Sages’ Dwellings 仙宮
いかにして玉のうてなの久しくもなかりし程に千代をへぬらん
ika ni shite tama no utena no hisashiku mo nakarishi sato ni chiyo o henuran | What am I to do? In a fair tower Not long did I stay but, in that dwelling A thousand generations seem to pass… |
Tadafusa
Sages’ Dwellings 仙宮
いかにして玉のうてなの久しくもなかりし程に千代をへぬらん
ika ni shite tama no utena no hisashiku mo nakarishi sato ni chiyo o henuran | What am I to do? In a fair tower Not long did I stay but, in that dwelling A thousand generations seem to pass… |
Tadafusa
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.
Topic unknown.
叩くとて宿の妻戸を開けたれば人も梢の水鶏なりけり
tataku tote yado no tumado wo aketareba Fito mo kozuwe no kunina narikeri |
Knocking at My dwelling’s door, but When I open it, He has not come – in the treetops It was but a water-rail! |
Anonymous
At a time when she was living with relatives, and the bush-clover was blooming particularly beautifully, the master of the house was somewhere else and not communicating, so she sent this to him.
白露も心おきてや思ふらむぬしもたづねぬやどの秋はぎ
siratuyu mo kokoro okite ya omoFuramu nusi mo tasunenu yado no aki Fagi |
Silver dewdrops Also fall on their hearts I feel; As the master pays no call On his dwelling’s autumn bush-clover. |
Chikuzen Wet Nurse
筑前乳母
There was a man who had been secretly conversing with a woman who had a husband. When their relationship cooled, seeing that he had little time for her, the woman sent this to him.
我宿の軒のしのぶにことよせてやがても茂るわすれ草かな
wa ga yado no noki no sinobu ni koto yosete yagate mo sigeru wasuregusa kana |
At my dwelling Ferns grow beneath the eaves Is your excuse; And in the end all that grows lush is The grass of your forgetfulness! |
Anonymous
我が宿の菊の白露今日今日ごとにいく代たまりて淵となるらむ
wa ga yado no kiku no siratuyu keFu goto ni ikuyo tamarite Futi to naruramu |
At my dwelling, The silver dew upon the chrysanthemums Ever on this day For countless ages accumulates Into a deep river pool. |
Nakatsukasa
中務
Left (Win).
深き夜の軒の雫をかぞへても猶あまりぬる袖の雨哉
fukaki yo no noki no shizuku o kazoetemo nao amari nuru sode no ame kana |
Late at night, From my eaves the droplets I number up, but Still much more drenching Is the rainfall on my sleeves. |
A Servant Girl.
947
Right.
雲とづる宿の軒端の夕ながめ戀よりあまる雨の音哉
kumo tozuru yado no nokiba no yū nagame koi yori amaru ame no oto kana |
Closed in with cloud, From my dwelling’s eaves I gaze out in the evening; Overwhelming my love Is the sound of rain… |
Nobusada.
948
The Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults. The Left state: we do not understand the Right’s poem at all.
In judgement: the Left’s poem commences with ‘late at night’ (fukaki yo no) and then continues with mention of raindrops – this sounds extremely effective. The Right’s poem, too, starts ‘closed in with cloud’ (kumo tozuru) and concludes with ‘the sound of rain’ (ame no oto kana), which sounds charming, but because the poem is said to be ‘incomprehensible’ or ‘grating on the ear’, despite being one with both a significant conception and an unusual sound, there is no reason for me to shoehorn in my own views, even if much has been overlooked, so this round I will leave it at, the Right is entirely incomprehensible and the Left without fault. Thus, the Left wins.
五月雨に畔の細道水深み田中の里は人ぞ通はぬ
samidare ni aze no Fosomiti midu Fukami tanaka no sato Fa Fito zo kayoFanu |
In the drizzle Above the narrow paths between the paddies So deep is the water that The dwelling within the rice fields Is visited by no one at all… |
咲きにけり苗代水に影見えて田中の里の山吹の花
sakinikeri naFasiro midu ni kage miete tanaka no sato no yamabuki no Fana |
So, they have bloomed; Among the waters of the seedling beds Do I see the light; At the dwelling among the rice-fields Of the kerria blooms. |
Taikenmon’in Horikawa
待賢門院堀河
Lightning 稲妻
はかなしや田中の里はいなづまのほどなきかげをたのみてぞふる
hakanashi ya tanaka no sato wa inazuma no hodo naki kage o tanomite zo furu | So briefly At this dwelling among the fields Upon the lightning’s Lengthless light I will rely and lie me down… |
Akinaka