霜のうへにのこれるきくのいろふかくをしむ心はなにならなくに
| shimo no ue ni nokoreru kiku no iro fukaku oshimu kokoro wa nani naranaku ni | Atop the frost, The lingering chrysanthemums’ Hues are deep, so Regret within my heart There should not be, yet… |
Prince Iwa
3
いてしよも霜のうへなるきくのはなうつらぬほどにちよをかぞへむ
| iteshi yo mo shimo no ue naru kiku no hana utsuranu hodo ni chiyo o kazoemu | On frozen nights, too, O’er the frost While the chrysanthemum blooms Remain unfaded, I would count a thousand ages. |
Saimo no kami
4
The Chrysanthemum Match held during the Reign of the Daigo Emperor[1]
Topic
Poets
秋すぎてのこれるきくはかみな月くもをわけてぞにほふべらなる
| aki sugite nokoreru kiku wa kaminazuki kumo o wakete zo niouberanaru | Autumn passes, and Lingering chrysanthemums In the Godless Month Seem to break apart the clouds With their glow. |
His Majesty’s Composition
1
霜がれになりはてぬともきくの花をる人たれととはばこたへむ
| shimogare ni narehatenu tomo kiku no hana oru hito tare to towaba kotaemu | Completely burned by frost They may have become, yet These chrysanthemum blooms, but Who was it plucked you, Should you ask, I wonder, would they reply? |
Ōn-kazashi
2
[1] Daigo ōntoki kiku awase 醍醐御時菊合
Left (Tie)
まつかぜにふけゆく月のすみのえはなみのよるこそたちまさりけれ
| matsukaze ni fukeyuku tsuki no suminoe wa nami o yoru koso tachimasarikere | The wind through the pines Blows late upon the moon At Suminoe, where The night’s breaking waves Rise strikingly! |
Novice Jakunen[1]
49
Right
しもならで月もるよひやかたそぎのゆきあはぬひまもかみはうれしき
| shimo narade tsuki moru yoi ya katasogi no yukiawanu hima mo kami wa ureshiki | That ‘tis not frost, but The moon, dripping at night Through the ridge poles Unmatched gaps, Does the Deity feel joy? |
Suke, from the Residence of the Former Minister of the Right[2]
50
The Left poem’s ‘Blows late upon the moon / At Suminoe’ sounds pleasant, but there have been recent poems, such as ‘Brings waves–that / I would tell you!’[3] and ‘Simply with the waves / Did seem to draw near with the night’[4] and while the initial section of the poem here differs, basing a poem on this is not that unusual, I think. The tone of the Right’s poem is charming, but it does not seem likely that the Deity would feel joy simply at the moon coming through the gaps in His ridgepoles. The Deity’s power is limitless and wards eighty isles beyond Sumiyoshi—indeed, there is nowhere in Tsumori’s shore or Sumiyoshi beach, above the waves or in the shad of the pines that it does not reach. I have discussed ridgepoles earlier. Nevertheless, the configuration of the poem isn’t bad, so these should tie, I think.
[1] Shami Jakunen 沙弥寂念
[2] Zen-udaijin no ie no Suke前右大臣家佐
[3] 人しれぬ思ひありそのはま風に浪のよるこそいはまほしけれ hito shirenu omoi ariso no hamakaze ni nami no yoru koso iwamahoshikere ‘Unknown to all / My passion burns—toward a rocky / Beach the breeze / Brings waves–that / I would tell you!’ Middle Captain Toshitada (Horikawa-in enjo awase 17/KYS (2) 468/500)
[4] Composed when he was asked by people in the capital what the moon had been like, when he had returned there, after going to Akashi to gaze upon it, at a time when it was particularly bright. 有明の月もあかしの浦風に波ばかりこそよるとみえしか ariake no tsuki mo akashi no urakaze ni nami bakari koso yoru to mieshika ‘The dawntime Moon’s brightness, with Akashi’s / Beach breezes / Simply with the waves / Did seem to draw near with the night…’ Taira no Tadamori (KYS (2) III: 216/KYS (3) III: 212)
