Tag Archives: akashi

KYS III: 216

Composed when he was asked by people in the capital what the moon had been like, when he had returned there, after going to Akashi to gaze upon it, at a time when it was particularly bright.

有明の月もあかしの浦風に波ばかりこそよるとみえしか

ariake no
tuki mo akasi no
urakaze ni
nami bakari koso
yoru to miesika
The dawntime
Moon’s brightness, with Akashi’s
Beach breezes
Simply with the waves
Did seem to draw near with the night…

Taira no Tadamori
平忠盛

GSIS IX: 523

When he had gone to a place called Akashi in Harima to bathe in the sea, he presented this to the Empress’ pantry on a night when the moon was bright.

覺つかな都の空やいかならむ今夜あかしの月を見るにも

obotukana
miyako no sora ya
ikanaramu
koyoFi akasi no
tuki wo miru ni mo
I wonder about
The skies above the capital:
Can
Tonight Akashi’s bright
Moon you see there, too?

Middle Councillor Suketsuna
中納言資綱

Love V: 25

Left (Win).
枕にも跡にも露の玉散りてひとり起きゐる小夜の中山

makura ni mo
ato ni mo tsuyu no
tama chirite
hitori oki’iru
sayo no naka yama
Upon my pillow and
My foot prints both, dew
Drops have fallen
Awakening alone in
Sayo-no-Nakayama.

A Servant Girl
889

Right.
草枕ひとりあかしの浦風にいとゞ涙ぞ落ちまさりける

kusamakura
hitori akashi no
ura kaze ni
itodo namida zo
ochimasarikeru
Pillowed on the grass,
Alone at dawn in Akashi,
The breeze from the bay
Makes even more tears
Fall.

Lord Tsune’ie.
890

The Right state they have no criticisms of the Left’s poem. The Left merely say that the Right’s poem is ‘old-fashioned’.

Shunzei’s judgement: The Left’s ‘dew drops’ (tsuyu no tama) falling so widely at Sayo-no-Nakayama one can surmise to be deeply expressive of the concept of travel. The Right’s Akashi Bay is a place strongly associated with the sad sound of the wind and the waves, but the final ‘makes even more fall’ (ochimasarikeru) is insufficient. Thus, the Left should win.