Tag Archives: autumn

Naidaijin-ke uta’awase 21

Round Nine

Left (M – Tie)

秋くれて千草の花は残らねど独うつろふ白菊のはな

aki kurete
chigusa no hana wa
nokoranedo
hitori utsurou
shiragiku no hana
Autumn sinks to twilight, and
Of a thousand blossoms
Not one lingers, save
Alone and fading
A white chrysanthemum bloom.

Lord Shigemoto
41

Right (T – Win)

かぎりなく君が千代経むしるしにや散残るらん宿のしらぎく

kagirinaku
kimi ga chiyo hemu
shirushi ni ya
chirinokoruran
yado no shiragiku
That endless through
A thousand ages will my Lord pass
A sign there is:
Not scattering and lingering
White chrysanthemums at his house!

Lord Tadataka
42

Toshiyori states: I don’t have much to point out about the poem on ‘autumn sinking to twilight’, except that it could have had ‘indeed, linger’ in place of ‘not one lingers, yet’ to lead to ‘alone and fading’. As for the second poem, there are no other examples of saying ‘chrysanthemums scatter’, yet I do wonder about how this sounds? Nevertheless, it has a conception of Felicitation and this makes it somehow superior.

Mototoshi states: the poems of Left and Right are of the same standard in both conception and diction, so it’s not possible to tell them apart. These, too, are of the same quality.

Naidaijin-ke uta’awase 17

Round Five

Left (T – Tie; M – Win)

秋はてて霜枯れぬれどきくの花残れる色は深くみえけり

aki hatete
shimogarenuredo
kiku no hana
nokoreru iro wa
fukaku miekeri
With the end of autumn
Burned by frost they are, yet
The chrysanthemum blooms’
Lingering hues
Appear all the deeper.

Lady Shinano
33

Right

白ぎくも移ひにけりうき人のこころばかりとなにおもひけむ

shiragiku mo
utsuroinikeri
ukibito no
kokoro bakari to
nani omoikemu
This white chrysanthemum, too
Has faded; ‘tis simply as
My cruel lady’s
Heart—
I wonder why would I think so?

A Court Lady
34

Toshiyori states: the first poem has ‘With the end of autumn / Burned by frost they are’ and this gives the impression that there is nothing remaining. But saying that autumn has ended, yet one can still see the chrysanthemums, so, in the end, ‘hues appear all the deeper’ means there is a mismatch between the beginning and end of the poem. As for the second poem, it’s a commonplace style of composition to say that you despise someone who has forgotten you, but this is certainly a love poem, and it does not resemble a chrysanthemum one. Nevertheless, there’s nothing particular to point out in this poem and it has some vague parts, so I say this is a tie.

Mototoshi states: the phrase ‘Lingering hues / Appears all the deeper’ doesn’t say what these look like or how they appear. In addition, the poem’s style is not that superlative, and its diction seems halting. With that being said, however, the poem of the Right does not resemble one regretting the chrysanthemums in the slightest. It expresses the feelings of despite between a man and woman who have parted and become distant from each other using the metaphor of the chrysanthemum, and thus the conception of the topic lacks depth, so again the Left has to win.

Tōin senzai awase 12

Left – Bur Reed

あきのこむとしのををのみくりかへしかぞへてうゑん草のいろいろ

aki no komu
toshi no o o nomi
kurikaeshi
kazoete uemu
kusa no iroiro
Autumn will come
To the ending of the year, simply,
Time and time again,
Counting them will I plant
A variety of grasses…

20

This poem is an acrostic, with ‘bur reed’ (mikuri) contained in nomi kurikaeshi.

Right – Missing

Tōin senzai awase 10

Left – Pinks

もも草のときにつけつつさく中にいつともわかぬとこ夏の花

momokusa no
toki ni tsuketsutsu
saku naka ni
itsu tomo wakanu
tokonatsu no hana
A hundred grasses
Always with the season
Bloom and among them
Ever inseparable are
The flowering pinks.

17

Right

よろづよにぬるとこなつの花なればうつろふ秋もまたれざりけり

yorozuyo ni
nuru tokonatsu no
hana nareba
utsurou aki mo
matarezarikeri
For ten thousand ages
Have slept abed the pinks
In bloom, so
For the autumn when they fade
They have no need to wait!

18

Tōin senzai awase 08

Left – Karukaya

はなさかむあきくるまではかるかやのみだれんとだに我がおもはぬに

hana sakamu
aki kuru made wa
karukaya no
midaren to dani
ware omowanu ni
Its flowers bloom
In autumn, but ‘til then
That the tufted grass
Is all confused,
I would not even think…

11

Right

こゑにいでてはかるかやまの山びこはこたふるかたのゆきとはるけき

koe ni idete wa
karukayama no
yamabiko wa
kotauru kata no
yuki to harukeki
A voice sounds out on
The tufted grass-covered mount,
The mountain spirit
In response sends
Snow into the distance.

12a

こゑにいでてはかるかやまの山びこはこたふるかたのゆけどはるけき

koe ni idete wa
karukayama no
yamabiko wa
kotauru kata no
yukedo harukeki
A voice sounds out on
The tufted grass-covered mount,
The mountain spirit’s
Response goes
Out yet still is far away.

12b

Tōin senzai awase 07

Left – Bush clover

おひかかりくずのたままくあきはぎをうへけはあきのここにやつれん

oikakari
kuzu no tamamaku
akihagi o
ueke wa aki no
koko ni ya tsuren
Growing, hung with
Kudzu’s gemmed leaves,
The autumn bush-clover
Does feel overlain with autumn
Here, perhaps?

9a

おひかかりくずのたままくなつはぎをうゑてはあきのしかやまたれむ

oikakari
kuzu no tamamaku
natsuhagi o
uete wa aki no
shika ya mataremu
Growing, hung with
Kudzu’s gemmed leaves,
The summer bush-clover,
Planted, might autumn
Be the stag awaiting?

9b

Right

花もまだはぎはさかねどいまよりはしたばをみつつながめてぞをる

hana mo mada
hagi wa sakanedo
ima yori wa
shitaba o mitsutsu
nagamete zo oru
In blossom yet
Has the bush-clover to bloom, yet
From this moment on,
Will I ever look upon the under-leaves, and
Gazing, pick them!

10