On the conception of summer lover, when he held a poetry match at his house.
うつせみのなくねやよそにもりの露ほしあへぬ袖を人のとふまで
| utsusemi no naku ne ya yoso ni mori no tsuyu hoshiaenu sode o hito no tou made | A cicada shell of Cries, sobs distant as Dripping dewdrops in the forest— My sleeves never drying Until folk ask me why.. |
The Regent and Grand Minister
For a folding screen, during the reign of the Engi Emperor.
ゆきて見ぬ人もしのべと春の野のかたみにつめるわかななりけり
| yukite minu hito mo shinobe to haru no no no katami ni tsumeru wakana narikeri | They have not gone to see, yet Those folk, too, I would have recall The plains in springtime with The keepsake of these plucked Fresh herbs. |
Ki no Tsurayuki
Original
しぐれふりもみぢのみするやまざとはすみしひとさへうつろひにけり
| shigure furi momiji nomi suru yamazato wa sumishi hito sae utsuroinikeri | With the falling showers Scarlet do the leaves simply turn At this mountain retreat, Even folk who dwelled there Have faded away. |
24
Left
しぐれふるもみぢのいろはかはれどもすむひとさへはうつらざりけり
| shigure furu momiji no iro wa kawaredomo sumu hito sae wa utsurazarikeri | Falling showers The scarlet leaves’ hues Do change, yet Folk there dwelling Remain unfaded! |
25
Right
すむひとのしぐれふりいでてうつろはばちらむもみぢをたれかをしまむ
| sumu hito no shigure furi’idete utsurowaba chiramu momiji o tareka oshimamu | Should, folk there dwelling With the falling showers Fade away, then The scattering of scarlet leaves Who might be there to regret? |
26
Original
やまざとはふゆぞさびしさまさりけるひとめもくさもかれぬとおもへば
| yamazato wa fuyu zo sabishisa masarikeru hitome mo kusa mo karenu to omoeba | In a mountain retreat Winter’s loneliness Overwhelms As both folks’ gaze and the grasses, too Have withered away, I feel… |
Minamoto no Toshiyuki
6
Left (Tie)
おほかたのあきはあはれのふかければやまざとならでなほぞかなしき
| ōkata no aki wa aware no fukakereba yamazato narade nao zo kanashiki | In general, when Autumn’s sorrow Is at its deepest ‘Tis not only a mountain retreat That is still sunk in sadness! |
7
Right
やまざとはいつともわかじいとどしくあきはしかこそかなしかるらめ
| yamazato wa itsu to mo wakaji itodoshiku aki wa shika koso kanashikarurame | A mountain retreat Fails to stand out— Most of all In autumn does the stag Seem so sad! |
8
Original
さよふかくこひするしかのこゑきけばわれさへあやなそでのひづかな
| sayo fukaku koisuru shika no koe kikeba ware sae ayana sode no hizu kana | Deep within a night so brief, A’loving, the stag’s Cry I hear Even my sleeves, strangely, Never dry at all! |
4
きくひとのそでさへひづるしかのねにあきのしぐれのふりでてぞなく
| kiku hito no sode sae hizuru shika no ne ni aki no shigure no furidete zo naku | Folk hearing, With even their sleeves never drying, At a stag’s bell— An autumn shower Falling with a cry! |
5
Only one poem was requested in response this round.
Round Three
Left (Win)
うきよにもはなのさかりになりぬればものおもふ人はあらじとぞ思ふ
| ukiyo ni mo hana no sakari ni narinureba mono’omou hito wa araji to zo omou | Even in this cruel world The blossoms in profusion Are, so Folk sunk in gloomy thought Are there likely not a one, I feel! |
Retired from the world on Mount Uji
5
Right
ちらざらむことこそはなのかたからめわびてはさてもしばしあらなむ
| chirazaramu koto koso hana no katakarame wabite wa sate mo shibashi aranamu | Not to scatter For the blossoms is a thing So hard— It may be painful, but still I would have them stay a while. |
Senior Assistant Minister Past Lecturer
6
I fail to understand—at all—why there should be a large number of people for whom the world is cruel. This is deeply unpleasant. In connection with this there’s an older poem which says ‘innumerable, my sorry self alone has caused these woes’.[i] The poem of the Right has ‘It may be painful, but still / I would have them stay a while’—if the blossoms have not yet scattered, then how can this still be painful? I cannot grasp the diction and reasoning of these two poems, so they tie.
The poem of the Left has some conception—it appears to be expressing sentiments that are natural. It’s extremely charming how it links with the conception of the old expression ‘the heart of spring’.[ii] However, the diction ‘feel/think’ [omou] appears in two places. I do feel that in terms of the sequencing of the phrasing, that’s certainly how it is, so it’s not a fault as such, but I would have preferred to see the second usage at the beginning of its line. As for the poem of the Right, from ‘painful’ to the end, it is immature. It doesn’t sound like a poem and resembles prosaic speech. Thus, I have to say the Left is the winner.
[i] Mototoshi appears to be misremembering this poem: Topic unknown. おほかたのわが身ひとつのうきからになべての世をも怨みつるかな ōkata no / wa ga mi hitotsu no / uki kara ni / nabete no yo o mo / uramitsuru kana ‘In general / My sorry self, alone, / Has caused these woes, but / Still all of this common world / I do despise!’ Tsurayuki (SIS XV: 953).
[ii] Toshiyori is referring to this poem from Kokinshū here: Composed at the Nagisa Palace when he saw the cherries in bloom. 世中にたえてさくらのなかりせば春の心はのどけからまし yo no naka ni / taete sakura no / nakariseba / haru no kokoro wa / nodokekaramashi ‘If, in this world of ours / All the cherry blossom / Disappeared / The heart of spring / Might find peace.’ Ariwara no Narihira (KKS I: 53).
Round Eight
Left (T – Tie; M – Win)
山のはにはつかの月のはつはつにみしばかりにやかくは恋しき
| yama no ha ni hatsuka no tsuki no hatsuhatsu ni mishi bakari ni ya kaku wa koishiki | By the mountains’ edge The Twentieth’s moon Just for a moment Did I simply see, so how Am I so in love? |
Lord Morikata
63
Right
恋すてふ皆人ごとにとひみばやいと我ばかりあらじとぞおもふ
| koisu chō mina hito goto ni toimiba ya ito ware bakari araji to zo omou | Saying they are in love— To all those folk Would I enquire, for Surely, I, alone Do not endure such feelings? |
Lord Nobutada
64
Toshiyori states: I may be mistaken, but I get the feeling the first poem resembles an earlier work, with only the ending changed somewhat. The second poem sounds stilted. They are of the same quality.
Mototoshi states: the poem of Left lacks originality, being based earlier poems from the emergence ‘the Twentieth’s moon’ at the beginning, then continuing with ‘for coarse cloth a bobbin turning’ and then finally ‘here at Isonokami, in the ancient’ at the end, yet this is more poetic than ‘To all those folk’, so this is still win for the Left.
Round Eleven
Left (Both Judges – Tie)
こけのむす岩ねに残る八重ぎくはや千代さくとも君ぞみるべき
| koke no musu iwane ni nokoru yaegiku wa yachiyo saku tomo kimi zo mirubeki | Choked with moss are The crags where linger Eightfold chrysanthemums: E’en were they eight thousand ages a’bloom My Lord would have beheld them, no doubt! |
Lady Shinano
45
Right
霜がれに我ひとりとや白菊の色をかへても人にみすらん
| shimogare ni ware hitori to ya shiragiku no iro o kaetemo hito ni misuran | ‘Burned by frost ‘Tis me alone!’ thinks A white chrysanthemum, Changing hue To show to folk, for sure. |
Lord Tokimasa
46
Toshiyori states: I wonder if there is a poem as precedent for chrysanthemums lingering beneath moss-covered crags? If not, it’s a very crude expression. The ending of the poem is antiquated, too. As for the second poem ‘“Tis me alone!” thinks’ does not sound satisfactory. The assembled company settled the matter of the final ‘folk’, so I must make this a tie.
Mototoshi states: whether they are placed by a brushwood fence, or at the base of a crag, chrysanthemums feel like pines. As for the Right, having a chrysanthemum seem to think ‘‘tis me alone’ is speculative—had it been something like ‘this bloom opens’ then it would have been the poet’s thoughts. Neither of these is of quality to win or lose, so I make them a tie.
