Left
めをさめてひまよりつきをながむればおもかげにのみきみぞみえける
| me o samete hima yori tsuki o nagamureba omokage ni nomi kimi zo miekeru | Opening my eyes, Through the gaps upon the moon Have I turned my gaze, for Only in its shape Can I get a glimpse of you! |
13
Right
ゆめのうちにこひしきひとのみえつればあはれをますはねざめなりけり
| yume no uchi ni koishiki hito no mietsureba aware o masu wa nezame narikeri | Within my dreams My darling girl Was I able to see, so What increases my sadness most But waking. |
14
Round Ten
Left (T – Tie)
波よする蜑の苫やのひまをあらみもるにてぞしるよはのしぐれは
| nami yosuru ama no tomaya no hima o arami moru nite zo shiru yowa no shigure wa | Waves break near A sedge-thatched hut’s Crude gaps The leaks reveal A midnight shower… |
Lord Tadafusa
19
Right (M – Win)
ゆふ月よいるさの山の高根よりはるかにめぐる初しぐれかな
| yūzukuyo irusa no yama no takane yori haruka ni meguru hatsushigure kana | On a moonlit night From Irusa Mountain’s High peak In the distance circles A first shower! |
Lord Kanemasa
20
Toshiyori states: in the first poem, the shower sounds chilly! A shower is not something that one hears after getting up at dawn, yet this poem says that one first gets to know about it from the leaks, it seems that the poet has gone to bed, been leaked on, had his garments soaked and then got up and made a fuss. If he has not been leaked upon is this something he heard from someone else the following day? It really is very unclear. There’s a poem ‘Together with me / On my mountain pilgrimage’ which refers to showers falling on this mountain. The poem here refers to the same peak, so it sounds as if it’s referring to monks going around. Is that what it’s about? I am not just finding fault for the sake of it—these poems are unclear. As there’s only so much that can be understood from hearing them, they should tie.
Mototoshi states: one can compose about a shower falling anywhere and there’s no need to bring up a fisherman’s sedge-thatch hut, is there! Furthermore, one gets to know about a shower from the sound of it falling constantly on something like a roof of cedar boards, surely? Would one really be startled by rain of varying intensity falling soundlessly in spring? As for the poem of the Right, while it does not display a playfulness which would please the eye, ‘In the distance circles / A first shower’ is a bit better in the current context.
Left (Tie)
てる月もおのがひかりやたむくらむしらゆふかくるすみよしのまつ
| teru tsuki mo ono ga hikari ya tamukuramu shirayū kakuru sumiyoshi no matsu | Does the shining moon Of his own light Make an offering? Sacred white streamers hung From the pines of Sumiyoshi. |
Lord Fujiwara no Koretsuna
Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade
Without Office[i]
35
Right
かたそぎのゆきあはぬまよりもる月はしもにしもをやおきかさぬらむ
| katasogi no yukiawanu ma yori moru tsuki wa shimo ni shimo o ya okikasanuramu | The ridge poles Fail to meet and from the gaps Drips moonlight— Is it frost atop of frost A’falling? |
Lord Fujiwara no Suesada
Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade
Without Office[ii]
36
The Left appears elegant, but I do not feel that ‘his own’ is particularly appropriate here. The Right’s configuration of ‘Is it frost atop of frost’ seems charming. However, there is also the point that I sincerely feel that there is no good reason in the current composition to shoehorn in ‘The ridge poles / Fail to meet and from the gaps’, and thus these tie again.
[i] San’i jūgoige Fujiwara ason Koretsuna散位従五位下藤原朝臣伊綱
[ii] San’i jūgoige Fujiwara ason Suesada 散位従五位下藤原朝臣季定
Round Twelve
Left (Tie)
すみのぼる月のひかりにみがかれてくもりも見えずたまつしまひめ
| suminoboru tsuki no hikari ni migakurete kumori mo miezu tamatsu shimahime | Climbing clearly The moon’s light Polishes, so that No clouds appear above The divine Princess of Tamatsu Isle! |
Lord Fujiwara no Suetsune
Assistant Master of the Empress Household Office
Exalted Senior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade[1]
23
Right
すみよしのまつのこずゑにいる月はしづえのひまぞなほまたれける
| sumiyoshi no matsu no kozue ni iru tsuki wa shizue no hima zo nao matarekeru | At Sumiyoshi Into the treetops of the pines Has sunk the moon— The gaps ‘tween the lower boughs Will ever be awaited! |
Lord Fujiwara no Takanobu
Supernumerary Director of the Bureau of Horses, Right Division
Exalted Junior Fifth Rank, Upper Grade[2]
24
The conception of the Left’s poem of the moon’s light polishing Tamatsu Isle appears charming, but it would have been preferable to stop with ‘No clouds appear above / Tamatsu Isle’. Even though the poem wishes to say that ‘no clouds appear above’ her, the final use of ‘princess’ is a bit critical [for a poem mentioning a deity], isn’t it? As for the Right’s poem, while it does seem to have been composed with some attempt at conception, saying ‘Into the treetops of the pines / Has sunk the moon’ makes it sound as if the light can sink there, but this is what happens at the mountains’ edge, I feel. Thus, here we do have a reference to the moon over this particular shrine, while the Left is based on a reference to the Deity of Tamatsu Isle, and as both of these places are splendid, I hesitate to award a win or a loss and thus, once more, the round ties.
[1] Shōyon’ige-gyō chūgū no suke Fujiwara ason Suetsune正四位下行中宮亮藤原朝臣季経
[2] Jūgoijō-gyō uma no gonkami Fujiwara ason Takanobu 従五位上行右馬権頭藤原朝臣隆信
Round Three
Left (Win)
すみよしのまつのゆきあひのひまよりも月さえぬればしもはおきけり
| sumiyoshi no matsu no yukiai no hima yori mo tsuki sae nureba shimo wa okikeri | At Sumiyoshi, Pine boughs entwine, and Even from the gaps between Moonbeams drop Upon the fallen frost. |
Grand Dharma Master Shun’e[1]
5
Right
すみよしのまつのゆきあひの月かげはくもまにいづるここちこそすれ
| sumiyoshi no matsu no yukiai no tsukikage wa kumoma ni izuru kokochi koso sure | At Sumiyoshi, Pine boughs entwine, and The moonlight Emerges from between the clouds— That’s how it feels! |
Lord Fujiwara no Sanekuni
Supernumerary Middle Counsellor
Captain of the Palace Guards, Left Division
Exalted Senior Third Rank[2]
6
Both Left and Right, having the same conception contemplating ‘pine boughs entwine’, appear charming. ‘Emerges from between the clouds’ truly does sound as if it captures the moment, but the Left’s use of ‘even’ in ‘even from the gaps between’ show a deep knowledge of the world of poetry,[3] and thus, again, the Left wins.
[1] Daihōshi Shun’e 大法師俊恵
[2] Shōsan’i-gyō gonchūnagon ken saemon no kami Fujiwara ason Sanekuni 正三位行権中納言兼左衛門督藤原朝臣実国
[3] Shunzei is praising Shun’e for his knowledge of earlier poems. Shun’e’s work builds on: 夜やさむき衣やうすきかたそぎのゆきあひのまより霜やおくらむ yo ya samuki / koromo ya usuki / katasogi no / yukiai no ma yori / shimo ya okuramu ‘Is it the night’s chill, or / My scanty robe: / Where the ridge poles of My shrine / Entwine, from the gaps between / Frost does seem to fall.’ This poem is said to be by the deity of Sumiyoshi (SKKS XIX: 1855). By adding in ‘even’ (mo) to the phrase he has taken from the deity’s work, Shun’e adds to it, saying that frost falls not only from the gaps in the shrine roof, but also from between the pine boughs outside. Shunzei’s judgement acknowledges the deep knowledge of prior poetry needed for this type of usage.
Round Two
Left (Win)
秋霧のたえまにみゆる紅葉ばやたちのこしたる錦なるらん
| akigiri no taema ni miyuru momijiba ya tachinokoshitaru nishiki naruran | The autumn mists have Gaps revealing Scarlet leaves— Remaining offcuts of Brocade, perhaps? |
Lord Tsunemori
75
Right
もみぢちる立田の山はえぞこえぬ錦をふまむ道をしらねば
| momiji chiru tatsuta no yama wa e zo koenu nishiki o fumamu michi o shiraneba | Scattered with scarlet leaves Tatsuta Mountain I cannot cross, for To tread upon a brocade Path I know not how… |
Lord Yorimasa
76
The Right is a poem on fallen leaves and blossom—something about which many people have composed in the recent past and modern times, too. The Left sounds as if it truly depicts things as they are. Its overall construction is lovely, too, so it should win.
Composed on seeing the blinds being moved by the wind one evening, around the 20th day of the Waterless Month.
秋ちかくなるしるしにや玉簾こすのまとほし風のすずしき
| aki chikaku naru shirushi ni ya tamasudare kosu no ma tōshi kaze no suzushiki | Of approaching autumn Is this a sign, perhaps? Hung with jewels The blinds’ gaps reveal The coolness of the wind.[i] |
[i] An allusive variation on: Composed on the moon. 玉垂之 小簾之間通 独居而 見験無 暮月夜鴨 tamadare no / osu no ma tōshi / hitori ite / miru shirushinaki / yūzukuyo kamo ‘Hung with jewels / The blinds’ gaps reveal / Me sitting here alone / How pointless to be gazing out / At the rising moon tonight!’ Anonymous (MYS VII: 1073).
