Category Archives: Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen

Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 60

Round Ten

Left (Win)

かぞふればやとせへにけりあはれわがしづみしことはきのふとおもふに

kasoureba
yatose henikeri
aware wa ga
shizumishi koto wa
kinō to omou ni
When I count them up,
Many years have passed, but
Sadness
Overcomes me for the events
Of yesterday, I feel…

Lord Sanesada
119

Right

いたづらにふりぬるみをもすみよしのまつはさりともあはれしるらむ

itazura ni
furinuru mi o mo
sumiyoshi no
matsu wa sari tomo
aware shiruramu
How quickly
Age has come upon my flesh, too—
Sumiyoshi’s
Pines must that
Sadness know too well…

Lord Toshinari
120

The poem of the Left: these are not matters which could be understood by just anyone, yet even a superficial glance at it reveals that its conception and configuration display and exceptional sadness. How true it is that off all the myriad things in our lives it is the events of yesterday and today that we recall, and this is how we pass through the years and months, so how difficult, indeed, it is to supress the configuration of ‘When I count them up, / Many years have passed’! As for the Right’s poem, well, the conception of the initial section is pedestrian at best, although the latter section does seem to have some conception to it in places and shows some signs of thought. It is the poor composition of the judge, who is into his dotage. Once more, therefore, I have not rendered judgement, however, I feel that the deity would determine in favour of the Left.

Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 59

Round Nine

Left

いとふともなきものゆゑによのなかのあはれをさすがうちなげきつつ

itou tomo
naki mono yue ni
yo no naka no
aware o sasu ga
uchinagekitsutsu
With despite I regard it not, yet
This mundane world
Has such sadness, that
Ever am
I grief-stricken…

Lord Sanefusa
117

Right (Win)

いたづらにとしもつもりのうらにおふるまつぞわがみのたぐひなりける

itazura ni
toshi mo tsumori no
ura ni ouru
matsu zo wa ga mi no
tagui narikeru
How quickly
The years have piled up; on Tsumori
Shore grow
Pines – my sorry self, indeed,
Do they resemble!

Lord Yorimasa
118

The poem of the Left has a configuration which directly expresses a single emotion. Its conception sounds in keeping with this. The poem of the Right begins with ‘The years have piled up; on Tsumori / Shore grow’ and continues with ‘Pines – my sorry self, indeed’ which appears very pleasant. Thus, the Right wins.

Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 58

Round Eight

Left

よのなかをうみわたりつつとしへぬることはつもりのかみやたすけむ

yo no naka o
umiwataritsutsu
toshi henuru
koto wa tsumori no
kami ya tasukemu
In this mundane world,
An endless sea of suffering,
Have my years gone by;
Might Tsumori’s
Deity save me, I wonder?

Dharma Master Shun’e
115

Right (Win)

いへのかぜわがみのうへにすずしかれかみのしるしをあふぐとならば

ie no kaze
wa ga mi no ue ni
suzushikare
kami no shirushi o
augu to naraba
My house’s breeze of fortune
To my sorry self
I would bring cool, if
For a sign from the God
I were to seek…

Lord Sanekuni
116

The Left’s conception is charming, beginning with ‘An endless sea of suffering’ and following this with ‘Might Tsumori’s / Deity save me, I wonder?’, but ‘endless sea of suffering’ does not sound like acceptable diction. The Right’s conception of ‘For a sign from the God / I were to seek’ sounds charming, so I make it the winner.

Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 57

Round Seven

Left (Tie)

わがさかりやよいづかたへゆきにけむしらぬおきなにみをばゆづりて

wa ga sakari
yayo izukata e
yukinikemu
shiranu okina ni
mi oba yuzurite
My glory days,
O, where have they
Gone?
An unfamiliar old man
Has taken my place…

Lord Kiyosuke
113

Right

いかなればわがひとつらのかかるらむうらやましきはあきのかりがね

ika nareba
wa ga hitotsura no
kakaruramu
urayamashiki wa
aki no kari ga ne
What has happened, that
My brothers, one and all,
Should go so far?
How I envy
The cries of autumn geese…

Lord Sanetsuna
114

Both of these poems of the Left and Right are, once again, suited to their poets. The Left appears to have a charming conception, looking back on more prosperous times which have now gone—just as anyone would. This is certainly something to resent and yet, in his glory days he was a man of high renown, or someone with great responsibilities among lower officialdom, or even in the Inner Palace Guards or Great Council of State—to hear a man recollecting this and asking ‘where have my glory days gone’—speaking of such things sounds charming, in the end. Truly charming. The poem of the Right finds fault with ‘What has happened, that /My brothers, one and all’ and the poet says ‘How I envy / The cries of autumn geese’. The line of geese in the autumn appears unmistakably to refer to the ordering of brothers—perhaps that order has been disrupted? If so, this, too, is extremely charming. To the extent that these, too, express the writer’s troubles, for the moment, I make them a tie.

Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 56

Round Six

Left

なにごとをあけぬくれぬといそぐらむはかなきゆめのよとはしるしる

nanigoto o
akenu kurenu to
isoguramu
hakanaki yume no
yo to wa shirushiru
What is it that makes
Dawn and dusk
Come so fast?
A fleeting dream is
This world—that I know so well.

Lord Shigenori
111

Right (Win)

かずならぬみをうきくさとおもへどもなぞよとともにしづむなるらむ

kazu naranu
mi o ukikusa to
omoedomo
nazo yo to tomo ni
shizumu naruramu
Not even numbered among folk, so
Pitiful am I—a floating duckweed
Am I, I feel yet,
Why, over such a time
Should I sink into the depths?

Lord Morikata
112

The Left’s poem expresses grief over the nature of the mundane world and finds a reason for this in the realisation that all is lost within a fleeting dream. The configuration of the Right poem’s ‘Should I sink into the depths?’ is not particularly elegant, yet placing ‘Pitiful am I—a floating duckweed’ first and then following this with ‘Should I sink into the depths?’ is charming, I have to say. The Right should win.

Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 55

Round Five

Left (Win)

くらゐやまみねのさくらをかざしても人はものをやなほおもふらむ

kuraiyama
mine no sakura o
kazashitemo
hito wa mono o ya
nao omouramu
Even should I Mount Kurai’s
Cherry blossom from the peak
Wear in my hair,
As a man would such gloomy
Thoughts still fill me?

Lord Sane’ie
109

Right

ありてこそあらぬすがたになりもせめうしとていかがみをばなぐべき

arite koso
aranu sugata ni
nari mo seme
ushi tote ikaga
mi oba nagubeki
I live on, so
My former state
I have abandoned;
How can I all the cruelties
Cast from my flesh?

Atsuyori
110

The Left’s configuration and conception are truly charming. The writer is troubled, isn’t he! In particular, the configuration of ‘As a man would such gloomy / Thoughts still fill me?’ sounds especially pleasant. For the Right, the tone of ‘How can I all the cruelties’ also seems pleasant, but still, I make the Left the winner.

Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 54

Round Four

Left

あくがるるたまとみえけむなつむしのおもひはいまぞおもひしりぬる

akugaruru
tama to miekemu
natsumushi no
omoi wa ima zo
omoishirinuru
As my wandering
Soul do appear
The fireflies—
Those feelings, now,
How well I know!

Kojijū
107

Right (Win)

いはずともおもひはそらにしりぬらむあまくだりますすみよしのかみ

iwazu tomo
omoi wa sora ni
shirinuramu
amakudarimasu
sumiyoshi no kami
Needless to say
My feelings within the skies
Are well-known by
The heaven-descended
God of Sumiyoshi!

Lord Sanemori
108

The poem of the Left appears to have a deep conception. However, this poem should be composed about the emotions expressed in Izumi Shikibu’s poem ‘Fireflies by the marsh: / From my breast’.[1] If so, then by having something like ‘As my wandering / Soul the fireflies / Do appear’, it appears as if you know how Izumi Shikibu felt. Here, though, we have ‘As my wandering / Soul do appear / The fireflies’ and this sounds as if you know how the fireflies feel—in which case it seems more in keeping with the poem by the Katsura Princess which says, ‘Their bodies bringing an excess / Of passion’s fires’.[2] Then again, does the diction, ‘As my wandering / Soul do appear’, perhaps, differ from this? The poem of the Right has nothing particularly evocative in its use of diction, but ‘My feelings within the skies’ and following this with ‘The heaven-descended’ at least sounds as if has a purpose to it. The Right wins, I should say.


[1] When she had been forgotten by a man, she went to Kibune, and composed this on seeing fireflies flitting about by the Mitarashi River. 物思へば澤の螢も我身よりあくがれ出づる玉かとぞみる mono’omoeba / sawa no hotaru mo / wa ga mi yori / akugare izuru / tama ka to zo miru ‘I’m at such a loss; / Fireflies by the marsh: / From my breast / Wanders out / My soul, or so it seems.’ Izumi Shikibu (GSIS XX: 1162)

[2] When Princess Katsura had said ‘Catch some fireflies,’ and one of the boys had them wrapped up in the sleeves of his jacket. つつめどもかくれぬ物は夏虫の身よりあまれる思ひなりけり tsutsumedomo / kakurenu mono wa / natsumushi no / mi yori amareru / omoinarikeri ‘Wrapped up, yet / Unconcealable are / The summer insects: / Their bodies bringing an excess / Of passion’s fires.’ Anonymous (GSS IV: 209)

Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 53

Round Three

Left (Tie)

あはれとやかみもおもはむすみのえのふかくたのみをかくるみなれば

aware to ya
kami mo omowamu
suminoe no
fukaku tanomi o
kakuru mi nareba
‘How sad,’ does
The God, too, think?
For at Suminoe
Deep in devotions
Am I entangled…

Lord Tsunemori
105

Right

たのみつるこのひとむらの人ごとにちとせをゆづれすみよしのまつ

tanomitsuru
kono hitomura no
hito goto ni
chitose o yuzure
sumiyoshi no matsu
Devoted are
This group of folk, so
To each and every one
Grant a thousand years,
O, pines of Sumiyoshi!

Lord Yorisuke
106

The poem of the Left, saying ‘deep in devotions’ and suchlike, is pleasant, I have to say. Does the poem of the Right’s ‘this group of folk’ refer to the current poets or to the speaker’s own household? Well, whichever it is, the conception of devotion does not appear to be slight, but again I say this is a tie.

Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 52

Round Two

Left (Tie)

すみよしときこゆるさとにいとはずはおきどころなきみをやどさばや

sumiyoshi to
kikoyuru sato ni
itowazu wa
okidokoro naki
mi o yadosaba ya
A pleasant place to live is Sumiyoshi’s
Estate, or so I’ve heard, but
If it provide no comfort, then
My restless
Self might it attract…

Lord Kinshige
103

Right

すぎていにしあきにおくれてしもがるるきくやわがみのたぐひなるらむ

sugite inishi
aki ni okurete
shimogaruru
kiku ya wa ga mi no
tagui naruramu
Past and gone is
Autumn, but lingering,
Frost-burned
Chrysanthemums—is my sorry self
Just like them, I wonder?

Enjitsu
104

Neither the poem of the Left, nor of the Right, sound as if they have any particular faults. Nevertheless, in the case of such poems the assessment varies depending upon the speaker. While the poem of the Left is, indeed, pitiful, it also sounds a bit crude. It would be elegant, I think, if it were a woman’s poem. As for the Right’s poem, if we take it as an expression of grief over orphanhood, then in the final analysis it’s charming as it matches the conception of a scion of a noble house picturing himself as the monarch of the flowers. Then again, we do have the poem by the Enkyū Third Prince:

うゑおきしきみもなきよにとしへたる花は我が身のここちこそすれ

ueokishi
kimi mo naki yo ni
toshi hetaru
hana wa wa ga mi no
kokochi koso sure
You planted them here,
My Lord, though gone from this world,
These many years past—
The flowers and my sorry self
Both feel the same…[1]

This would seem to be in the same vein. Given that the speaker of both poems is unclear, for the moment, these tie.


[1] Composed when viewing the blossom at the Enshūji and recalling former Emperor Gosanjō (KYS IX: 518).

Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 51

Personal Grievances

Round One

Left

むかしとてみのおもひではなけれどもきみしのびねぞたえずなかるる

mukashi tote
mi no omoide wa
nakeredomo
kimi shinobine zo
taezu nakaruru
Bygone days—
Memories of me then
Have I none, yet
Thinking fondly of my Lord
I weep constantly.

Hyōenosuke
101

Right

いくよしもありへむものとしらぬみはうきもつらきもなにかなげかむ

iku yo shimo
ariemu mono to
shiranu mi wa
uki mo tsuraki mo
nanika nagekamu
However many ages
I may live through
I know not, so
For the coldness and cruelties
Why should I grieve so?

Lord Naganori
102

The configuration of the Left’s poem, beginning ‘Memories of me then / Have I none, yet’ appears elegant. The conception of self-effacingly not recalling oneself but thinking fondly of one’s former master seems sadly moving. The Right’s poem appears splendidly direct in its emotional stance. With that being said, the Right lacks clear source of grief, whereas the Left has its fond recollections, and thus I have to say it wins.