After he had already grown old, he planted a flowering plum and, at the beginning of the year when he had something on his mind
うゑし時花見むとしもおもはぬにさきちる見ればよはひ老いにけり
| uesi toki Fana mimu to simo omoFanu ni sakitiru mireba yoFai oinikeri | When I planted them, These blossoms to see I did not think, but Seeing them bloom and scatter, Such is my old age! |
Lord Fujiwara no Sukemoto
藤原扶幹朝臣
年ふれば老ぞたふれて朽ちぬべき身はすみの江の松ならなくに
| toshi fureba oi zo taurete kuchinubeki mi wa suminoe no matsu naranaku ni | As the years mount up, Age lays me low and I have withered away, for I, at Suminoe, A pine tree am not…[i] |
693
[i] See: Kokinshū XVII: 905.
Left (Tie)
いつもかくさびしきものかつの国のあし屋の里の秋の夕暮
| itsumo kaku sabishiki mono ka tsu no kuni no ashiya no sato no aki no yūgure | Are they always such Lonely things? In the land of Tsu, Reed-roofed villages On an autumn evening… |
Ietaka
497
Right
千代までや松をばともにおもふらんなほすゑ遠き君がよはひを
| chiyo made ya matsu oba tomo ni omouran nao suedōki kimi ga yowai o | Until a thousand ages pass Will you be together with the pine I wonder, for Even further into the future Stretches your age… |
Kunaikyō
498
月さゆるみもすそ川の底きよみいづれの代にかすみはじめけん
| tsuki sayuru mimosusogawa no soko kiyomi izure no yo ni ka sumihajimeken | Chill, the moon Upon the Mimosuso River, Its bed so clear— In which age was it, That it began to be so, I wonder?[i] |
619
[i] See: Composed for a picture of the Rinji Festival at the Kamo Shrine on a folding screen prepared for the entrance of a Junior Consort to the palace in the 6th year of Bunji (1190). 月さゆるみたらし河にかげみえてこほりにすれる山あゐの袖 tsuki sayuru / mitarashigawa ni / kage miete / kōri ni sureru / yama’ai no sode ‘Chill, the moon, / Upon the Mitarashi River / Shines, seeming as / A design of ice upon / Indigo sleeves.’ Master of the Dowager Empress’ Household Office Toshinari (Shinkokinshū XIX: 1889)
Round Seven
Left
かすがやまちえにさかゆるさかきばはよろづよまでのきみがためか
| kasugayama chie ni sakayuru sakakiba wa yorozuyo made no kimi ga tame ka | Upon Kasuga Mountain A thousand branches grow, Leafy, on the sacred tree— Until ten thousand ages pass Will they ward my Lord! |
Lady Kazusa
69
Right
君がよはいふかぎりなしみよしののこがねがみねにみよをまつまで
| kimi ga yo wa iu kagiri nashi miyoshino no kogane ga mine ni miyo o matsu made | My Lord’s reign— Words cannot describe: ‘til fair Yoshino’s Golden peak’s Age one must await! |
Lady Shikibu
70
The poem of the Left seems poetic to an extraordinarily outlandish degree! The poem of the Right’s ‘‘til fair Yoshino’s / Golden peak’s / Age one must await!’ has a sufficient conception of felicitation. Thus, these tie.
That the Left is addressed to Mount Kasuga is highly admirable. Is the Right’s ‘golden peak’ a reference to Mount Mitake? It’s very difficult to say anything profound here. Arbitrarily, I would make this a tie—the quality of the poems makes that seem right.
Round Three
Left
万代の秋のかたみになす物はきみがよはひをのぶるしらぎく
| yorozuyo no aki no katami ni nasu mono wa kimi ga yowai o noburu shiragiku | Of ten thousand ages’ Autumns a keepsake I will make: My Lord’s age Extended by a white chrysanthemum! |
Lord Akinaka
29
Right
今朝みればさながら霜をいただきて翁さびゆくしら菊の花
| kesa mireba sanagara shimo o itadakite okina sabiyuku shiragiku no hana | When this morn I look That’s how it is: with frost Bestowed A lonesome ancient seems This white chrysanthemum bloom! |
Lord Mototoshi
30
Toshiyori states: this first poem is strongly characterized by felicitation, and that’s about all the fault I can mention. As for the second poem, ‘a lonesome ancient seems’ is certainly an expression I don’t know. Still, if I think of examples from prior poems, ‘lone ancient’ could be interpreted as deriving from ‘dotaged ancient’, but then the conception seems different here, so this is most likely wrong. I can only give a decision once I am certain.
Mototoshi states: ‘Of ten thousand ages’ / Autumns a keepsake / Will make’ resembles Kanemori’s famous work,[1] which has often been alluded to in composition, I think. This poem is charming. ‘Will make’ is an extremely abbreviated expression, and so the final ‘age / Extended by a white chrysanthemum’ appears to have little connection to it. There is Tomonori’ s ‘Dew-dappled / Let us pluck and wear’[2], and also responses sent on the 9th day of the Ninth Month to the residences of Tadamine and Tsurayuki like ‘Bearing droplets / Age is extended by / Chrysanthemums’, aren’t there. Given that’s the case there would be many such keepsakes of extended age. As for the Right’s ‘That’s how it is: with frost / Bestowed / A lonesome ancient seems, well, it seems that just how I composed a poem about lingering chrysanthemums—have I done something wrong?
