Composed for a poetry competition held during the reign of Emperor Uda.
見る人もなき山里のさくらばなほかのちりなんのちぞさかまし
| miru Fito mo naki yamazato no sakurabana Foka no tirinan noti zo sakamasi | With folk to see you Not a one, in this mountain home, O, cherry blossoms, After all the others are scattered and gone Would I have you bloom! |
Ise
Left (Tie)
浪の上にうかれてすぐるたはれめも頼む人には頼まれぬかは
| nami no ue ni ukarete suguru tawareme mo tanomu hito ni wa tanomarenu ka wa | Atop the waves, and Carried along helplessly, Is even a pleasure girl To a loving man Unable to respond? |
Lord Kanemune
1143
Right
波の上に結ぶ契のはてよりも戀に沈まん身こそうかれめ
| nami no ue ni musubu chigiri no hate yori mo koi ni shizuman mi koso ukareme | Atop the waves Form bonds So brief – but more Drowned in love Am I, suffering so helplessly! |
Lord Takanobu
1144
Left and Right together state: we find no faults to mention.
In judgement: both poems are certainly focused on the topic, with ‘atop the waves’ (nami no ue) and ‘helplessly’ (ukareme). The round ties.
Left (Win)
住みなれし人はこずゑに絶えはてて琴の音にのみ通ふ松風
| suminareshi hito wa kozue ni taehatete koto no ne ni nomi kayou matsukaze |
Accustomed to his being here, Now, he comes not and from the treetops All that endures Are my zither’s strains, Blending with the pines. |
Lord Ari’ie
1103
Right
聞かじただつれなき人の琴の音にいとはず通ふ松の風をば
| kikaji tada tsurenaki hito no koto no ne ni itowazu kayou matsu no kaze o ba |
I will listen no more! To that cruel man’s Zither strains Heedlessly blending With the wind from off the pines… |
Nobusada
1104
The Right state: it sounds as if the man is enduring on the treetops. The Left state: ‘I will listen no more!’ (kikaji tada) is extremely coarse.
In judgement: while it may sound as if the man is enduring on the treetops in the Left’s poem, this is no more than a standard use of metaphorical expression, and the configuration of ‘accustomed to his being here, now, he comes not and from the treetops’ (suminareshi hito wa kozue ni) sounds fine, with the latter part of the poem also being elegant. The initial line of the Right’s poem has a conception of closing up the ears to block one’s auditory sense, which seems excessive. Clearly, the Left’s ‘my zither’s strains’ (koto no ne ni nomi) must win.
Left (Tie)
うらやましわがりこちくと笛の音を頼むる中の人は聞くらん
| urayamashi wagari kochiku to fue no ne o tanomuru naka no hito wa kikuran |
O, how I envious I am! To my house comes, a bamboo Flute’s strains – from A trustworthy, loving Man, it sounds… |
Lord Suetsune
1087
Right
より竹の君によりけんことぞ憂き一夜のふしに音のみ泣かれて
| yoritake no kimi ni yoriken koto zo uki hitoyo no fushi ni ne nomi nakarete |
Bamboo flotsam – That you should draw near Is cruel, indeed, for A single night together, brings Only the sound of weeping… |
Lord Tsune’ie
1088
‘Flotsam of bamboo’ (yoritake) and ‘comes, a bamboo’ (kochiku) are equally unsatisfying.
In judgement: ‘Flotsam of bamboo’ and ‘comes, a bamboo’ are of equal quality.
The Chrysanthemum Match during the reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.
The Gentlemen of the Left. For the chrysanthemum in the initial round, Kotategimi, a young courtier lad, was dressed as a woman, and brought in the flower, hiding his face with it. A further nine blooms were planted in a suhama. The form of the suhama was certainly very charming. The chrysanthemums had their names written on long strips of paper, which were twined about them in places to show them to their best advantage.
Initial Round: a chrysanthemum from Minase in Yamazaki
うちつけに水瀬は匂ひまされるをり人からか花の常かも
| uchituke ni minase Fa nioFi masareru wori Fito kara ka Fana no tune kamo | Suddenly Minase, with scent Superb is filled – Is it from a lady there, or Are the blooms ever so? |
1