When there was something on his mind, he went to Inari Shrine and composed this.
人しれぬこころただすの神ならばおもふ心をそらにしらなむ
| hito shirenu kokoro tadasu no kami naraba omou kokoro o sora ni shiranamu | Able my secret unknown Heart to reveal— Were you such a god, then Its yearning Would echo through the skies… |
Consultant Takamura
Round Nineteen
Left (Win)
やはらぐるひかりをたのむしるしにはこむよのやみをてらさざらめや
| yawaraguru hikari o tanomu shirushi ni wa komu yo no yami o terasazarame ya | The God has dimmed His light, but rely on it As a sign, I will, that In the darkness of the world to come He will surely shine… |
Dharma Master Yūsei
137
Right
かみにわれたのみをかけてまつなればすみよしにこそみをばやどさめ
| kami ni ware tanomi o kakete matsu nareba sumiyoshi ni koso mi oba yadosame | In the God, I Place my trust, and Await, with the pines, so At Sumiyoshi, surely, Will I make my lodging! |
Norimori
138
The Left’s poem does not have a particularly remarkable conception, but with that being said, while its flow appears smooth, the expression of its core sentiment is, indeed, moving. As for the poem of the Right, while ‘Place my trust, and / Await, with the pines, so’ seems charming, the elevated tone of the Left is slightly superior, I think.
Round Eighteen
Left (Tie)
すみよしのきしかたのよにひきかへてはなさくまつのみともならばや
| sumiyoshi no kishikata no yo ni hikikaete hana saku matsu no mi tomo naraba ya | On Sumiyoshi’s Shore, for the coming world I would exchange— Waiting for blossom to bloom upon the pines— Myself, that’s what I long for… |
Koretsuna
135
Right
たのみこしかみのしるしにうきよをもすみよしとだにおもひなりせば
| tanomikoshi kami no shirushi ni ukiyo o mo sumiyoshi to dani omoinariseba | I have come to rely On a sign from the God, That this cruel world, too, Even become a pleasant place to dwell— Or so I have come to think… |
Suesada
136
Both the Left and Right this round only appear skilled in their use of diction. The poem on blossom probably needs a little more work, I think, but they really are about the same.
Round Sixteen
Left (Win)
よにすめど人しれぬみやしをりするみやまがくれのたにのしたみづ
| yo ni sumedo hito shirenu mi ya shiorisuru miyamagakure no tani no shitamizu | Dwelling within this world, yet No one knows that ‘tis as if I Were marking a trail Hidden deep within the mountains To waters flowing on the valley floor… |
Hiromori
131
Right
あしからむなにはのことはかねてよりちかくてまもれすみよしのかみ
| ashikaramu naniwa no koto wa kanete yori chikakute mamore sumiyoshi no kami | Reaping reeds, should ill fortune come From Naniwa, in all things Just in case Ward me closely O, God of Sumiyoshi! |
Dharma Master Chikyō
132
The poem of the Right here, while it does draw on ‘reaping reeds at Naniwa’, in its phrasing sounds prosaic. As the Left’s ‘waters flowing on the valley floor’ seems to flow smoothly off the tongue, it wins.
Round Eight
Left
よのなかをうみわたりつつとしへぬることはつもりのかみやたすけむ
| yo no naka o umiwataritsutsu toshi henuru koto wa tsumori no kami ya tasukemu | In this mundane world, An endless sea of suffering, Have my years gone by; Might Tsumori’s Deity save me, I wonder? |
Dharma Master Shun’e
115
Right (Win)
いへのかぜわがみのうへにすずしかれかみのしるしをあふぐとならば
| ie no kaze wa ga mi no ue ni suzushikare kami no shirushi o augu to naraba | My house’s breeze of fortune To my sorry self I would bring cool, if For a sign from the God I were to seek… |
Lord Sanekuni
116
The Left’s conception is charming, beginning with ‘An endless sea of suffering’ and following this with ‘Might Tsumori’s / Deity save me, I wonder?’, but ‘endless sea of suffering’ does not sound like acceptable diction. The Right’s conception of ‘For a sign from the God / I were to seek’ sounds charming, so I make it the winner.
Round Four
Left
あくがるるたまとみえけむなつむしのおもひはいまぞおもひしりぬる
| akugaruru tama to miekemu natsumushi no omoi wa ima zo omoishirinuru | As my wandering Soul do appear The fireflies— Those feelings, now, How well I know! |
Kojijū
107
Right (Win)
いはずともおもひはそらにしりぬらむあまくだりますすみよしのかみ
| iwazu tomo omoi wa sora ni shirinuramu amakudarimasu sumiyoshi no kami | Needless to say My feelings within the skies Are well-known by The heaven-descended God of Sumiyoshi! |
Lord Sanemori
108
The poem of the Left appears to have a deep conception. However, this poem should be composed about the emotions expressed in Izumi Shikibu’s poem ‘Fireflies by the marsh: / From my breast’.[1] If so, then by having something like ‘As my wandering / Soul the fireflies / Do appear’, it appears as if you know how Izumi Shikibu felt. Here, though, we have ‘As my wandering / Soul do appear / The fireflies’ and this sounds as if you know how the fireflies feel—in which case it seems more in keeping with the poem by the Katsura Princess which says, ‘Their bodies bringing an excess / Of passion’s fires’.[2] Then again, does the diction, ‘As my wandering / Soul do appear’, perhaps, differ from this? The poem of the Right has nothing particularly evocative in its use of diction, but ‘My feelings within the skies’ and following this with ‘The heaven-descended’ at least sounds as if has a purpose to it. The Right wins, I should say.
[1] When she had been forgotten by a man, she went to Kibune, and composed this on seeing fireflies flitting about by the Mitarashi River. 物思へば澤の螢も我身よりあくがれ出づる玉かとぞみる mono’omoeba / sawa no hotaru mo / wa ga mi yori / akugare izuru / tama ka to zo miru ‘I’m at such a loss; / Fireflies by the marsh: / From my breast / Wanders out / My soul, or so it seems.’ Izumi Shikibu (GSIS XX: 1162)
[2] When Princess Katsura had said ‘Catch some fireflies,’ and one of the boys had them wrapped up in the sleeves of his jacket. つつめどもかくれぬ物は夏虫の身よりあまれる思ひなりけり tsutsumedomo / kakurenu mono wa / natsumushi no / mi yori amareru / omoinarikeri ‘Wrapped up, yet / Unconcealable are / The summer insects: / Their bodies bringing an excess / Of passion’s fires.’ Anonymous (GSS IV: 209)
Round Three
Left (Tie)
あはれとやかみもおもはむすみのえのふかくたのみをかくるみなれば
| aware to ya kami mo omowamu suminoe no fukaku tanomi o kakuru mi nareba | ‘How sad,’ does The God, too, think? For at Suminoe Deep in devotions Am I entangled… |
Lord Tsunemori
105
Right
たのみつるこのひとむらの人ごとにちとせをゆづれすみよしのまつ
| tanomitsuru kono hitomura no hito goto ni chitose o yuzure sumiyoshi no matsu | Devoted are This group of folk, so To each and every one Grant a thousand years, O, pines of Sumiyoshi! |
Lord Yorisuke
106
The poem of the Left, saying ‘deep in devotions’ and suchlike, is pleasant, I have to say. Does the poem of the Right’s ‘this group of folk’ refer to the current poets or to the speaker’s own household? Well, whichever it is, the conception of devotion does not appear to be slight, but again I say this is a tie.
Poems which had been placed in the carriage of the Tenth Prince [Prince Masa’akira 雅明親王 (920-929)]
Original
ことしよりにほひそむめりかすがののわかむらさきにてでなふれそも
| kotoshi yori nioisomumeri kasugano no wakamurasaki ni tede na fure so mo | From this year Has begun to bloom, it seems, On Kasuga Plain Young gromwell, so Don’t put your hands upon it! |
40
Left (Win)
むらさきにてもこそふるれかすがのののもりよひとにわかなつますな
| murasaki ni te mo koso furure kasugano no moriyoito ni wakana tsumasu na | On the gromwell Folk will surely put their hands, so Kasuga Plain’s Wardens, all, Don’t allow picking of young herbs here! |
41
Right
ちはやぶるかみもしるらむかすがののわかむらさきにたれかてふれむ
| chihayaburu kami mo shiruramu kasugano no wakamurasaki ni tare ka te furemu | The mighty God does surely know, so On Kasuga Plain, On young gromwell Would any dare to lay their hands? |
42
