いにしへの朽木の桜春ごとにあはれむかしとおもふかひなし
| inishie no kuchigi no sakura haru goto ni aware mukashi to omou kai nashi | An ancient, Rotting cherry tree, With every spring Sorrows for those bygone days, but Thinking that has no point at all. |
710
Tag Archives: bygone days
Kinkai wakashū 704
Kinkai wakashū 684
Kinkai wakashū 683
SIS XX: 1279
While gazing at the blossom, after Middle Counsellor Atsutada has passed away, and various people had gone to a mountain retreat at Nishisakamoto on Mount Hiei.
いにしへはちるをや人の惜みけん花こそ今は昔こふらし
| inisiFe Fa tiru wo ya Fito no osimiken Fana koso ima Fa mukasi koFurasi | Long ago Their scattering would he Ever regret, but Now, ‘tis the blossom That seems to long for bygone days. |
The Ichijō Regent
Tōgū gakushi noritada uta’awase 07
The scent of orange blossom incense on the breeze[i]
Left
ふくかぜに花たちばなぞにほふなるむかしのそでにあやまたれつつ
| fuku kaze ni hanatachibana zo niou naru mukashi no sode ni ayamataretsutsu | With the gusting breeze Orange blossom’s Fragrance comes— For those sleeves of bygone days Do I ever mistake it… |
13
Right
つねよりもことにもあるかなけふをまつはなたちばなのかぜのにほひは
| tsune yori mo koto ni mo aru kana kyō o matsu hanatachibana no kaze no nioi wa | More than ever So special it is! For today have I awaited, Orange blossom’s Scented breeze… |
14
In general, orange blossom is scented during early summer showers or has its fragrance carried on the evening breeze, so I wonder about the folk of bygone days: there’s nothing to compare it with, making the Left’s poem as hackneyed as one on Isonokami, yet there’s nothing special about it, like a weed growing under the eaves. The Right’s poem has ‘for today have I awaited’, which I think requires a reference to sweet-flags. My overall impression of both poems is that their conceptions are unclear.
[Judge’s poem missing]
[i] Rōkitsu bōfū 盧橘芳風
Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 51
Personal Grievances
Round One
Left
むかしとてみのおもひではなけれどもきみしのびねぞたえずなかるる
| mukashi tote mi no omoide wa nakeredomo kimi shinobine zo taezu nakaruru | Bygone days— Memories of me then Have I none, yet Thinking fondly of my Lord I weep constantly. |
Hyōenosuke
101
Right
いくよしもありへむものとしらぬみはうきもつらきもなにかなげかむ
| iku yo shimo ariemu mono to shiranu mi wa uki mo tsuraki mo nanika nagekamu | However many ages I may live through I know not, so For the coldness and cruelties Why should I grieve so? |
Lord Naganori
102
The configuration of the Left’s poem, beginning ‘Memories of me then / Have I none, yet’ appears elegant. The conception of self-effacingly not recalling oneself but thinking fondly of one’s former master seems sadly moving. The Right’s poem appears splendidly direct in its emotional stance. With that being said, the Right lacks clear source of grief, whereas the Left has its fond recollections, and thus I have to say it wins.
