Boats 船
おそろしやともへはしりそ波間行くあかしを舟のあからめなせそ
| osoroshi ya tomoe hashiri so namima yuku akashi o fune no akarame na se so | O, how frightening! Bows and sterns, don’t race so Between the breakers go The lights – so from the boats Take not your wayward gaze! |
Akinaka
Composed on the conception of the moon by the sea.
眺めやる心の果てぞなかりける明石の沖に澄める月影
| nagameyaru kokoro no Fate zo nakarikeru akasi no oki ni sumeru tsukikage |
Gazing out I find my heart’s last hope Is not gone; Above the offing at Akashi bright and Clear is the moonlight. |
Shun’e
俊恵
Topic unknown.
わが宿は播磨潟にもあらなくに明石も果で人の行くらむ
| wa ga yado Fa Farimagata ni mo aranaku ni akasi mo Fatede Fito no yukuramu |
My home By Harima’s inlet Lies not, yet He brings none of Akashi’s brightness With his coming… |
Anonymous
A place famous for its moon.
なべてなほ所の名をや惜しむらん明石はわきて月のさやけき
| nabete nao tokoro no na o ya oshimuran akashi wa wakite tsuki no sayakeki |
In general Does the place’s name Have anything to regret? Akashi is particular for The purity of the moon… |
Saigyō
西行
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
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
面影に須磨も明石も誘ひ来て心ぞ月に浦伝ひける
| omokage ni suma mo akashi mo sasoikite kokoro zo tsuki ni ura tsutaikeru |
Its visage above Both Suma, and Akashi, too Beckoned me; My heart to the moon Whispered secrets on the shore… |
Cloistered Prince Shukaku
守覚法親王
Topic unknown.
白浪はたてと衣にかさならすあかしもすまもおのかうらうら
| siranami Fa tatedo koromo ni kasanarazu akasi mo suma mo ono ga uraura |
The whitecaps Break, yet no sewn robes Are laid upon each other; Both Akashi and Suma, too Are lined with their own shores… |
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
柿本人麻呂
ほのぼのと明石の浜を見渡しば春の浪わけ出づる船の帆
| Fonobono to akasi no Fama wo miwataseba Faru no namiwake iduru Fune no Fo |
In the gloaming When across the beach at Akashi I sweep my gaze, Cutting through the springtime waves Are the sails of departing boats. |
Minamoto no Shitagō
源順
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.