Love Waiting for Someone 待人恋
いまこむとたのめし人のなかりせばねてあり明の月をみましや
| ima komu to tanomeshi hito no nakariseba nete ariake no tsuki o mimashi ya | ‘I’ll be coming now,’ said The one in whom I’ve placed my trust, but He is not here, so Should I to bed and with the dawn Upon the moon rest my gaze? |
Nakazane
Left (Tie).
故郷に見し面影も宿りけり不破の関屋の板間洩る月
| furusato ni mishi omokage mo yadorikeri fuwa no sekiya no itama moru tsuki |
Back home I saw her face, and It lodges here, At the Barrier House at Fuwa, In the moonlight leaking through the boards. |
A Servant Girl
1007
Right.
人恋ふる我ながめよ思けり須磨の関屋の有明の月
| hito kouru ware nagameyo omoikeri suma no sekiya no ariake no tsuki |
Loving you, I will ever gaze, I thought, At the Barrier House at Suma On the dawntime moon. |
Nobusada
1008
The Right state: the Left’s poem is good. The Left state: the Right’s poem lacks any faults to indicate.
In judgement: the Left’s ‘Barrier House at Fuwa’ (fuwa no sekiya) followed by ‘the moonlight leaking through the boards’ (itama moru tsuki) is truly charming. In addition, if one wonders why ‘I saw her face’ (mishi omokage mo) has been used, it is certainly reminiscent of the poem ‘The dawntime moon, too, lodges in the waters clear’, but an improvement on it. It is difficult to say, however, that the Right’s ‘At the Barrier House at Suma on the dawntime moon’ (suma no sekiya no ariake no tsuki) is in any way inferior.
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
Left (Win).
袖のうへになるるも人の形見かは我と宿せる秋の夜の月
| sode no ue ni naruru mo hito no katami ka wa ware to yadoseru aki no yo no tsuki |
Resting atop my sleeves Of my love so fond Are these keepsakes? Remaining with me, alone Is the moon this autumn night… |
A Servant Girl.
911
Right.
ひとり住む宿の気色とあはれとや憂き身とゝもに在明の月
| hitori sumu yado no keshiki to aware to ya ukimi to tomo ni ariake no tsuki |
Living alone, Is the sight of my home So pitiful? Alike are we in desolation, O, dawntime moon! |
Lord Tsune’ie.
912
The Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults. The Left state: the Right’s poem lacks a clear conception of love.
In judgement: the Left’s poem, indeed, has no faults. It should win.
Topic unknown.
有明の月もしみづにやどりけりこよひはこえじあふ坂のせき
| ariake no tuki mo simidu ni yadorikeri koyoFi Fa koezi aFusaka no seki |
The dawntime Moon, too, in the waters clear Does lodge; This night I will not pass The Barrier at Meeting Hill. |
Fujiwara no Norinaga
藤原範永
冬の夜の有明の月も塩の山指出の磯に千鳥なくなり
| fuyu no yo no ariake no tsuki mo shio no yama sashide no iso ni chidori nakunari |
A winter’s night At dawn, the moon on Mount Shio By the shore of Sashide does shine, and The plovers cry. |
Fujiwara no Ietaka
Left (Win).
月やそれほのみし人の面影を偲びかへせば有明の空
| tsuki ya sore honomishi hito no omokage o shinobikaeseba ariake no sora |
Was the moon her? So briefly glimpsed, her Face I bring to mind, but simply see The dawning sky… |
A Servant Girl.
791
Right.
夜もすがら苦しき戀に晴れやらぬ心迷いや明暗の空
| yomosugara kurushiki koi ni hareyaranu kokoro mayoi ya akegure no sora |
All night long From the pains of love Have I had no relief; Does the tumult in my heart reflect The shading of the dawning sky? |
Lord Tsune’ie.
792
The Right state: we find no faults in the Left’s poem. The Left state: the initial section of the Right’s poem sounds a little clumsy.
In judgement: both the Left’s ‘dawning sky’ (ariake no sora) and the Right’s ‘shading of the dawning sky’ (akegure no sora) sound pleasant, but the Left’s conception of commencing with ‘Was the moon her?’ (tsuki ya sore) and following it with ‘I bring to mind, but simply see the dawning sky’ (shinobikaeseba ariake no sora) appears particularly profoundly appropriate for the topic. Thus, the Left must win.
Topic unkown.
今こむと言ひし許に長月のありあけの月を待ちいでつる哉
| ima komu to iFisi bakari ni nagatuki no ariake no tuki o mati’ideturu kana |
‘I will come now,’ He had said, but Until the Longest Month’s Dawntime moon Appeared, have I been waiting… |
The Monk Sosei
Left (Tie).
たどりつる道に今宵は更けにけり杉の梢に在明の月
| tadoritsuru michi ni koyoi wa fukenikeri sugi no kozue ni ariake no tsuki |
Trailing along The roads, tonight Has ended, with The cedar tops touched By the dawntime moon. |
657
Right.
心こそ行方も知らぬ三輪の山杉の木ずゑの夕暮の空
| kokoro koso yukue mo shiranu miwa no yama sugi no kozue no yūgure no sora |
My heart’s Heading I know not! On Mount Miwa above The cedar tops lies The dusking evening sky. |
658
The Gentlemen of both the Left and Right state that they find no faults in the opposing poem.
Shunzei’s judgement: The Left has ‘cedar tops touched by the dawntime moon’ (sugi no kozue ni ariake no tsuki) and the Right has ‘cedar tops lies the dusking evening sky’ (sugi no kozue no yūgure no sora) – both poems are charming [okashiku mo haberu]. While the Left lacks a reference to Mount Miwa, this makes it sound all the more charming, I think. ‘Dawntime moon’ is particularly fine in its tranquillity, but the Right’s ‘dusking evening sky’ is by no means inferior, so, again, the round should tie.
Left (Tie).
雲深き嶺の朝明けのいかならん槇の戸白む雪の光に
| kumo fukaki mine no asake no ika naran maki no to shiramu yuki no hikari ni |
Deep within the clouds, Morning to the peaks must come, But how? I wonder, With whitening round my cedar door, Brightened by the snow… |
551
Right.
眺めやる衣手寒し有明の月より殘る峰の白雪
| nagameyaru koromode samushi ariake no tsuki yori nokoru mine no shirayuki |
Gazing on, How chill my sleeves; The dawntime Moon will linger less than The snowfall on the peaks… |
552
Both teams say they find the other’s poem moving.
Shunzei’s judgement: The Left’s poem has ‘deep snow’ (yuki fukaki), ‘whitening round my cedar door’ (maki no to shiramu), and the Right has ‘the dawntime moon will linger less than’ (ariake no tsuki yori nokoru) – the conception and diction of both are splendid [kokoro kotoba tomo ni yoroshiku koso haberumere]. It seems to me that is exactly how winter mornings are. Thus, it is difficult to say which is better. This must be a good tie [yoki ji].