Sent to a lady’s house attached to a frond of fern which had taken on autumn colours.
わが恋もいまは色にやいでなまし軒のしのぶも紅葉しにけり
| wa ga koi mo ima wa iro ni ya idenamashi noki no shinobu mo momijishinikeri | Does my love, too, Now with such passionate hues Reveal itself, I wonder? Secretly beneath my eaves the ferns Have turned scarlet. |
The Hanazono Minister of the Left
きてなれし袂は人に見せてましつらき涙の色のかはらば
| kitenareshi tamoto wa hito ni misetemashi tsuraki namida no iro no kawaraba | I was wont to wear These sleeves—to him I would display them: If heartless tears Should change their hues… |
Yurika, from the Hall of the Junior Consort
27
In reply.
忍草しのぶる程のよがれにはなにに心も袖もぬるらん
| shinobugusa shinoburu hodo no yogare ni wa nani ni kokoro mo sode mo nururan | A fond fern I do recall as My nightly visits cease, so Why is my heart and Sleeves, too, so drenched? |
The Assistant Lieutenant of the Middle Palace Guards, Left Division
28
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.
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
On hearing the spring rain fall when having nothing to do.
つくづくと春のながめのさびしきはしのぶにつたふのきの玉水
| tsukuzuku to haru no nagame no sabishiki wa shinobu ni tsutau noki no tamamizu |
Ceaselessly Spring’s long rains fill my gaze With sorrow: A tale told to the ferns By droplets from the eaves… |
Major Archbishop Gyōkei (1101-1165)
大僧正行慶
Left (Win).
洩らすなよ雲ゐる嶺の初時雨木の葉は下に色變るとも
| morasunayo kumoiru mine no hatsu shigure ko no ha wa shita ni iro kawarutomo |
O, let it not leak out! Though the cloud-capped peaks’ First shower of rain, On the leaves’ underside Has left a change of hue… |
613
Right.
閨のうちは涙の雨に朽ち果てゝしのぶは茂る妻にぞ有ける
| neya no uchi wa namida no ame ni kuchihatete shinobu wa shigeru tsuma ni zo arikeru |
Within my bedchamber A rain of tears Has rotted all, so The weeping ferns secretly grow thick Around the edges… |
The Provisional Master of the Empress’ Household Office.
614
The Gentlemen of the Right state: the Left’s poem has no defects worth criticising. The Gentlemen of the Left state: the initial and final sections of the Right’s poem lack connection with each other. Does the poem have a conception of hiddenness?
Shunzei’s judgement: The conception and configuration of the Left’s ‘cloud-capped peaks’ first shower of rain’ (kumoiru mine no hatsu shigure) seems charming [kokoro sugata okashiku mie]. On that basis, it should win.
Left.
蘆の屋の蔦這ふ軒の村時雨音こそ立てね色は隱れず
| ashi no ya no tsuta hau noki no murashigure oto koso tatene iro wa kakurezu |
My roof of reeds, Ivy twining on the eaves, is struck By a soft shower Sound is there none, but The hues cannot hide… |
429
Right.
今朝見れば蔦這う軒に時雨して忍のみこそ青葉也けり
| kesa mireba tsuta hau noki ni shigureshite shinobu nomi koso aoba narikeri |
When I looked this morning, The ivy twining on the eaves Was struck by a shower; Only the ferns remember To remain green-leaved. |
430
Neither team has any criticisms to make of the other’s poem, and say as much.
Shunzei’s judgement: Both poems are concern ‘a shower falling on ivy-clad eaves’, with the Left mentioning no sound from a ‘roof of reeds’ and the Right the different hues of ‘fern-remembered eaves’ (shinobu no noki). Thus, there is not much between them. I make them the same quality.
Left (Tie).
世の中を思ふ軒端の忍草いく代の宿と荒れかはてなん
| yo no naka o omou nokiba no shinobugusa iku yo no yado to are ka hatenan |
The everyday world stands In my thoughts, as beneath my eaves, The ferns, each one a frond of memory: How many ages has my dwelling stood, Now falling to desolation? |
177
Right (Tie).
たまゆらの露も涙もとゞまらずなき人こふる宿の秋風
| tamayura no tsuyu mo namida mo todomarazu nakibito kōru yado no akikaze |
Gemlet Dewdrops and tears both, Stay not; She who is gone loved so This house, brushed by autumn winds… |
178