Category Archives: Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase

Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase 6

時雨降る秋の山辺をゆくときは心にもあらぬ袖ぞひちける

shigure furu
aki no yamabe o
yuku toki wa
kokoro ni mo aranu
sode zo hichikeru
Drizzle falls
In autumn on the mountain meadows;
And when I travel there
Not my heart, but
My sleeves are truly drenched.

11

年ごとにいかなる露のおけばかも秋の山辺の色濃かるらむ

toshi goto ni
ikanaru tsuyu no
okeba kamo
aki no yamabe no
iro kokaruramu
Every single year
However many dewdrops
May fall
The autumn mountain meadows
Turn to richer hues, it seems.

12

Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase 5

久方の天照る月のにごりなく君が御代をばともにとぞ思ふ

hisakata no
ama teru tsuki no
nigorinaku
kimi ga miyo oba
tomo ni to zo omou
The eternal
Heaven-shining moon is
So clear that
My Lord’s reign
Lives together with it in my thoughts!

9

宵よひに秋の草葉におく露の玉にぬかむととれば消えつつ[1]

yoiyoi ni
aki no kusaba ni
oku tsuyu no
tama ni nukamu to
toreba kietsutsu
Night after night
Upon the blades of autumn grass
Fall dewdrops;
I would thread those jewels, but
At a touch, ever do they vanish away…

10


[1] This poem is also Shinsenzaishū 316, where it is attributed to Ōshikōchi no Mitsune.

Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase 4

朝ごとに山にたちまふ朝霧は紅葉みせじとをしむなりけり

asagoto ni
yama ni tachimau
asagiri wa
momiji miseji to
oshimu narikeri
With every morning
Twining round the mountains
The morning mists – that
They cannot reveal the scarlet leaves
Is regrettable, indeed!

7

秋の夜は人をしづめてつれづれと掻きなす琴の音にぞたてつる

aki no yo wa
hito o shizumete
tsurezure to
kakinasu koto no
ne ni zo tatetsuru
On an autumn night
When folk are all abed,
Idly
Plucked a zither’s
Strains sound out.

8

Koresada Shinnō-ke uta’awase 3

音羽山秋としなれば唐錦かけたることも見ゆる紅葉か

otowayama
aki to shi nareba
karanishiki
kaketaru koto mo
miyuru momiji ka
On Otowa Mountain
When autumn comes
Cathay brocade
Is hung about –
Seem so the scarlet leaves?

5

女郎花何の心になけれども秋はさくべきこともゆゆしく

ominaeshi
nani no kokoro ni
nakeredomo
aki wa sakubeki
koto mo yuyushiku
O, maidenflowers,
Something within my heart
Is lacking, yet
That you must bloom in autumn
Is a fine thing, indeed!

6

Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase 2

はまちどりあきとしなればあさぎりにかたまどはしてなかぬ日ぞなき

hamachidori
aki to shinareba
asagiri ni
kata madowashite
nakanu hi zo naki
The plovers on the beach:
When the autumn comes,
In the morning mists
Do lose their way;
No day dawns without their cries…

3

あきくればみやまざとこそわびしけれよるはほたるをともしびにして[1]

aki kureba
miyamazato koso
wabishikere
yoru wa hotaru o
tomoshibi ni shite
When the autumn comes
My hut deep in the mountains
Is lonelier by far;
At night with fireflies
For my lantern.

4


[1] This poem also appears as Fubokushō 5545 where is it is listed as by Ōe no Chisato

Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase 1

Round One

Left

山だもるあきのかりほにおく露はいなおほせどりのなみだなりけり

yamada moru
aki no kariho ni
oku tsuyu wa
inaosedori no
namida narikeri
Warding mountain fields, in
Autumn upon a hasty hut
The dripping dewdrops are
Migrating birds’
Tears.

Tadamine
1

Right

たつたひめいかなるかみにあればかは山をちくさにあきはそむらん

tatsutahime
ika naru kami ni
areba ka wa
yama o chikusa ni
aki wa somuran
Princess Tatsuta:
What manner of deity
Might she be, that
All the mountain’s thousand grasses
She dyes with autumn hues?

2

Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase

Shinpen kokka taikan no.3
Heian-chō uta’awase taisei no.4
Title是貞親王家歌合
Romanised TitleKoresada shinnō-ke uta’awase
Translated TitlePoetry Contest at the House of Imperial Prince Koresada
Alternative Title(s)二宮歌合 Ni no miya uta’awase (‘The Second Prince Poetry Contest’); 仁和御時親王歌合 Ninna no ōntoki shinnō uta’awase (‘The Imperial Prince’s Poetry Contest held during the Reign of the Ninna Emperor’)
DateAutumn, before 9/Kanpyō 5 [10.893]
Extant Poems71
SponsorPrince Koresada 是貞親王
Identifiable ParticipantsFujiwara no Toshiyuki 藤原敏行 (?-901/907); Ōe no Chisato 大江千里 (dates unknown); Ki no Tomonori 紀友則 (845?-907); Ki no Tsurayuki 紀貫之 (ca. 866/872-945); Mibu no Tadamine 壬生忠岑 (ca. 860-920); Fun’ya no Asayasu 文屋朝康 (dates unknown); Ōshikōchi no Mitsune 凡河内躬恒 (859?-925?); Fun’ya no Yasuhide 文屋康秀 (?-885)
JudgementsN
Topics

Koresada 是貞 (?-903) was a son of Emperor Kōkō 光孝天皇 (830-887; r. 884-887) and the elder brother of Sadami 定省, who was to ascend the throne as Emperor Uda 宇多 (867-931; r. 887-897). Like his brother, Koresada’s chances of becoming emperor seemed lost when he was demoted to commoner status in 870 with the awarding of the Minamoto 源 surname as a result of the machinations of Fujiwara no Mototsune 藤原基経 (836-891), but after events resulted in the return of Sadami to princely status and his installation as emperor in 887, it was felt to be inapproriate for the sovereign’s elder brother to remain a commoner and he was readmitted to the imperial family in 891.

While Koresada is the official sponsor of this poetry contest, it is, in many ways, a precursor to the subsequent Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 寛平御時后宮歌合 (‘Poetry Contest held by the Empress Dowager during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor’) and so it seems that Uda had a strong influence over its content. Extant records of the contest contain 71 poems but scholars speculate that it may originally have had as many as forty or fifty rounds and thus 80 or 100 poems in total. Many of this contest’s poems were also included in other collections and anthologies (see below), and it is from these that the identities of a number of the poets taking part have been identified. As a result of the lack of both any records of the formal conduct of the competition, and judgements of the poems’ quality, it is possible that this is an early example of a ‘selected poem match’ (senka awase 撰歌合), where poems were chosen from poets’ various works and assembled into the format of a competition.

The following is a partial listing of where poems from the competition can be found in other collections.

Kokinshū

KKS IV: 189
KKS IV: 193
KKS IV: 197
KKS IV: 207
KKS IV: 214
KKS IV: 218
KKS IV: 225
KKS IV: 228
KKS IV: 239
KKS V: 249
KKS V: 257
KKS V: 263
KKS V: 266
KKS V: 270
KKS V: 278
KKS V: 295
KKS V: 306
KKS XII: 582

Gosenshū

GSS V: 217GSS V: 265GSS VI: 323

Here are some short video explainers about the poems in the contest.