When I had gone out to view Mount Hakone, there were islets with waves breaking over them. When I asked my companions if they knew the name of the sea there, and the answer came back that it was the Izu sea.
はこねぢをわがこえくれば伊豆の海やおきのこじまに浪のよるみゆ
| hakoneji o wa ga koekureba izu no umi ya oki no kojima ni nami no yoru miyu | When Hakone’s trails I have passed across, The sea at Izu, filled With islets in the offing’s Breaking waves, I see. |
593
玉くしげはこねのやまの郭公むかふのさとに朝な朝ななく
| tamakushige hakone no yama no hototogisu mukau no sato ni asana asana naku | A jewelled comb On Hakone Mountain A cuckoo In that paradise Cries with every morn.[i] |
[ii] This poem is inspired by: 心乎之 無何有乃郷尓 置而有者 藐孤射能山乎 見末久知香谿務 kokoro oshi / mukau no sato ni / okite araba / bakoya no yama o / mimaku chikakemu ‘My heart / In paradise / Should I leave behind, then / Mount Miaogushe / Would I soon come to see.’ Anonymous (MYS XVI: 3851). The Man’yō poem refers to Mount Bakoya (C. Miaogushe), a legendary Chinese mountain where immortals were said to dwell, and Sanetomo’s reference to Hakone echoes this due to the partial homophony between the place names.
Round Seven
Cherry
Left (Win)
からくにの虎伏すのべににほふとも花の下にはねてぞ帰らん
| karakuni no tora fusu nobe ni niou tomo hana no shita ni wa nete zo kaeran | Even in the land of Cathay, where Tigers lie among the meadows— Should they shine there, then Beneath the blossoms Would I sleep and then head home. |
Lord Kiyosuke
13
Right
わぎもこがはこねの山のいと桜むすびおきたる花かとぞみる
| wagimoko ga hakone no yama no itozakura musubiokitaru hana ka to zo miru | As my darling’s treasured Box is Hakone Mountain, with Weeping cherries Bound, or So the blossoms do appear to me. |
Kenshō
14
Neither of these are bad, but because for the moment it has a stronger conception of affection for the blossom, the Left is superior.
Left
明けぬ間に箱根の山の時鳥二声とだに鳴き渡るらむ
| akenu ma ni Fakone no yama no Fototogisu Futakowe to dani nakiwataruramu |
Before the dawn no Hakone Mountain Cuckoos’ Twin calls simply Seem to sing back and forth |
17
Right (Win)
深山出でていづこも旅ぞ時鳥ここにを結べ草の枕は
| miyama idete iduko mo tabi zo Fototogisu koko ni wo musube kusa no makura wa |
Emerging from the mountains’ depths Where does your journey take you, O, cuckoo? Here will I twine strands Of grass for my pillow… |
18