Composed on seeing smoke rising from the kilns of the common folk.[i]
みちのくにここにやいづくしほがまの浦とはなしに煙たつみゆ
| michinoku ni koko ni ya izuku shiogama no ura to wa nashi ni keburi tatsu miyu | Where in Michinoku Might this be? For Shiogama Bay ‘tis not but I see the smoke arising.[ii] |
699
[i] Sanetomo is consciously echoing the following poem here: On receiving tribute and seeing the richness of his land. たかきやにのぼりて見ればけぶりたつたみのかまどはにぎはひにけり takaki ya ni / noborite mireba / keburi tatsu / tami no kamado wa / nigiwainikeri ‘To my palace heights / I climb and when I gaze across / Smoke rises— / The homes of my people / Are rich, indeed.’ Emperor Nintoku (Shinkokinshū VII: 707)
[ii] See: Kokinshū XX: 1088.
Round Twenty-Two
Left
いなむしろしきつのうらのまつかぜはもりくるをりぞしぐれともしる
| inamushiro shikitsu no ura no matsukaze wa morikuru ori zo shigure to mo shiru | A straw mat spread At Shikitsu Bay, where when On the wind through the pines Come dripping droplets I know a shower is falling! |
Lord Kiyosuke
93
Right (Win)
おほぞらもみやこのかたをしのぶらしこよひはことにうちしぐれつつ
| ōzora mo miyako no kata o shinoburashi koyoi wa koto ni uchishiguretsutsu | The heavens, too, Of the capital Think fondly, it seems, For tonight is especially Filled with constant showers… |
Lord Sanetsuna
94
The poem of the Left appears to have a pleasant conception, blending showers with the wind through the pines and saying, ‘Come dripping droplets / I know a shower is falling!’, but it appears that the straw mat has only been spread because of the reference to Shikitsu [spreading] Bay. Considering the actual nature of a straw mat, however, I do not feel that the sense links with Shikitsu Bay, although it would be charming if sleeping on a journey in the shade of the willows beside a river, or even in a hut among the rice-fields. I do not feel it is appropriate to spread a straw mat beneath the pines at Sumiyoshi. In addition, it is only the straw mat here which has the conception of a journey—how should one feel about that? The configuration of the Right’s poem, beginning with ‘The heavens, too’ and following with ‘Of the capital / Think fondly, it seems’, I would say is a poem for a poetry match. While a counter-argument has been made about the Left’s poem, it’s really asking for the impossible, isn’t it. So, I impose victory for the Right.
Round Nine
Left (Win)
うらさむくしぐるるよはのたびごろもきしのはにふにいたくにほひぬ
| ura samuku shigururu yowa no tabigoromo kishi no hanyū ni itaku nioinu | The bay is cold with Midnight showers, as My traveller’s robe With the shore’s ochre clay Is deeply stained. |
Taifu
67
Right
おもへただみやこのうちのねざめだにしぐるるそらはあはれならずや
| omoe tada miyako no uchi no nezame dani shigururu sora wa aware narazu ya | Simply think of me, when Within the capital You start from sleep— A showery sky is Sad, isn’t it? |
Sadanaga
68
While configuration of the Left’s poem, saying ‘With the shore’s ochre clay / Is deeply stained’ feels crude, it does appear to be in the style of the Myriad Leaves. As for the Right’s poem, its conception is good, but starting, ‘Simply think of me’ begs the question of who this is said to. Such diction is used in poetry exchanges or love poems, in particular. The Left’s poem is most likely superior.
When he had gone to a hot spring in Tajima province, he stayed in a place called Futami Bay and, while eating their evening meal, his companions were composing poetry, so he composed.
ゆふづくよおぼつかなきを玉匣ふたみの浦は曙てこそ見め
| yuFudukuyo obotukanaki wo tamakusige Futami no ura Fa akete koso mime | On an early moonlit evening How difficult to see A jewelled comb box— Lid lifted once more Futami Bay I’ll see with the dawn! |
Fujiwara no Kanesuke
