Tag Archives: grasses

Shiki koi sanshu uta’awase – Summer

Summer

Left

夏くればかみにあふひの草つみてかざしにいのるひとにばかりぞ

natsu kureba
kami ni aoi no
kusa tsumite
kazashi ni inoru
hito ni bakari zo
When the summer comes
For the God, hollyhocks
 Are plucked, and for a
Prayer placed in the hair of
All folk, every one!

7

夏草も茂りにければ駿河なる田子のうらなへ今やひくらん

natsu kusa mo
shigerinikereba
suruga naru
tago no ura nae
ima ya hikuran
The summer grasses, too,
Have grown lush, so
As Suruga’s
Tago Bay,
Do they now extend their charm?

8

夏虫のやどるにまつは色ならで春秋空にうつろひやする

natsumushi no
yadoru ni matsu wa
iro narade
haru aki sora ni
utsuroi ya suru
The summer insects
Lodge upon the pines
Unchanging hues;
Is it the spring and autumn skies
Which fade away?

9

Right

卯花の咲く夏の夜はやみなれどかきねにやどる月かとぞみる

u no hana no
saku natsu no yo wa
yami naredo
kakine ni yadoru
tsuki ka to zo miru
The deutzia flowers
Bloom upon a summer night
‘Tis dark, yet
Lodged upon my brushwood fence
I wonder if I see the moon?

10

五月きぬことかたらはむほととぎす君にあふちの花も咲きけり

satsuki kinu
koto katarawamu
hototogisu
kimi ni auchi no
hana mo sakikeri
That the Fifth Month has come
Is announced by
The cuckoo:
For you, the chinaberry
Blossoms, too, have bloomed.

11

空蝉のからにはあらで置く露の身をあらたむる心なるべし

utsusemi no
kara ni wa arade
oku tsuyu no
mi o aratamuru
kokoro narubeshi
A cicada’s shed
Shell I am not, for
The dripping dew
Does refresh my flesh, or
So my heart seems to feel.

12

Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase 20

むらさきのねさへいろこき草なれやあきのことごとのべをそむらむ

murasaki no
ne sae irokoki
kusa nare ya
aki no kotogoto
nobe o somuramu
Do even the gromwell’s
Roots take on deeper hues
Among the grasses,
For in autumn every
Meadow does seem dyed?

39

秋のよにひとを見まくのほしければあまのかはらをたちもならすか[1]

aki no yo ni
hito o mimaku no
hoshikereba
ama no kawara o
tachi mo narasu ka
On an autumn night
To see him is
All my longing, so
On the banks of Heaven’s river
Should I be wont to stand?

40


[1] A minor variant of this poem occurs in Mandaishū (1801) and Shokugoshūishū (688): 秋の夜に人をみまくのほしければ天の川原を立ちならすかな aki no yo ni / hito o mimaku no / hoshikereba / ama no kawara o / tachinarasu kana ‘On an autumn night / To see him is / All my longing, so / On the banks of Heaven’s river / Is where I ever stand!’ (Anonymous).

Dairi uta’awase Kanna Gan-nen 2

Wind
 
Left (Win)

おはらきのもりのくずはもふくかぜにもみぢもあへずちりやしぬらん

oharaki no
mori no kuzuha mo
fuku kaze ni
momiji mo aezu
chiri ya shinuran
In Oharaki
Among the groves, will the kudzu leaves,
When the wind does blow
Parting from the scarlet leaves
Scatter, too, I wonder?

Tamemasa
3

Right

みかきののくさこそなびけよろづよのはじめのあきのかぜのこゑかも

mikaki no no
kusa koso nabike
yorozu yo no
hajime no aki no
kaze no koe kamo
In the fields by the sacred walls
The grasses do sway;
Ten thousand generations’
First autumn
Breeze sounds out!

Nagayoshi
4

Love VIII: 20

Left (Tie)
いかにしてつれなき中を渡るべき足の音もせぬ駒のありとも

ika ni shite
tsurenaki naka o
watarubeki
ashi no oto mo senu
koma no aritomo
How, indeed,
To one so heartless
Can I make my way across?
Even a silent-footed
Steed had I to ride…

Lord Suetsune
1059

Right (Win)
道遠み妹がりがりいそぐその駒に草取り飼はんなづみもぞする

michi tōmi
imogari isogu
sono koma ni
kusa torikawan
nazumi mo zo suru
Long is the road
To go swiftly seek my darling, so
For my steed
I’ll go gather grasses
That he not tire along the way…

The Supernumerary Master of the Empress’ Household Office
1060

The Gentlemen of the Right state: we wonder about the appropriateness of making one’s way across when there is no ‘bridge’? The Gentlemen of the Left state: there are no faults to indicate in the Right’s poem.

In judgement: the gentleman of the Left has composed his poem referring to the conception of the Man’yō poem ‘A silent-footed / Colt I’d have: / In Kashitsuka, / The clapper bridge at Mama / To ceaselessly traverse!’, but must have misplaced the bridge somewhere. Truly, I do wonder how it is possible to make one’s way across in the absence of a bridge. Although to say ‘for my steed I’ll go gather grasses’ (sono koma ni kusa torikawan) is something commonplace, doing it to prevent one’s mount getting tired, despite the length of the journey, seems better than lacking a bridge.

Love VIII: 17

Left
山鳥のはつおの鏡掛けねども見し面影に音は泣かれけり

yamadori no
hatsuo no kagami
kakenedomo
mishi omokage ni
ne wa nakarekeri
A mountain pheasant’s
Tail of hempen cord this mirror
Does not suspend, yet
The face I saw there once
Makes me weep out loud…

Kenshō
1053

Right (Win)
面影をほの三嶋野に尋ぬれば行衛知られぬ鵙の草ぐき

omokage o
hono mishimano ni
tazunureba
yukue shirarenu
mozu no kusaguki
Her face
I did but briefly see at Mishimano
When I visited there;
I know not where has gone
The shrike hiding in the grasses.

Lord Takanobu
1054

The Gentlemen of the Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults to mention. The Gentlemen of the Left state: we wonder about the appropriateness of combining ‘Mishima Plain’ (mishimano) with ‘the shrike hiding in the grasses (mozu no kusaguki). Is there a poem as a precedent for this? If not, is it suitable?

In judgement: both poems have the conception of love: of imagining the pheasant and his mirror, and weeping at the memory of a lover’s face; and thinking of the shrike hiding in the grasses, visiting Mishima Plain, and recalling the past. However, what should we do about the matter of whether there is a precedent poem for ‘the shrike hiding in the grasses’ on Mishima Plain? Surely, it could be any plain, so there is no reason not to use this. The configuration of ‘I know not where has gone’ (yukue shirarenu) sounds better than that of ‘makes me weep out loud’ (ne wa nakarekeri). The Right, again, must win, I think.

 

Love VIII: 2

Left (Win)
今はさはあはれと思へ菅の根の長き心の程は見つらん

ima wa sa wa
aware to omoe
suga no ne no
nagaki kokoro no
hodo wa mitsuran
Now, indeed, let you
Think fondly of me!
The grasses’ roots run
Long, my heart’s
Love will you see…

Lord Suetsune
1023

Right
世とゝもにかはくまもなき我袖や潮干もわかぬ浪の下草

yo to tomo ni
kawaku ma mo naki
wa ga sode ya
shioi mo wakanu
nami no shitagusa
With the passing time,
Not a moment dry
Are my sleeves;
Low tide does not reveal
The seaweed beneath the waves…

Lord Takanobu
1024

The Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults to indicate. The Left state: the Right’s poem is clichéd.

In judgement: the Right, in addition to being clichéd, can say no more than that love means wet sleeves. The Left’s ‘grasses’ roots’ (suga no ne) is certainly better.