Tag Archives: aware

Kinkai wakashū 636

Snow at a shrine.

年つもるこしの白山しらずともかしらの雪をあはれとはみよ

toshi tsumoru
koshi no shirayama
shirazu tomo
kashira no yuki o
aware to wa miyo
How years has it drifted upon
The mountains white at Shirayama in Koshi
I know not, but
The snow above my brow,
O, behold with pity![i]

636


[i] See: Composed at Hiroshi Marōdo Shrine, recalling a visit to Shirayama, when he was Governnor of Kaga. としふともこしの白山わすれずはかしらのゆきをあはれともみよ toshi futomo / koshi no shirayama / wasurezu wa / kashira no yuki o / aware tomo miyo ‘The years have passed, yet / The mountains white at Shirayama in Koshi / Never will I forget! So, / The snow above my brow, / O, behold with pity!’ Master of the Left Capital Office Akisuke (Shinkokinshū XIX: 1912)

SKKS XIX: 1912

Composed at Hiroshi Marōdo Shrine, recalling a visit to Shirayama, when he was Governnor of Kaga.

としふともこしの白山わすれずはかしらのゆきをあはれともみよ

toshi futomo
koshi no shirayama
wasurezu wa
kashira no yuki o
aware tomo miyo
The years have passed, yet
The mountains white at Shirayama in Koshi
Never will I forget!
So, The snow above my brow,
O, behold with pity!

Master of the Left Capital Office Akisuke

SKKS XIX: 1873

When His Excellency, Kintsugu, in response to an imperial command, made a pilgrimage to the Grand Shrine, on the occasion of his return, this was sent to him from among the court ladies attending the Ise Virgin.

うれしさもあはれもいかにこたへまし古郷人に問はれましかば

ureshisa mo
aware mo ika ni
kotaemashi
furusatobito ni
towaremashikaba
Of my joy, and
Sadness, too, how
I would tell
My old friend from home
Should he ask of them…

Anonymous

Yōzei’in ichi no miko himegimi uta’awase 03

Original

やまざとはふゆぞさびしさまさりけるひとめもくさもかれぬとおもへば

yamazato wa
fuyu zo sabishisa
masarikeru
hitome mo kusa mo
karenu to omoeba
In a mountain retreat
Winter’s loneliness
Overwhelms
As both folks’ gaze and the grasses, too
Have withered away, I feel…

Minamoto no Toshiyuki
6

Left (Tie)

おほかたのあきはあはれのふかければやまざとならでなほぞかなしき

ōkata no
aki wa aware no
fukakereba
yamazato narade
nao zo kanashiki
In general, when
Autumn’s sorrow
Is at its deepest
‘Tis not only a mountain retreat
That is still sunk in sadness!

7

Right

やまざとはいつともわかじいとどしくあきはしかこそかなしかるらめ

yamazato wa
itsu to mo wakaji
itodoshiku
aki wa shika koso
kanashikarurame
A mountain retreat
Fails to stand out—
Most of all
In autumn does the stag
Seem so sad!

8

Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 60

Round Ten

Left (Win)

かぞふればやとせへにけりあはれわがしづみしことはきのふとおもふに

kasoureba
yatose henikeri
aware wa ga
shizumishi koto wa
kinō to omou ni
When I count them up,
Many years have passed, but
Sadness
Overcomes me for the events
Of yesterday, I feel…

Lord Sanesada
119

Right

いたづらにふりぬるみをもすみよしのまつはさりともあはれしるらむ

itazura ni
furinuru mi o mo
sumiyoshi no
matsu wa sari tomo
aware shiruramu
How quickly
Age has come upon my flesh, too—
Sumiyoshi’s
Pines must that
Sadness know too well…

Lord Toshinari
120

The poem of the Left: these are not matters which could be understood by just anyone, yet even a superficial glance at it reveals that its conception and configuration display and exceptional sadness. How true it is that off all the myriad things in our lives it is the events of yesterday and today that we recall, and this is how we pass through the years and months, so how difficult, indeed, it is to supress the configuration of ‘When I count them up, / Many years have passed’! As for the Right’s poem, well, the conception of the initial section is pedestrian at best, although the latter section does seem to have some conception to it in places and shows some signs of thought. It is the poor composition of the judge, who is into his dotage. Once more, therefore, I have not rendered judgement, however, I feel that the deity would determine in favour of the Left.

Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 59

Round Nine

Left

いとふともなきものゆゑによのなかのあはれをさすがうちなげきつつ

itou tomo
naki mono yue ni
yo no naka no
aware o sasu ga
uchinagekitsutsu
With despite I regard it not, yet
This mundane world
Has such sadness, that
Ever am
I grief-stricken…

Lord Sanefusa
117

Right (Win)

いたづらにとしもつもりのうらにおふるまつぞわがみのたぐひなりける

itazura ni
toshi mo tsumori no
ura ni ouru
matsu zo wa ga mi no
tagui narikeru
How quickly
The years have piled up; on Tsumori
Shore grow
Pines – my sorry self, indeed,
Do they resemble!

Lord Yorimasa
118

The poem of the Left has a configuration which directly expresses a single emotion. Its conception sounds in keeping with this. The poem of the Right begins with ‘The years have piled up; on Tsumori / Shore grow’ and continues with ‘Pines – my sorry self, indeed’ which appears very pleasant. Thus, the Right wins.

Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 53

Round Three

Left (Tie)

あはれとやかみもおもはむすみのえのふかくたのみをかくるみなれば

aware to ya
kami mo omowamu
suminoe no
fukaku tanomi o
kakuru mi nareba
‘How sad,’ does
The God, too, think?
For at Suminoe
Deep in devotions
Am I entangled…

Lord Tsunemori
105

Right

たのみつるこのひとむらの人ごとにちとせをゆづれすみよしのまつ

tanomitsuru
kono hitomura no
hito goto ni
chitose o yuzure
sumiyoshi no matsu
Devoted are
This group of folk, so
To each and every one
Grant a thousand years,
O, pines of Sumiyoshi!

Lord Yorisuke
106

The poem of the Left, saying ‘deep in devotions’ and suchlike, is pleasant, I have to say. Does the poem of the Right’s ‘this group of folk’ refer to the current poets or to the speaker’s own household? Well, whichever it is, the conception of devotion does not appear to be slight, but again I say this is a tie.

Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 50

Round Twenty-Five

Left

うちしぐれものさびしかるあしのやのこやのねざめにみやここひしも

uchishigure
mono sabishikaru
ashi no ya no
koya no nezame ni
miyako koishi mo
A slight shower is
All the more lonely
In a reed-roofed
Hut in Koya, starting awake and
Longing for the capital more…

Lord Sanesada
99

Right

あはれにもよはにすぐなるしぐれかななれもやたびのそらにいでつる

aware ni mo
yowa ni sugu naru
shigure kana
nare mo ya tabi no
sora ni idetsuru
How sad is
At midnight a passing
Shower!
Have you, too, on a journey
Into the skies departed?

Lord Toshinari
100

The configuration of the Left’s poem, beginning with ‘All the more lonely’ and concluding with ‘Longing for the capital more’, has already penetrated the boundaries of mystery and depth. It sounds particularly pleasant. The poem of the Right is the judge’s own meagre work. Thus, in accordance with precedent I shall refrain from rendering a judgement.