On plucking the zither, playing the flute, and enjoying herself somewhere.
聞く人のみみさへさむく秋風に吹きあはせたる笛のこゑかな
| kiku hito no mimi sae samuku akikaze ni fukiawasetaru fue no koe kana | The folk listening Have even had their ear chilled By the autumn breeze Blowing to them together with The flute’s notes! |
Izumi Shikibu (?-976?)
和泉式部
Left (Tie)
うらやましわがりこちくと笛の音を頼むる中の人は聞くらん
| urayamashi wagari kochiku to fue no ne o tanomuru naka no hito wa kikuran |
O, how I envious I am! To my house comes, a bamboo Flute’s strains – from A trustworthy, loving Man, it sounds… |
Lord Suetsune
1087
Right
より竹の君によりけんことぞ憂き一夜のふしに音のみ泣かれて
| yoritake no kimi ni yoriken koto zo uki hitoyo no fushi ni ne nomi nakarete |
Bamboo flotsam – That you should draw near Is cruel, indeed, for A single night together, brings Only the sound of weeping… |
Lord Tsune’ie
1088
‘Flotsam of bamboo’ (yoritake) and ‘comes, a bamboo’ (kochiku) are equally unsatisfying.
In judgement: ‘Flotsam of bamboo’ and ‘comes, a bamboo’ are of equal quality.
Left (Win)
さらぬだに身にしむ夜はの笛の音を憂き人ゆへに聞き明かしつる
| saranu dani mi ni shimu yowa no fue no ne o ukibito yue ni kiki akashitsuru |
Even were I not so in love, On a night that chills the soul The strains of a flute For that cruel one Drift to me ‘til the dawn… |
Lord Kanemune
1085
Right
我ゆへに思はぬ夜はの笛の音も藻に棲む虫と袖は濡れけり
| ware yue ni omowanu yowa no fue no ne mo mo ni sumu mushi to sode wa nurekeri |
For my sake I did not think this night The flute’s strains – A shrimp among the seaweed – Soak the sleeves. |
Jakuren
1086
The Right state: the Left’s poem is overly lacking in thought. The Left state: no faults.
In judgement: the Left has ‘for that cruel one’ (ukibito yue ni) – does this mean perhaps that one is unable to sleep as a result of someone’s cruelty? The reference to ‘a shrimp among the seaweed’ (mo ni sumu mushi) in the Right’s latter section feels overly abrupt and sounds lacking in connection to anything else in the poem. ‘That cruel one’ sounds somewhat insufficient, but it certainly has no faults. Thus, the Left wins.
Left (Tie)
よそにのみ隣の笛を聞き来しに我身の上に音こそ絶えせね
| yoso ni nomi tonari no fue o kikikoshi ni wa ga mi no ue ni ne koso taesene |
Simply a stranger to me is The flute from next door Drifting to my ear, but Upon me fall Nothing but endless cries. |
Lord Ari’ie
1083
Right
夜もすがらよそに聞きつる笛の音の片敷く袖に移りぬる哉
| yomosugara yoso ni kikitsuru fue no ne no katashiku sode ni utsurinuru kana |
All through the night I heard a strange Flute’s strains; On a single spread sleeve Have they come to rest… |
Nobusada
1084
The Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults to mention. The Left state: we wonder about the appropriateness of the sound of a flute coming to rest on sleeves?
In judgement: both poems are about the ‘sounds of a flute’, with the Left having them ‘upon me fall’ (wa ga mi no ue ni) endlessly, and the Right resting ‘on a single spread sleeve’ (katashiku sode ni). Neither has a conception of love which is greater or lesser than the other. I must make this round a tie.
Left
独寝を今は何にかになぐさめん隣の笛も吹やみぬなり
| hitorine o ima wa nani ni ka nagusamen tonari no fue mo fukiyaminu nari |
Sleeping solo, Now, how can I Console myself? For the flute next door Has ceased to play… |
Kenshō
1081
Right (Win)
よなよなは枕になれし笛竹のいかなる床にふしかはるらん
| yonayona wa makura ni nareshi fuetake no ikanaru toko ni fushi kawaruran |
Night after night By my pillow used to be A flute, but What bed is it that He has gone to lie in now? |
Ietaka
1082
The Right state: the Left’s poem is mundane. The Left state: what does it mean that a flute is used to lying by a pillow?
In judgement: the Left’s poem has ‘for the flute next door has ceased to play’ (tonari no fue mo fukiyaminu nari), but I wonder if this should not be ‘for the flute next door will cease to play’ (tonari no fue mo fukiyamu). In the rhapsody which Xiang Xu wrote on thinking of times long gone, he says this about a neighbour playing an old flute, ‘Next door, there is a man who plays the flute. The sound emerges, echoing clear,’ without any suggestion that he has stopped playing, so I wonder how appropriate it is in this poem to say that the playing has stopped. The diction of the Right’s poem, ‘by my pillow use to be’ (makura ni nareshi) seems fine. Thus, the Right wins.