Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 18

Left (Tie)

てる月もおのがひかりやたむくらむしらゆふかくるすみよしのまつ

teru tsuki mo
ono ga hikari ya
tamukuramu
shirayū kakuru
sumiyoshi no matsu
Does the shining moon
Of his own light
Make an offering?
Sacred white streamers hung
From the pines of Sumiyoshi.

Lord Fujiwara no Koretsuna
Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade
Without Office[i]
35

Right

かたそぎのゆきあはぬまよりもる月はしもにしもをやおきかさぬらむ

katasogi no
yukiawanu ma yori
moru tsuki wa
shimo ni shimo o ya
okikasanuramu
The ridge poles
Fail to meet and from the gaps
Drips moonlight—
Is it frost atop of frost
A’falling?

Lord Fujiwara no Suesada
Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade
Without Office[ii]
36

The Left appears elegant, but I do not feel that ‘his own’ is particularly appropriate here. The Right’s configuration of ‘Is it frost atop of frost’ seems charming. However, there is also the point that I sincerely feel that there is no good reason in the current composition to shoehorn in ‘The ridge poles / Fail to meet and from the gaps’, and thus these tie again.


[i] San’i jūgoige Fujiwara ason Koretsuna散位従五位下藤原朝臣伊綱

[ii] San’i jūgoige Fujiwara ason Suesada 散位従五位下藤原朝臣季定

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