Round Twenty-Two
Left
おひやらぬいはねのまつはわれなれやひさしくよよにみどりなるかな
| oiyaranu iwane no matsu wa ware nare ya hisashiku yoyo ni midori naru kana | A spindly Pine growing in the crag-cracks Am I? Forever through the years I am stuck at green! |
Minamoto no Munenaga
143
Right (Win)
いけみづのいひいでずともおもひかねふかきうれへをかみはしるらむ
| ikemizu no ii’idezu tomo omoikane fukaki uree o kami wa shiruramu | As pond waters behind A sluice gate, I say nothing, yet I cannot help but wonder: The depths of my despair— Does the deity know it? |
Fujiwara no Noritsune
144
The conception of the Left’s poem, saying, ‘Forever through the years’ sounds pleasant, but I feel it’s a bit hackneyed, given the poem, ‘Solitary pinecone / Is green!’[1] The poem of the Right’s ‘As pond waters behind / A sluice gate, I say’ is also pedestrian, yet ‘The depths of my despair— / Does the deity know it?’ contains some conception. It’s a little better, I’d say.
[1] Composed when he had gone to the residence of Narisuke, the Chief Priest of Kamo, when drunk, was sorrowing that he had yet to be promoted. もみぢするかつらのなかにすみよしのまつのみひとりみどりなるかな momijisuru / katsura no naka ni / sumiyoshi no / matsu no mi hitori / midori naru kana ‘Among the scarlet-leaved / Katsura, / Sumiyoshi’s / Solitary pinecone / Is green!’ Kunimoto, the Governor of Tsu (GSIS XVII: 987)
Composed when he had gone to the residence of Narisuke, the Chief Priest of Kamo, when drunk, was sorrowing that he had yet to be promoted.
もみぢするかつらのなかにすみよしのまつのみひとりみどりなるかな
| momidisuru katura no naka ni sumiyosi no matu no mi Fitori midori naru kana | Among the scarlet-leaved Katsura, Sumiyoshi’s Solitary pinecone Is green! |
Kunimoto, the Governor of Tsu
Original
ゆきがてにふくはるかぜははやけれどあをやまなればさむからなくに
| yukigate ni fuku harukaze wa hayakeredo aoyama nareba samukaranaku ni | Blended with snow Blows the spring breeze So swift, yet In the padded jacket of the mountain’s green, It’s not so cold at all… |
46
Left
あをやまのなをきてたれかふくかぜをさむからずとはおもひしるらむ
| aoyama no na o kite tare ka fuku kaze o samukarazu to wa omoishiruramu | A padded jacket of the mountain’s green? Who would come hearing that, and By the gusting wind Remain unchilled, Do you really think… |
47
Right
ゆきがてのかぜもなにかはさむからんはるのひかりのみてるやまべは
| yukigate no kaze mo nanika wa samukaran haru no hikari no miteru yamabe wa | Blended with snow, What is it might make the wind So cold? Where the light of spring Shines upon the mountainside… |
48
Original
かすがののけふのみゆきをまつばらのちとせのはるはきみがまにまに
| kasugano no kyō no miyuki o matsubara no chitose no haru wa kimi ga manimani | On Kasuga Plain Today’s progress Awaited have the pine groves, A thousand years of springtimes, Just as my Lady’s thoughts. [1] |
Mitsune
31
Left
ゆくさきのはるをとほくしまかすればいまはちとせのうたがひもなし
| yukusaki no haru o tōkushi makasureba ima wa chitose no utagai mo nashi | Future Springtimes to distant times May we entrust, for Now that she will live a thousand years more There is no doubt, at all. |
32
Right (Win)
むれたちてわれをまつてふかすがののみどりふかくやおもひそめけむ
| muretachite ware o matsu chō kasugano no midori fukaku ya omoisomekemu | Growing crowded together, and Awaiting me are the pines On Kasuga Plain— Why should their green so deeply Seem to think of me? |
33
[1] A minor variant of this poem occurs in Mitsune-shū (325) with the same headnote as for poem (22), above.
Round Twenty
Scarlet Leaves
Left (Tie)
秋されば暁つゆにいもが袖まきぎの山ににほふもみぢば
| aki sareba akatsuki tsuyu ni imo ga sode makigi no yama ni niou momijiba | When the autumn comes, With the dawn, the dewdrops, as Upon a sweet girl’s sleeves, At Makigi Mountain Bring a lustre to the scarlet leaves… |
Masashige
39
Right
下染はおなじみどりにみし程も紅葉の色のうすくこきかな
| shitazome wa onaji midori ni mishi hodo mo momiji no iro no usuku koki kana | First dyed All with green, When I gazed upon them, now The scarlet leaves’ hues are Pale and vibrant both! |
Kūnin
40
The Left has a lofty tone, yet the Right is still smooth. Thus, I make this a tie.
Summer Poems Twenty Rounds
Left
蝉のこゑ聞けばかなしな夏衣うすくや人のならむと思へば
| semi no koe kikeba kanashi na natsu koromo usuku ya hito no naramu to omoeba | The cicadas’ cry: There’s a sadness in the sound; Summer clothes Are thin, as her feelings Will be, I feel. |
41[1]
Right
にほひつつ散りにし花ぞおもほゆる夏はみどりの葉のみしげりて
| nioitsutsu chirinishi hana zo omohoyuru natsu wa midori no ha nomi shigerite | Ever scented, The scattered blossoms, indeed, I do recall, for In summer the green Leaves, alone, are lush… |
42
[1] Kokinshū XIV: 715, attributed to Ki no Tomonori/Shinsen man’yōshū 43/Kokin rokujō VI: 3973
Left
水のうへにあやおりみだる春雨や山のみどりをなべてそむらん
| mizu no ue ni aya orimidaru harusame ya yama no midori o nabete somuran | Upon the waters A confusing pattern paints The rain of spring— Will it now the mountains All dye with green, I wonder? |
19[1]
Right
色ふかくみる野辺だにも常ならば春は行くともかたみならまし
| iro fukaku miru nobe dani mo tsune naraba haru wa yuku tomo katami naramashi | Deep the hues On display within the meadows—if that Should be the norm, then Even when the spring is gone A keepsake they would be. |
20[2]
[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 1/Kokin rokujō I: 460/A minor variant of this poem also occurs in Shinkokinshū (I: 65), where it is attributed to Ise: 水のおもにあやおりみだる春雨や山のみどりをなべてそむらん mizu no omo ni / aya orimidaru / harusame ya / yama no midori o / nabete somuran ‘Upon the water’s surface / A confusing pattern paints / The rain of spring— / Will it now the mountains / All dye with green, I wonder?’
[2] Shinchokusenshū II: 89
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Dowager Empress during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.
春雨の色はこしともみえなくに野べのみどりをいかでそむらん
| harusame no iro wa koshi tomo mienaku ni nobe no midori o ikade somuran | The spring rain’s Hue no great depths Does seem to have, but How are the meadows with green So deeply dyed? |
Ki no Tomonori
