Tag Archives: eaves

Kinkai wakashū 35

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.
Created with Soan.

Horikawa-in Enjo Awase 15

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

A picture of the eaves of a traditional Japanese house.
Image by joyfultta from Pixabay

San’i minamoto no hirotsune ason uta’awase 9

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]

17

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]

18


[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

Love VIII: 12

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.

Love VIII: 6

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.

Love VIII: 1

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.