On summer trees, when His Majesty, the Former Emperor, ordered him to produce a thirty poem sequence.
虹のたつふもとの杉は雲にきえて峰よりはるるゆふだちのあめ
| niji no tatsu fumoto no sugi wa kumo ni kiete mine yori haruru yūdachi no ame | A rainbow rises above Cedars in the foothills, Vanishing in the clouds Clearing from the peaks, With an evening shower of rain. |
Former Senior Assistant Governor General of Dazai Toshikane
Left
山深み種ある岩に生ふる松の根よりもかたき戀や何なる
| yama fukami tane aru iwa ni ouru matsu no ne yori mo kataki koi ya nani naru |
Deep with the mountains, Upon the crags where seeds Grow into pines, Rooted firmly – how hard Will our love be? |
Lord Ari’ie
1041
Right (Win)
契きなまた忘れずよ初瀬河布留川野邊の二本の杉
| chigirikina mata wasurezu yo hatsusegawa furukawa nobe no futamoto no sugi |
You vowed it, did you not. Not to forget me more. In the River Hatsuse and River Furu’s meadows Stand twin cedars. |
Jakuren
1042
Left and Right together state: we find no faults to mention.
In judgement: While there are such things in the heart of the mountains as ‘crags where seeds grow into pines’ (tane aru iwa ni ouru matsu), it is normally by the sea or on rocky coastlines that one finds firmly rooted pine trees. Surely, mountain pines are but lightly rooted? Cedars on River Hatsuse recollects ‘Nor will I ever; a solid brick-kiln’ (wasurezu yo kawaraya), but ‘You vowed it, did you not’ (chigirikina) also reminds me of the old phrase ‘Both our sleeves wringing out’ (katami ni sode o shiboritsutsu), which is most fine. Thus, the Right wins.
Composed as a poem on haze.
見渡せばそこと印の杉もなし霞のうちや三輪の山本
| miwataseba soko to sirusi no sugi mo nasi kasumi no uti ya miwa no yamamoto |
When I gaze across As sentinels there No cedars stand; Are you within the haze, O, Miwa Mountain’s foot? |
Captain of the Middle Palace Guards, Left Division, [Fujiwara no] Takafusa
左兵衛督隆房
Sedōka Topic unknown.
初瀬河布留川のへに二本ある杉年をへて又もあひ見む二本ある杉
| FatusegaFa FurukaFa no Fe ni Futamoto aru sugi tosi o Fete mata aFimimu Futamoto aru sugi |
The River Hatsuse, and River Furu: between their banks Stand twin cedars; The years go by, and They will come together once more, Twin cedars standing. |
Anonymous
When he visited, after many years, the home of lady with whom he had once been intimate, she composed this, pretending not to know who he was.
杉も杉宿もむかしの宿ながらかはるはひとの心なりけり
| sugi mo sugi yado mo mukashi no yado nagara kawaru wa hito no kokoro narikeri |
The cedars and their Dwelling make my home just as it was So long ago; What has changed is my Heart. |
Anonymous
Left (Tie).
たどりつる道に今宵は更けにけり杉の梢に在明の月
| tadoritsuru michi ni koyoi wa fukenikeri sugi no kozue ni ariake no tsuki |
Trailing along The roads, tonight Has ended, with The cedar tops touched By the dawntime moon. |
657
Right.
心こそ行方も知らぬ三輪の山杉の木ずゑの夕暮の空
| kokoro koso yukue mo shiranu miwa no yama sugi no kozue no yūgure no sora |
My heart’s Heading I know not! On Mount Miwa above The cedar tops lies The dusking evening sky. |
658
The Gentlemen of both the Left and Right state that they find no faults in the opposing poem.
Shunzei’s judgement: The Left has ‘cedar tops touched by the dawntime moon’ (sugi no kozue ni ariake no tsuki) and the Right has ‘cedar tops lies the dusking evening sky’ (sugi no kozue no yūgure no sora) – both poems are charming [okashiku mo haberu]. While the Left lacks a reference to Mount Miwa, this makes it sound all the more charming, I think. ‘Dawntime moon’ is particularly fine in its tranquillity, but the Right’s ‘dusking evening sky’ is by no means inferior, so, again, the round should tie.
Left (Win).
偽のしるしと杉を三輪の山訪ひつゝ來たる甲斐しなければ
| itsuwari no shirushi to sugi o miwa no yama toitsutsu kitaru kai shinakereba |
How false! For proof to the cedars On Mount Miwa Have I come visiting many times To no purpose. |
655
Right.
三輪の山杉立つ門を訪へとだに頼めぬ道に迷ころかな
| miwa no yama sugi tatsu kado o toe to dani tanomenu michi ni mayoi koro kana |
On Mount Miwa My gate where cedars stand Come visit – not even That have you asked, so my way Have I lost… |
656
Both Right and Left can find no fault with the other’s poem.
Shunzei’s judgement: Both poems refer to Mount Miwa, and it is, perhaps a bit regrettable [kuchioshiku] that the Left uses the phrase ‘How false! For proof’ (itsuwari no shirushi)in this context. In the Right’s ‘my gate where cedars stand’ (sugi tatsu kado) , tatsu sounds insufficient as diction [kotoba, koto tarazu kikoyu]. The Left’s poem, moreover, is tasteful in form [utazama yū naru].
Left.
鳴神は猶村雲にとゞろきて入日に晴るゝ夕立の空
| narukami wa nao murakumo ni todorokite irihi ni haruru yūdachi no sora |
Thunder Among the crowding clouds yet Sounds, and The setting sun shines from a clearing Sky of evening showers. |
287
Right (Win).
これもやと人里遠き片山に夕立すぐる杉の村立
| kore mo ya to hito sato tōki katayama ni yūdachi suguru sugi no muradachi |
Could that be it? Far from human dwellings In the distant mountains Passed o’er by evening showers: A grove of cedar trees… |
288
The Right wonder whether, ‘it is not overly similar to have both “thunder” (naru) and “sound” (todoroku) in a single poem?’ The Left have no comments to make.
Shunzei states, ‘The Left’s poem does seem to have some sort of style about it, but the Right’s “Could that be it?” (kore mo ya) contains many possible meanings, and the phrasing is also pleasant, as is “a grove of cedar trees” (sugi no muradachi), and thus, it must win.’