しげさのみ日ごとにまさる夏草の仮初にだに問ふ人のなき
| sigesa nomi Fi goto ni masaru natu kusa no karisome ni dani toFu Fito no naki |
Simply more lush With every day are The summer grasses Even if briefly No one comes to call… |
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
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.
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
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]
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.
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. |
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… |
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.’