Tag Archives: bush clover

Daikōtaigōgū no suke taira no tsunemori-ason ke uta’awase 21

Round Nine

Left (Tie)

秋はぎを草の枕にむすびてや妻恋ひかねて鹿のふすらん

akihagi o
kusa no makura ni
musubite ya
tsuma koikanete
shika no fusuran
The autumn bush clover
For a grassy pillow
Has he woven—is that why
Unable to love his mate
The stag seems to lie?

Koreyuki
41

Right

妻こふる秋にしなればさをしかの床の山とてうちもふされじ

tsuma kouru
aki ni shi nareba
saoshika no
toko no yama tote
uchi mo fusareji
He yearns for his mate
In autumn, above all, so
In the stag’s
Bed among the mountains
He cannot lay him down, it seems.

Arifusa
42

The Left isn’t bad, but isn’t there Controller Kore’ie’s poem:

秋萩を草の枕にむすぶ夜はちかくもしかのこゑをきくかな

akihagi o
kusa no makura ni
musubu yo wa
chikaku mo shika no
koe o kiku kana
The autumn bush clover
For a grassy pillow
I weave tonight—
Close by, truly, a stag’s
Bell I hear! [1]

While there is this earlier example, neither core nor the conceptions of these poems are the same, and as the Right’s poem is not all that good, after careful consideration I make this a tie.


[1] On hearing a stag at his lodgings. KYS (3) III: 224

Daikōtaigōgū no suke taira no tsunemori-ason ke uta’awase 12

Round Twelve

Left

我がやどものこる花なくうゑつれど野べのけしきは猶ぞ床しき

wa ga yado mo
nokoru hana naku
uetsuredo
nobe no keshiki wa
nao zo yukashiki
At my dwelling
Lingering blooms are there none
Though I did plant them,
The prospect of a meadow is
Charming still!

Lord Fujiwara no Kiyosuke, Senior Secretary of the Dowager Empress’ Household Office
23

Right

秋萩の枝もとををにおく露のはらはばあやな花やちりなん

akihagi no
eda mo tōo ni
oku tsuyu no
harawaba aya na
hana ya chirinan
The autumn bush-clover
Branches bent with
Fallen dewdrops—
Should I sweep them off, then
Would the blossoms scatter, I wonder?

Lay Priest and Master of the Left Capital Office Norinaga
24

Doesn’t the Right seem to resemble the poem in the Ancient and Modern Collection which says

をりてみば落ちぞしぬべき秋萩の枝もとををにおけるしら露

oritemiba
ochi zo shinubeki
akihagi no
eda mo t
ōo ni
okeru shiratsuyu
Were I to pluck one,
‘Twould fall and smash:
Autumn bush-clover’s
Branches bent
With fallen silver dewdrops.

Daikōtaigōgū no suke taira no tsunemori-ason ke uta’awase 08

Round Eight

Left (Tie)

うづら鳴く遠里小野の小萩はら心なき身も過ぎうかりけり

uzura naku
tōsato ono no
kohagiwara
kokoronaki mi mo
sugi’ukarikeri
Quails cry from
Tōsato plain’s
Bush-clover groves—
Even one as insensitive as I
Finds it hard to pass them by.

Kenshō Sukenokimi
15

Right

あきの野の花に心をそめしよりくさかやひめもあはれとぞ思ふ

aki no no no
hana ni kokoro o
someshi yori
kusakayahime mo
aware to zo omou
Since the autumn meadows’
Blooms my heart
Did fill, for
Kusakayahime
Fondness, I feel!

Tōren
16

As for the Left, if one is composing about bush-clover groves, then I would want the poem to mention Miyagi Plain. As for the Right’s Kusakayahime, I wondered if she appeared in the Chronicles of Japan, but in that work you have Izanagi-no-miko and Izanami-no-miko, who wed and create the first land, Akitsushima, and then many provinces, mountains, rivers and seas and thus trees and plants, too. It further states that the primordial tree was Kukunochi and the primordial plant was Kayanohime. The conception of the Right’s poem does not differ from this, yet it continues to mention Kusakayahime, which is unclear. I get the feeling that this poem was composed with the works composed for the banquet held for the completion of the Chronicles of Japan in mind, which refer to each and every spring and the ancient Kayanohime, but even these poems did not differ in conception from that of the main work. It’s impossible to pick a loser or winner.

Daikōtaigōgū no suke taira no tsunemori-ason ke uta’awase 07

Round Seven

Left (Win)

萩がはな分けゆく程は古郷へかへらぬ人もにしきをぞきる

hagi ga hana
wakeyuku hodo wa
furusato e
kaeranu hito mo
nishiki o zo kiru
When through the bush-clover blooms
He forges his way,
To his ancient home
Never to return—that man, too,
Wears a fine brocade!

Minamoto no Arifusa, Minor Captain in the Inner Palace Guards, Right Division

13

Right

声たてて鳴くむしよりも女郎花いはぬ色こそ身にはしみけれ

koe tatete
naku mushi yori mo
ominaeshi
iwanu iro koso
mi ni wa shimikere
They lift their songs in
Plaintive cries, but far more than the insects
‘Tis the maidenflower’s
Wordless hue that truly
Pierce my soul!

Junior Assistant Minister of Central Affairs Sadanaga
14

The Left is well-composed, but what is the Right’s ‘wordless hue’? Are we supposed to imagine that the expression means ‘silent yellow’? This is difficult to grasp, isn’t it. Whatever way you look at it, the Left seems to win.

Daikōtaigōgū no suke taira no tsunemori-ason ke uta’awase 05

Round Five

Left

あきののは花の色色おほかれど萩のにしきにしく物ぞなき

aki no no wa
hana no iroiro
ōkaredo
hagi no nishiki ni
shiku mono zo naki
In the autumn meadows
The blooms have hues
Aplenty, yet
To the bush-clover’s brocade
There’s nothing to compare.

Lord Fujiwara no Yorisuke, Assistant Master of the Empress Dowager’s Household Office
9

Right (Win)

ほりはてぬ花こそあらめ秋ののに心をさへものこしつるかな

horihatenu
hana koso arame
aki no no ni
kokoro o sae mo
nokoshitsuru kana
As yet undug
Flowers, indeed, may there be
In the autumn meadows, for
Even my heart
Does linger there!

Lord Minamoto no Yorimasa, Former Director of the Bureau of Military Storehouses
10

The Left seems a bit cliched, yet it’s not bad. As for the Right, the image of having dug up all the flowers is unsatisfying, yet it’s not worth drawing attention to when the whole sentiment is so charming, and thus the Right should win.

MYS X: 2271

On blossom

草深三 蟋多 鳴屋前 芽子見公者 何時来益牟

くさふかみ こほろぎさはに なくやどの はぎみにきみは いつかきまさむ

kusa pukami
koporogi sapa ni
naku yado no
pagi mi ni kimi pa
ituka kimasamu
Deep within the grasses
So noisily the crickets
Cry around your house—
You gaze upon the bush clover, sir, but
When might you visit me?

Anonymous

MYS X: 2182

比日之 暁露丹 吾屋前之 芽子乃下葉者 色付尓家里

このころのあかときつゆにわがやどのはぎのしたばはいろづきにけり

kono koro no
akatoki tuyu ni
wa ga yado no
pagi no sitaba pa
irodukinikeri
Around thus time near
Dawn, the dewfall on
My dwelling’s
Bush clover underleaves
Has changed their hue!

Anonymous

A kuzushiji version of the poem's text
Created with Soan.

SKKS IV: 393

On flowering grasses before the moon, when he presented a Fifty Poem Sequence.

ふるさとのもとあらのこはぎさきしよりよなよな庭の月ぞうつろふ

furusato no
motoara no kohagi
sakishi yori
yonayona niwa no
tsuki zo utsurou
At my ancient home
Since the sparse bush clover
Bloomed,
Night after night upon the garden
Shines the moon![i]

The Regent and Palace Minister

A kuzushiji version of the poem's text.
Created with Soan.

[i] An allusive variation on KKS XIV: 694.

Hon’in sadaijin-ke uta’awase 06

Bush clover

Left

しかのこゑたかさごやまのはぎなればをりてこしよりねをやなくらん

shika no koe
takasagoyama no
hagi nareba
oritekoshi yori
ne o ya nakuran
A stag’s cry
On Takasago Mountain, where
Lies bush clover:
Might someone have come and picked her
That he lets out such cries?

11

Right

あきはぎの花のながるるかはのせにしがらみかくるしかのねもせぬ

akihagi no
hana no nagaruru
kawa no se ni
shigarami kakuru
shika no ne mo senu
Autumn bush clover
Blooms flow down
The river rapids and
Hang upon the lattice weir, and
The stag cries not at all…

12

KKS VIII: 397

One day, he was summoned to the Thunder Pavilion to take wine with His Majesty; rain was falling fiercely as evening drew on and when he rose to take his leave, he took his wine-cup and…

秋はぎの花をば雨にぬらせども君をばましてをしとこそおもへ

aki Fagi no
Fana woba ame ni
nurasedomo
kimi woba masite
osi to koso omoFe
The autumn bush clover’s
Blooms by the raindrops
Have been soaked, yet,
My lord, far more
Do I regret leaving you.

Tsurayuki