Tag Archives: hi

SKKS I: 13

A spring poem, presented in a hundred poem sequence during the reign of former Emperor Sutoku.

若菜摘む袖とぞ見ゆるかすがのゝとぶひのゝべの雪のむらぎえ

wakana tsumu
sode to zo miyuru
kasugano no
tobu hi no nobe no
yuki no muragie
Plucking fresh herbs,
Sleeves do I seem to see
On the plain at Kasuga,
Where the sun dances in the fields
On the patchy snow…

Former Consultant Norinaga

Love IV: 28

Left (Win).
頼めぬを待ちつる宵も過果てゝつらさ閉ぢむる片敷の床

tanomenu o
machitsuru yoi mo
sugihatete
turasa tojimuru
katashiki no toko
He did not say he’d come, and so
To waiting through the night
I have put an end,
Sealing my unhappiness
In a single bed…

Lord Sada’ie.
835

Right.
我戀や衛士の焚く火となりぬらん夜のみひとり燃えあかす哉

wa ga koi ya
eshi no taku hi to
narinuran
yoru nomi hitori
moeakasu kana
Has my love, like
Conscripts’ kindled flame
Become?
Through the night alone
Afire?

Lord Tsune’ie.
836

The Right state: we wonder about the appropriateness of both ‘sealing’ (tojimuru) and ‘a single bed’ (katashiki no toko). The Left state: it sounds as if the ‘conscripts’ kindled flame’ (eshi no taku hi) is alone.

In judgement: the Left’s poem, beginning with ‘to waiting through the night I have put an end’ (machitsuru yoi mo sugihatete) and then continuing with ‘sealing my unhappiness’ (tsurasa tojimuru) does not sound bad, but ‘single bed’ should surely have been ‘sleeve’ (sode). The ‘conscripts kindled flame’ would certainly not have been ‘burning alone’ (hitori moyu). The Left should win, it seems.

MYS III: 324

A poem composed Yamabe no Akahito  when he climbed Kamioka.

みもろの 神なび山に 五百枝さし しじに生ひたる 栂の木の いや継ぎ継ぎに 玉葛 絶ゆることなく ありつつも やまず通はむ 明日香の 古き都は 山高み 川とほしろし 春の日は 山し見がほし 秋の夜は 川しさやけし 朝雲に 鶴は乱れ 夕霧に かはづは騒く 見るごとに 音のみし泣かゆ いにしへ思へば

mimoro no
kamunabi yama ni
iope sasi
sidi ni opitaru
tuga no ki no
iya tugitugi ni
tamakadura
tayuru koto naku
aritutu mo
yamazu kayopamu
asuka no
puruki miyako pa
yama takami
kawa toposirosi
paru no pi pa
yama si migaposi
aki no yo pa
kapa si sayakesi
asagumo ni
tadu pa midare
yupugiri ni
kawadu wa sawagu
miru goto ni
ne nomi si nakayu
inisie omopeba
On the sacred
Mountain of the Gods
With many branches
Flourishing grow
Hemlock trees,
All and ever joined with
Hydrangea
Never-ending
Always there
Ever would I be
In Asuka,
The ancient capital, where
Mountains mighty and
Rivers grand do lie, and
On spring days
It is the mountains I would see;
On autumn nights
The river, so refreshing!
Amongst the morning clouds
The cranes do swoop and soar;
The evening mists
Are noisy with the frogs;
The simple sights
Call forth my tears
While I think on times gone by…

Yamabe no Akahito
山部赤人

SKKS I: 35

Composed on evening haze.

なごの海の霞のまよりながむれば入る日をあらふ沖つ白波

nago no umi no
kasumi no ma yori
nagamureba
iru hi o arau
oki tsu shiranami
At the sea at Nago
Between the hazy gaps
I gaze:
Bathed by the setting sun
Are the whitecaps in the offing.

The Gotokudaiji Minister of the Left
後徳大寺左大臣
[Fujiwara no Sanesada 藤原実定]

Love IV: 11

Left.
雲かゝり重なる山を越えもせず隔てまさるは明くる日の影

kumo kakari
kasanaru yama o
koe mo sezu
hedate masaru wa
akuru hi no kage
Trailed with cloud,
The layered mountains
I have not gone beyond, but
What stands between us most is
The light of the brightening sun.

Lord Sada’ie.
801

Right (Win).
いさ命思ひは夜半に盡き果てぬ夕も待たじ秋の曙

isa inochi
omoi wa yowa ni
tsukihatenu
yūbe mo mataji
aki no akebono
I know not what’s to become of my life!
All my thoughts of love in the hours of night
Are quite exhausted, and
I cannot wait for evening
On this autumn dawn…

Nobusada.
802

The Right state: from ‘Trailed with cloud’ (kumo kakari) to ‘The light of the brightening sun’ (akuru hi no kage), all is entirely unacceptable, is it not? The Left state: we wonder about the acceptability of ‘I know not what’s to become of my life’ (isa inochi).

In judgement: the Right have said that the Left’s poem is unacceptable from beginning to end, but can one really go so far as to say that? Furthermore, the Left query whether ‘I know not what’s to become of my life’, but I wonder whether I can recall this phrase being that bad. However, one is accustomed to saying that ‘this spring dawn’ (haru no akebono) is elegant, and although ‘this autumn dawn’ (aki no akebono) is a modern expression, the faults of the Left’s poem are particularly problematic, so the Right should win.

Spring III: 6

Left (Tie).

斧の柄をかくてや人はくたしけん山路おぼゆる春の空かな

ono no e o
kakute ya hito wa
kutashiken
yamaji oboyuru
haru no sora kana
‘His axe haft:
Is this how he
Let it rot away?’
I wonder on the mountain paths
Under the springtime skies.

Lord Kanemune.

131

Right (Tie).

春の日は灘の塩屋のあま人もいとまありてやくらしわぶらん

haru no hi wa
nada no shioya no
amabito mo
itoma arite ya
kurashiwaburan
In the springtime sun
At Nada, the salt-making
Fisher-folk, too,
Have time to spare, and
Live with it heavy on their hands…

Ietaka.

132

Both teams say they can find nothing to criticise in the other’s poem.

Shunzei agrees, saying, ‘You gentlemen have already stated that there is no reason to fault either poem. The round must be a tie.’