After I had had various people compose on the scent of plum carried on the breeze.
このねぬるあさけの風にかをるなり軒ばの梅の春のはつ花
| kono nenuru asake no kaze ni kaoru nari nokiba no ume no haru no hatsubana | Having slept The dawntime breeze Is scented: Beneath my eaves the plum Shows spring’s first blossom. |
Plum blossom at an ancient estate.
たれにかもむかしをとはむ故郷の軒ばの梅は春をこそしれ
| tare ni kamo mukashi o towamu furusato no nokiba no ume wa haru o koso shire | Who is it that Of days long gone I might enquire? At this ancient estate The plum beneath the eaves Knows spring well, yet… |
人しれぬ袖ぞ露けき逢ふことはかれのみまさる山のした草
| hito shirenu sode zo tsuyukeki au koto wa kare nomi masaru yama no shitagusa | Unknown to all My sleeves are drenched with dew; For our meetings Excel only in being withered As the scrub grass on the mountainside. |
[Nakako,] The Suō Handmaid
29
In reply.
おく山の下かげ草はかれやする軒ばにのみはおのれなりつつ
| oku yama no shitakagegusa wa kare ya suru nokiba ni nomi wa onore naritsutsu | Deep within the mountains, have The grasses growing in the trees’ dark shade Really withered away? Simply beneath your eaves, Is where I ever am… |
The Consultant Middle Captain
30
Round Nine: Quiet thoughts at Tanabata
Left
八重葎しげる軒ばをかき分けて星合の空をながめつるかな
| yae mugura shigeru nokiba o kakiwakete hoshiai no sora o nagametsuru kana | Eightfold thickets Grow lushly beneath my eaves; Pulling them apart upon The sky of trysting stars Will I turn my gaze! |
Taira no Sadatsugu[1]
Right
七夕のあふよの程は思ひやる心さへこそ空にすみけれ
| tanabata no au yo no hodo wa omoiyaru kokoro sae koso sora ni sumikere | Tanabata is A night for meeting—throughout it I am filled with longing: Even my very heart Does dwell among the skies. |
Fujiwara no Kaneyuki[2]
[1] Taira no Sadatsugu 平貞継. The identity of this individual is unclear. This poem is his sole appearance in a poetry contest.
[2] 藤原兼行
Left (Tie)
思ひかねうち寢る宵もありなまし吹だにすさめ庭の松風
| omoikane uchineru yoi mo arinamashi fuki dani susame niwa no matsukaze |
Unable to bear the pains of love, and Dozing through the night – That happens sometimes; O, just blow gently, Breeze through the garden pines! |
A Servant Girl
1043
Right
思ひかねながむれば又夕日さす軒端の岡の松もうらめし
| omoikane nagamureba mata yūhi sasu nokiba no oka no matsu mo urameshi |
Unable to bear the pains of love, When I gaze out, once more The evening sun shines Past my eaves, where on the hillside Even the pines seem resentful… |
Ietaka
1044
Same as the previous round.
In judgement: here we have ‘O, just blow gently’ (fuki dani susame), and the Right has ‘Past my eaves, where on the hillside’ (nokiba no oka no): these recollect the poems ‘in the depths of sleep I tread to you’ (uchinuru naka ni yukikayou) and ‘the beams strike the hillside through the pine needles’ (sasu ya okabe no matsu no ha); both sound elegant. I make this round a tie.
Left (Tie)
いはざりき我身古屋の忍ぶ草思ひたがへて種を播けとは
| iwazariki wa ga mi furuya no shinobugusa omoitagaete tane o make to wa |
I did not tell you: My aged home’s Fond ferns To think so lightly of That you scatter seeds about! |
Lord Sada’ie
1031
Right
ながめする心の根より生ひそめて軒の忍ぶは茂る成るべし
| nagamesuru kokoro no ne yori oisomete noki no shinobu wa shigerunarubeshi |
Consoled, My heart’s depths Have grown old, as Beneath my eaves the ferns Have grown thick, indeed. |
Nobusada
1032
The Gentlemen of the Right state: we wonder about the appropriateness of sowing seeds beneath eaves? The Left, in appeal: why not compose a poem in this manner, given ‘even the grass seeds, forgotten’? The Left state: this seems little different from Toshiyori’s poem, ‘Beneath the eaves, my thoughts run wild / As the growing plants…’ (omoinoki yori ouru narikeri).
In judgement: both poems refer to ferns, and the conception of ‘my aged home’ (wa ga mi furuya no) and ‘my heart’s depths’ (kokoro no ne yori) both sound suitable. I make this a tie.
Left (Win)
忘らるゝ人に軒端の忍ぶ草涙の雨ぞ露けかりける
| wasuraruru hito ni nokiba no shinobugusa namida no ame zo tsuyukekarikeru |
Forgotten by Him, beneath my eaves The ferns bring back memories; A rain of tears Leaves them dew-drenched. |
Lord Kanemune
1021
Right
戀づまのやがて軒端になり行けばいとど忍ぶの草ぞ茂れる
| koizuma no yagate nokiba ni nariyukeba itodo shinobu no kusa zo shigereru |
My man is Far away; beneath my eaves Are the signs: How many memories and Ferns grow thickly… |
Lord Tsune’ie
1022
Both Left and Right state: we find no faults to mention.
In judgement: both poems refer to ‘memory ferns’ (shinobugusa), and there is not a great deal of difference in quality between them, but the Left’s ‘rain of tears’ (namida no ame), with its association of dew, is slightly better than the Right’s ‘ferns grow thickly’ (kusa zo shigereru), and so should win.