Tag Archives: dwelling

GSS XV: 1109

In the spring of the year following that in which the Sanjō Minister of the Right had passed away, on hearing that the Minister had summoned her, she sent this to the Prince who was father to the Ise Virgin.

いかでかの年ぎりもせぬたねもがなあれたるやどにうゑて見るべく

ikade ka no
tosigiri mo senu
tane mogana
aretaru yado ni
uwete mirubeku
Why is it that
Absent this year are not
These seeds!
At a ruined dwelling
Planted, could they be seen…

His Daughter, the Junior Consort

SSIS X: 725

Composed at the Kameyama Palace in the Eighth Month, Kenji 2 [1276], when the first topic announced was ‘the shape of a pine tree floating in a pond’.

万代とかめのを山の松かげをうつしてすめるやどの池水

yorozuyo to
kame no oyama no
matsukage o
utsushite sumeru
yado no ikemizu
For ten thousand generations
On the mount of Kame
Is the pine tree’s shape,
Reflected, so clear in
This dwelling’s pond waters.

The Retired Emperor [Kameyama]

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 25

Left

古郷をおもひやれども郭公こぞのごとくになれぞなくなる[1]

furusato o
omoiyaredomo
hototogisu
kozo no gotoku ni
nare zo nakunaru
My ancient home
Lingers fondly in my thoughts, yet
The cuckoo
Just as last year
Sings as he was accustomed to do!

49

Right

夏の夜の霜やおけるとみるまでに荒れたる宿を照す月かげ

natsu no yo no
shimo ya okeru to
miru made ni
aretaru yado o
terasu tsukikage
Upon a summer night
That frost has fallen
It does appear at
A ruined dwelling where
The moonlight shines.

50[2]


[1] The concluding two lines of this poem are missing from the contest’s text, but have been supplied by later scholarship.

[2] Kokin rokujō I: 286/A minor variant of this poem is included in Mandaishū (III: 730), with the headnote ‘A poem from the Poetry Contest in One Hundred Rounds held by the Tōin Empress’ なつのよもしもやおけると見るまでにあれたるやどをてらすつきかな natsu no yo no / shimo ya okeru to / miru made ni / aretaru yado o / terasu tsuki kana ‘Upon a summer night / That frost has fallen / It does appear at / A ruined dwelling where / The moon does shine!’

Love VIII: 9

Left (Tie)
何とかく結ぼほるらん君はよもあはれとだにも岩代の松

nani to kaku
musubohoruran
kimi wa yomo
aware to dani mo
iwashiro no matsu
For what should we be so
Entwined?
He simply
Thinks of me with pity,
And says nothing, O pines of Iwashiro!

Lord Kanemune
1037

Right
人戀ふる宿の櫻に風吹けば花も涙になりにけるかな

hito kouru
yado no sakura ni
kaze fukeba
hana mo namida ni
narinikeru kana
Loving him,
My dwelling’s cherry trees
Are blown by the wind,
Petals, my tears
Have become…

Nobusada
1038

The Gentlemen of the Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults to mention. The Gentlemen of the Left state: we wonder about the appropriateness of ‘petals, my tears’ (hana mo namida ni).

In judgement: the Left’s poem, with ‘he simply’ (kimi wa yomo) followed by ‘Thinks of me with pity, O pines of Iwashiro!’ (aware to dani mo iwashiro no matsu) is certainly elegant. The Right’s poem does have ‘petals, my tears’ (hana mo namida ni). It commences, ‘loving him, my dwelling’s cherry trees’ (hito kouru yado no sakura) and, when they are blown by the wind, the lady’s eyes darken with tears, and she is unable to distinguish the mass of blossom. It unclear which of the two should be winner, or loser. Thus, I shall make this a tie.