The Day of the Rat (ne no hi 子日)
Left
ほのぼのとみねのひのまづさしつればむすばぬはるのゆきぞとけける
| honobono to mine no hi no mazu sashitsureba musubanu haru no yuki zo tokekeru | Faintly, Upon the peaks the sun first Shines, then Not fully frozen, the spring Snow melts. |
Tsurayuki
1
Right (Win)
かたこひをするがのふじのやまよりもむねのひのまづもえまさるかな
| katakoi o suruga no fuji no yama yori mo mune no hi no mazu moemasaru kana | In love and unrequited, More than Suruga’s Fuji Mountain does The fire in my breast, first Burn all the greater! |
Tomonori
2
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Empress Dowager during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.
年をへてもゆてふふじの山よりもあはぬ思ひは我ぞまされる
| toshi o hete moyu chō fuji no yama yori mo awanu omoi wa ware zo masareru | Through all the passing years Burns Fuji; Far more than the mountain, Not meeting you, the flames of passion, Burn brightly in me. |
Anonymous
From a poetry contest at Sadafun’s house.
みねはもえふもとはこほるふじ川のわれもうき世を住みぞわづらふ
| mine Fa moe Fumoto Fa koForu FuzigaFa no ware mo ukiyo wo sumi zo waduraFu | At the peak it burns and At the foot does freeze: The Fuji River, just as I, too, in this cruel world Live and suffer. |
Fukayabu
This is the sole surviving poem from ‘Sadafumi’s Poetry Contest‘.
A party of ladies on their way home from Shiga came into the precincts of the Kazan temple and stood for a while beneath the wisteria; when they had gone, he composed this and sent it to them.
よそに見てかへらん人にふぢの花はひまつはれよ枝はおるとも
| yoso ni mite kaFeran Fito ni Fudi no Fana FaFimatuFare yo eda Fa oru tomo | A casual glance, and Then those girls are gone; O, wisteria blooms, Twine around and hold them here, Though your branches break… |
Archbishop Henjō
Left (Win).
忍びかね心の空に立つ煙見せばや富士の峰にまがへて
| shinobikane kokoro no sora ni tatsu kemuri miseba ya fuji no mine ni magaete |
I can bear no more: Into the heavens of my heart Smoke rises; I would show her it is of Fuji’s Peak an image! |
A Servant Girl.
957
Right.
富士の嶺の煙も猶ぞ立のぼる上なき物は思ひなりけり
| fuji no ne no kemuri mo nao zo tachinoboru ue naki mono wa omoi narikeri |
The peak of Fuji: Smoke yet Rises there; Higher than the highest is My love. |
Ietaka.
958
The Right state: we wonder about the meaning of ‘heavens of my heart’ (kokoro no sora). In reply, the Left: this is the same conception as the poem ‘into the heavens of my heart emerges the moon’. In reply, the Right: what is the point in using the smoke from Fuji as a metaphor? It seems as if the focus of the poem is the smoke. Furthermore, why have smoke rising in your heart without the smoke of passion? The Left state: the Right’s poem seems good.
In judgement: the Gentlemen of the competition seems to have sagaciously criticised the faults of the Left’s poem, but ‘I would show her it is of Fuji’s peak an image!’ (miseba ya fuji no mine ni magaete) is charming in configuration and diction. The Right’s poem, too, in the final section is elegant in configuration. However, I must make the Left the winner.
Left (Tie).
憂き人に思ひ消たるる身の程を知らぬは戀の煙也けり
| ukibito ni omoiketaruru mi no hodo o shiranu wa koi no kemuri narikeri |
From that cruel one’s Thoughts, extinguished I am, all Unknowing of love’s Embers smoking. |
Lord Kanemune.
953
Right.
昔かく戀する人や富士の嶺の絶えぬ煙と燃えはじめけん
| mukashi kaku koisuru hito ya fuji no ne no taenu keburi to moehajimeken |
Long ago, in such Love did folk as The peak of Fuji With everlasting smoke Begin to burn? |
The Supernumerary Master of the Empress’ Household Office.
954
The Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults. The Left state: the Right’s poem is pedestrian.
In judgement: the Left’s ‘cruel one’ (ukibito) and the Right’s ‘folk in love’ (koisuru hito) should tie.