Reveals, Standing at the year’s edge, The haze.
21
Right (Win)
岩まとぢし氷もいまはとけ初めて苔の下水道もとむなり
iwama tojishi kōri mo ima wa tokehajimete koke no shitamizu michi motomu nari
Cracks between the crags sealed By ice, now Beginning to melt, and The water ‘neath the moss Seeks to find its way.
22
The poem of the Left appears to have suitable configuration and diction, but even though the expression ‘reveals’ is something which one and all, and even I, compose with, I still feel that it is a word which is better avoided in a poetry match. Victory should be awarded according to a poem’s style. The poem of the Right has charming conception and diction. I should say it wins.
saohime no kasumi no koromo oritekeri asobu itoyū tatenuki ni shite
Princess Sao Of mist a gown Has woven; The threads of haze Make the warp and weft…
Naganori 17
Right
難波がたかすみたな引く春の夜は澳こぐ舟のみえみみえずみ
naniwagata kasumi tanabiku haru no yo wa oki kogu fune no mie mizu mi
At Naniwa Inlet The haze lies o’er all On a night in springtime Boats rowing into the offing Appear and disappear…
Narinaka 18
The Left’s haze, the conception of ‘threads of haze make the warp and weft’, puts me in mind of the line ‘touching the sky, they weave and set adrift their emerald netting of silk’, [1]and mentioning Princess Sao seems skillful; the poem is entrancing and charming. As for the Right, the configuration of saying ‘a boat rowing out into the haze of Naniwa Bay’, too, this entrances me so much that it’s something I would wish to show to folk with some sensitivity. I don’t feel there’s much between these, so, once more the round ties.
[1] The translation here comes from Rimer and Chaves (1997, 33) translation of a Sinitic poem in Wakan rōeishū (I: 22).
[4] It is relatively unusual for participants in an uta’awase to be listed in rank order along with all their official titles. Kubota et al. (2024, 427) suggest that this is so that in the section of personal grievances, the deity knew who to give priority to in His response.
[5]Jūgoige-gyō kōgōgū gontaishin Fujiwara ason Kunisuke 従五位下行皇后宮権大進藤原朝臣邦輔 (dates unknown). Kunisuke took part in this match, and also the later Hirota-sha uta’awase, but was not considered a sufficiently accomplished poet to warrant inclusion in an imperial anthology. His appointment as reciter here, though, suggests he was thought to have a clear and loud enough voice to perform in public.
[6]Suruga no gonkami jūgoige Fujiwara ason Asamune 駿河権守従五位下藤原朝臣朝宗 (dates unknown): also known by the name Asanaka 朝仲, Asamune took part in this contest, the Hirota-sha uta’awase, and Shunzei included a single poem of his in Senzaishū (V: 375): Composed on the conception of scarlet leaves showing through the pines. 色かへぬ松ふく風のおとはしてちるはははそのもみぢなりけり iro kaenu / matsu fuku kaze no / oto wa shite / chiru wa hahaso no / momiji narikeri ‘Hues unchanging / Pines blown by the wind / Make a sound, but / What scatters are the oaks’ / Scarlet leaves.’
[7]Shōsan’i-gyō kōgōgū taifu ken sakyō taifu Fujiwara ason Toshinari正三位行皇后宮大夫兼右京大夫藤原朝臣俊成 (1114-1204): Better known as Shunzei, he was the most influential poetic figure of his age and ‘probably the most accomplished critic in the history of Japanese poetry’ (Huey 2002, 56). He founded the Mikohidari 御子左 poetic house, whose descendants were to dominate the waka tradition for centuries, while his poetry contest judgements became the model for later critics and judges to follow. See Royston (1974) for a full account of his life and importance.
What can I say about the path to Waka Bay: immeasurable as the depths of the sea whose bed is impossible to plumb, and as distant as a myriad leagues across the waves—an ending none can know. Verily, it draws folks’ hearts as a net pulled in across the distant tideways, but the nature of its heart is as indeterminable as a drifting fisher boat. Just as what is named ‘beach grass’ on the isle of Ise, brushed by divine winds, and magnificent reeds around Naniwa are called stubby stalks in the Eastlands, so in addition to the same poem being received differently according to folks’ hearts, there may also be flaws among the jewels of diction or gold found among the pebbles, and to close oneself off on Mount Oshio, and only mention the high points of the River Yoshino, would be a source of grief at such as degradation of the Way; thus, in awe of the divine guardian of Way, and in deference to those who love it, have I allowed the shallow spring of my own words to express the waters of my foolish heart, that the sight of them may, perhaps, be of some effect, turning my night-robes inside out, time and time again, feeling the sleeves stiff with ice.
ayanashi na tabusa ni zuzu o torinagara omou kokoro ni katsu midaruramu
How strange it is! Within my hand sundry bijoux I hold, yet still My heart and thoughts Are all confused…
Jakunen 149
Right
なにごとをまつとはなしにながらへていつすみよしとおもふべきみぞ
nanigoto o matsu to wa nashi ni nagaraete itsu sumiyoshi to omoubeki mi zo
Nothing in particular Have I to expect, but I live on; O, when, that ‘tis good to live Will I come to think?
Suke 150
The poem of the Left’s final section, saying ‘My heart and thoughts / Are all confused’ seems extremely pleasant. However, then there is ‘Within my hand sundry bijoux’: ‘sundry bijoux’ is an expression of foreign origin and sounds like prose diction. The poem of the Left seems pleasant with its allusion in ‘O, when, that ‘tis good to live’, yet the final section seems lacking in technique. While the Left’s second line gives cause for concern, its final sequencing is truly charming and thus it should win.
nanigoto o matsu to wa nashi ni sumiyoshi no kami ni kokoro o kakenu ma zo naki
Nothing in particular Have I to expect, but Sumiyoshi’s Deity within my heart Dwells not for no moments at all!
Shōkaku 147
Right
いたづらにおいにけるかないにしへの人のうゑけむすぎならなくに
itazura ni oinikeru naka inishie no hito no uekemu sugi naranaku ni
How brief it’s been, but I have grown old, though By ancient Folk a planted Cedar tree I’m not…
Jakuchō 148
The conception of the Left’s poem, saying ‘Have I to expect, but’ sounds extremely charming, but the configuration of the poem of the Right, composing ‘Folk a planted / Cedar tree I’m not’ also appears pleasant. Thus, these tie.
tsu no kuni no naniwa no koto mo ashi no ne no kono yo wa kakute karehatene to ya
In the land of Tsu At Naniwa, all things Are ill, as the reeds roots, In this world have I thus Withered all away?
Chūnagon 145
Right
いかでなほまどふうきよをそむきなばまことのみちをふみもたがへじ
ikade nao madou ukiyo o somukinaba makoto no michi o fumi mo tagaeji
Should, somehow, yet This confusing cruel world I depart, then On the path of truth Would I make no mistaken steps.
Sokaku 146
These poems of the Left and Right both appear to have extremely moving conceptions, but with that being said, the poem of the Left, beginning with ‘At Naniwa, all things / Are ill, as the reeds roots’ and following this with ‘In this world have I thus / Withered all away?’ has a configuration and conception that makes me feel the waves of Naniwa Bay upon my sleeves. Thus, the Left wins.
oiyaranu iwane no matsu wa ware nare ya hisashiku yoyo ni midori naru kana
A spindly Pine growing in the crag-cracks Am I? Forever through the years I am stuck at green!
Minamoto no Munenaga 143
Right (Win)
いけみづのいひいでずともおもひかねふかきうれへをかみはしるらむ
ikemizu no ii’idezu tomo omoikane fukaki uree o kami wa shiruramu
As pond waters behind A sluice gate, I say nothing, yet I cannot help but wonder: The depths of my despair— Does the deity know it?
Fujiwara no Noritsune 144
The conception of the Left’s poem, saying, ‘Forever through the years’ sounds pleasant, but I feel it’s a bit hackneyed, given the poem, ‘Solitary pinecone / Is green!’[1] The poem of the Right’s ‘As pond waters behind / A sluice gate, I say’ is also pedestrian, yet ‘The depths of my despair— / Does the deity know it?’ contains some conception. It’s a little better, I’d say.
[1] Composed when he had gone to the residence of Narisuke, the Chief Priest of Kamo, when drunk, was sorrowing that he had yet to be promoted. もみぢするかつらのなかにすみよしのまつのみひとりみどりなるかな momijisuru / katsura no naka ni / sumiyoshi no / matsu no mi hitori / midori naru kana ‘Among the scarlet-leaved / Katsura, / Sumiyoshi’s / Solitary pinecone / Is green!’ Kunimoto, the Governor of Tsu (GSIS XVII: 987)
kazu naranu mi koso omoeba ureshikere uki ni tsukete zo yo o mo itowamu
Not even numbered among folk Am I, thinking that Fills me with joy, but All the cruelties of this world Make me wish to leave it.
Asamune 141
Right
ながらへばかくてのみやははてむとてすぎにしかたはなぐさみもしき
nagaraeba kakute nomi ya wa hatemu tote suginishi kata wa nagusami mo shiki
Should I live on, then Being simply as I am Would I reach my end, I wonder? In days gone by I had some hope of consolation…
Kanetsuna 142
The sequencing of the Left’s ‘Am I, thinking that’ appears elegant. The Right, starting with ‘Would I reach my end, I wonder?’ sounds overly forceful, yet the conception of saying ‘in days gone by’ is still pleasant. Thus, once again, I make this a tie.
mi no usa o wasuregusa koso kishi ni oure mube sumiyoshi to ama mo iikere
The misery of my life I forget among the day lilies Growing on the shore— No wonder, Sumiyoshi is a pleasant place Say the fisherfolk, too!
Kunisuke 139
Right
よをわたるみちをたがへてまどふかないづれのかたにゆきかくれまし
yo o wataru michi o tagaete madou kana izure no kata ni yukikakuremashi
Passing through this world My path I have mistaken and Lost become! Which way should I go to hide myself away?
Horikawa 140
The Left has the poem ‘For folk forget among the day lilies / Growing there, or so they say.’[1] in mind and its conception, drawing upon ‘The misery of my life’ is pleasant, I have to say. The Right has a charming configuration for such a poem, but its similarity to the poem by Lord Toshiyori, ‘Deep in depression on Mount Wabuka / On my path through the world / Have I mis-stepped’[2] means that I feel it sounds hackneyed, yet the final section ‘Which way should I’ and what follows, does sound moving. I should say that these tie.
[1] Composed and sent to someone he knew who had gone to Sumiyoshi. 住吉とあまはつぐともながゐすな人忘草おふといふなり sumiyoshi to / ama wa tsugu tomo / nagai su na / hito wasuregusa / ou to iu nari ‘Sumiyoshi is a pleasant place to stay, / So say the fisher-folk, yet / Do not stay there long, in Nagai; / For folk forget among the day lilies / Growing there, or so they say.’ Mibu no Tadamine (KKS XVII: 917)
[2] [One of] a hundred poem sequence on feeling regret and shame over one’s fate. わぶか山よにふるみちをふみたがへまどひつたよふ身をいかにせん wabukayama / yo ni furu michi o / fumitagae / madoitsu tayou / mi o ika ni sen ‘Deep in depression on Mount Wabuka / On my path through the world / Have I mis-stepped, and / Wandering lost, / O, what am I to do?’Minamoto no Toshiyori (Sanboku kikashū 1427)
