koishisa ni omoi’yosoete ominaeshi oru wa ga sode zo itodo tsuyukeki
In my yearning Alike, I feel, is This maidenflower— The sleeve I picked her with is Utterly drenched with dew!
The Former Assistant Governor-General 21
Right
なつかしく折る手にかをれ女郎花恋しき人もわするばかりに
natsukashiku oru te ni kaore ominaeshi koishiki hito mo wasuru bakari ni
So sweetly In my hand that picked you shine, O, maidenflower! That the one I love I would forget a while…
His Excellency, the Head 22
The Left’s ‘sleeve I picked her with is / Utterly drenched with dew’ is a form of words entirely in tune with the topic—it appears charmingly exactly how a poem in a poetry match should be. Then the Right expresses as somewhat shallow and unreliable conception of love that might be forgotten in the face of the shine of a maidenflower picked and held in the hand. Thus, I feel the dew-drenched sleeves are superior here, aren’t they.
akihagi no shitaba no tsuyu ni aranedomo kienu bakari zo hito wa koishiki
Upon the autumn bush clover’s Underleaves a dewdrop I am not, yet Simply will I fade away So much do I love him!
Taiyu no Suke 19
Right
わすられて年ふる里の浅茅生に誰がためしける萩の錦ぞ
wasurarete toshi furu sato no asajū ni ta ga tame shikeru hagi no nishiki zo
All forgotten Through the passing years, at my home Among the tangled mugwort, For whose sake is spread The bush clover’s brocade?
The Daughter of His Excellency, the Head
20
I feel that the poem of the Left is conspicuously poetic, saying ‘Simply will I fade away / So much do I love him!’ while the poem of the Right’s ‘Through the passing years, at my home / Among the tangled mugwort, / For whose sake is spread / The bush clover’s brocade?’ makes me want to ask the bush clover the same question! The pull my heart in more than one direction, so here, too, I feel it’s not possible to decide on a winner or loser.
tanabata ni aranu wa ga mi no nazo mo kaku toshi ni marenaru hito o matsuran
The Weaver Maid My sorry self is not, but[1] Why is it that, Rarely, but once a year, That man’s visit I seem to await?
538
[1] An allusive variation on: Topic unknown. 篝火にあらぬわが身のなぞもかく涙の河にうきてもゆらむ kagaribi ni / aranu wa ga mi no / nazo mo kaku / namida no kawa ni / ukite moyuramu ‘A fisher’s torch / I’m not, so why does my sorry self / Yet / Upon a river of tears, / Burning, seem to drift along?’ Anonymous (KKS XI: 529)
koite nuru haru no nezame ni nagametsutsu hito shirenu ne o nakanu yo zo naki
Burning with love, I fall asleep, In springtime to awake, Always, gazing on the falling rain— Secretly my sobs Slipping out—there’s no night when that happens not!
