Tag Archives: bush clover grove

Entō ōn’uta’awase 31

Round Thirty-One

Left

露すがる庭の萩原色付きぬいかなる人の思ひそむらん

tsuyu sugaru
niwa no hagiwara
irozukinu
ika naru hito no
omoisomuran
All clung with dew,
The bush clover grove in the grounds
Has taken on such hues, that
I wonder who it is
Might have just fallen into passion’s flames?

Chikanari
61

Right (Win)

おく露は秋のならひの萩が枝にあまるや雁の涙なるらん

oku tsuyu wa
aki no narai no
hagi ga e ni
amaru ya kari no
namida naruran
Dewdrops falling is
Autumn’s custom for
The bush clover branches, but
Added to them are the goose
Tears, perhaps?[1]

Ie’kiyo
62

The Left’s poem has a person’s feelings being dyed by the bush-clover, but I cannot think why this should be?  The Right’s poem seems particularly pleasant. Thus, it wins.


[1] An allusive variation on: Composed on the occasion of a poetry competition at Prince Koresada’s house. 秋の夜のつゆをばつゆとおきながらかりの涙やのべをそむらむ aki no yo no / tsuyu oba tsuyu to / okinagara / kari no namida ya / nobe o somuran ‘On Autumn nights / The dew as dewdrops / Falls, but, / Perhaps goose tears / Stain the fields?’ Mibu no Tadamine (KKS V: 258)

Entō ōn’uta’awase 29

Round Twenty-Nine

Left (Win)

宮城のの木下風や過ぎぬらん露におくるる秋萩の花

miyagino no
ko no shitakaze ya
suginuran
tsuyu ni okururu
akihagi no hana
On Miyagi Plain has
The breeze beneath the trees
Passed by? For
Missing the dewfall are
The autumn bush clover blooms…

Takasuke
57

Right

物おもふやどの物とてながむれば露にをれふす庭の萩原

mono’omou
yado no mono tote
nagamureba
tsuyu ni orefusu
niwa no hagiwara
Sunk in gloomy thought is
The one who dwells here, I feel,
When I gaze upon,
Broken and tangled among the dewdrops,
The bush clover grove in the grounds…

Shimotsuke
58

The Left poem’s ‘Missing the dewfall are the autumn bush clover’ sounds pleasant. The Right poem has no faults either, yet the Left should win.