Winter Poems Twenty Rounds
Left
かきくもりあられふりしけ白玉をしける庭とも人の見るがに
| kakikumori arare furishike shiratama o shikeru niwa to mo hito no miru gani | Clouds rush in Dropping scattered hailstones; Pearl Strewn, my garden I would that he would see… |
119
Right
天の河ふゆは空までこほるらし石間にたぎつ音だにもせず
| ama no kawa fuyu wa sora made kōrurashi iwama ni tagitsu oto dani mo sezu | The River of Heaven in Winter: the very skies Seem frozen, with Between the rocky crags rushing No sound at all. |
120
This match took place when, hearing that his courtiers were composing poetry, His Majesty ordered them to compose love poems to the ladies in attendance.
おもひあまりいかでもらさんおく山の岩かきこむる谷の下みづ
| omoi’amari ikade morasan okuyama no iwa kakikomuru tani no shitamizu | My passion’s full, so How should it o’erflow? Deep within the mountains Hemmed in by crags are The waters of the valley floor… |
Major Counsellor Kinzane
1
In reply
いかなれば音にのみきく山川の浅きにしもはこころよすらん
| ika nareba oto ni nomi kiku yamakawa no asaki ni shimo wa kokoro yosuran | For some reason, I simply hear the sound Of a mountain stream; Into the shallows, indeed, has Your heart been swept, it seems! |
[Nakako,] The Suō Handmaid
2
An ancient-styled poem to supplement a long poem.
君が世に相坂山の岩清水木隠れたりと思ける哉
| kimi ga yo ni aFusakayama no iFasimidu kogakuretari to omoFikeru kana |
Your Majesty’s reign Is welcome so, as on the mount of Meeting Hill, Spring water from the crags Is hidden in the trees, thus I am I sunk in thought! |
Mibu no Tadamine
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.
A poem with two envoys, composed in respectful response to Tachiyama.
朝日さし そがひに見ゆる 神ながら 御名に帯ばせる 白雲の 千重を押し別け 天そそり 高き立山 冬夏と 別くこともなく 白栲に 雪は降り置きて 古ゆ あり来にければ こごしかも 岩の神さび たまきはる 幾代経にけむ 立ちて居て 見れども異し 峰高み 谷を深みと 落ちたぎつ 清き河内に 朝さらず 霧立ちわたり 夕されば 雲居たなびき 雲居なす 心もしのに 立つ霧の 思ひ過ぐさず 行く水の 音もさやけく 万代に 言ひ継ぎゆかむ 川し絶えずは
| asapi sasi sogapi ni miyuru kamu nagara mina ni obasesu sirakumo no tipe wo osiwake ama sosori takaki tatiyama puyu natu to waku koto mo naku sirotape ni yuki pa puri okite inisipe yu arikinikereba kogosikamo ipa no kamusabi tama kiparu ikuyo penikemu tatiwite miredomo ayasi minedakami tani wo pukami to otitagitu kiyoki ka puti ni asa sarazu kiri tati watari yupu sareba kumowi tanabiki kumowi nasu kokoro mo sino ni tatu kiri no omopi sugusazu yuku midu no woto mo sayakeku yoroduyo ni ipitugi yukamu kapa si taezu wa |
The morning sun shines At my back,and Divine Your great name links: Clouds of white In a thousand layers, you pierce, and Tower into the heavens, Tall Tachiyama! In winter and, in summer both Indistinguishably are you Clad in mulberry white Fallen drifts of snow; Since ancient days Ever has been your estate, Fastened round with Crags divine； ‘til all souls end Have countless ages passed! Standing here, I see you, yet am awed by Your lofty peak and Valley’s deep, where Plunge seething cataracts of Waters pure to pools where Morning never leaves – Mists rise and roll across, and When the evening comes Clouds trail in and Cover all, Even, with sadness, my heart, so The rising mists Never leave my thoughts, and of Your running waters’ Clear, pure sound Through ten thousand ages Will I ever tell Unending as a river’s flow… |
Ōtomo no Ikenushi
大伴池主
Left (Win).
與謝の海の沖つ潮風浦に吹けまつなりけりと人に聞かせん
| yosa no umi no oki tsu shio kaze ura ni fuke matsunarikeri to hito ni kikasen |
By the sea at Yosa, Tidewinds on the offing, Blow across the bay! That I am waiting without end, Tell him! |
A Servant Girl
983
Right.
浪かくるさしでの磯の岩根松ねにあらはれてかはくまもなし
| nami kakuru sashide no iso no iwane matsu ne ni arawarete kawaku ma mo nashi |
Waves beat Upon the shore at Sashide, where The pine trees on the crags Roots are bared and Never dry for but a moment. |
The Supernumerary Master of the Empress’ Household Office
984
The Right state: the Left’s poem lacks any faults. The Left state: the Right’s poem is pedestrian.
In judgement: the configuration of the Left’s ‘Blow across the bay!’ (ura ni fuke) and its links with the preceding and subsequent lines, sounds charming. The Right’s poem is stylistically elegant, but the poem more closely resembles a poem on the topic of ‘Love and Pine Trees’. Thus, the Left wins.
Left (Win).
思ヘどもまだ見ぬ程は滿つ潮に入りぬる磯のためしだになし
| omoedomo mada minu hodo wa mitsu shio ni irinuru iso no tameshi dani nashi |
I love her, yet Have not caught a glimpse; The rising tide Flooding the rocky shore – There’s not even a case of that! |
Lord Kanemune.
977
Right.
岩根打つ荒磯浪の高きこそまだよそながら袖は濡るなれ
| iwane utsu ara’iso nami no takaki koso mada yosonagara sode wa nuru nare |
Crashing on the crags by The rocky shore, the waves Are high, indeed; Distant, perhaps, but Still my sleeves are soaked… |
Lord Takanobu.
978
Both Left and Right state that the opposing poem lacks a strong conception of the sea.
In judgement: I wonder whether the suggestion by both Left and Right that the poems lack a strong conception of the sea is correct. The Left has ‘the rising tide flooding the rocky shore’ (mitsu shio ni irinuru iso), while the Right has ‘crashing on the crags by the rocky shore’ (iwane utsu ara’iso). If these expressions do not strongly convey the conception of the sea, then I ask you, what would? I wonder, though, how one’s sleeves can get soaked if the waves, though high, are distant. The final section of the Left’s poem is elegant. It wins.
Composed to be presented as part of a hundred poem sequence, when former Emperor Reizei was Crown Prince.
風をいたみ岩うつ波の己のみくだけてものを思ふ頃かな
| kaze wo itami iFa utu nami no onore nomi kudakete mono wo omoFu koro kana |
The howling winds Strike waves against the crags; I alone, Am shattered, gloom Filling my thoughts these days… |
Minamoto no Shigeyuki
源重之