玉藻刈る戸嶋をすぎて夏草の子島が埼に庵する我
tamamo karu tozima wo sugite natu kusa no kozima ga saki ni iForisuru ware |
Reaping gemweed Tojima I have passed beyond, and Among the summer grasses of Kojima Point Have I built my hut! |
Left.
昨日まで蓬に閉ぢし柴の戸も野分に晴るゝ岡の邊の里
kinō made yomogi ni tojishi shiba no to mo nowaki ni haruru oka no be no sato |
Until yesterday Sealed by mugwort was This brushwood door; Swept clear by the gale The hills around my dwelling. |
357
Right.
假にさす庵までこそ靡きけれ野分に堪へぬ小野の篠原
kari ni sasu iori made koso nabikikere nowaki ni taenu ono no shinohara |
Roughly thatched, Even my hut Has blown away: Unable to endure the gales Amongst the arrow bamboo groves… |
358
Both teams say they can appreciate the sentiment of the opposing team’s poem.
Shunzei agrees: ‘Both the Left’s “hills around my dwelling” (oka no be no sato) and the Right’s “arrow bamboo groves” (ono no shinohara) are charming. “Sealed by mugwort was this brushwood door; swept clear by the gale” (yomogi ni tojishi shiba no to mo nowaki ni haruru) and “Even my hut has blown away: unable to endure the gales” (iori made koso nabikikere nowaki ni taenu) have no failings in form between them. Thus, the round ties.’
Left (Tie).
稲妻の光にのみやなぐさめむ田中の里の夕闇の空
inazuma no hikari ni nomi ya nagusamemu tanaka no sato no yūyami no sora |
Is it lightning’s Light alone, that Can console? Dwelling among the rice-fields Beneath the blackened evening sky. |
327
Right (Tie).
賤の男が山田の庵の苫を粗み漏る稲妻を友とこそ見れ
shitsu no o ga yamada no io no toma o arami moru inazuma o tomo to koso mire |
A peasant in The mountain fields, whose hut has A rough roof of straw: The lightning dripping in Seems his single friend. |
328
As with the previous round, neither team can find fault with the other’s poem.
Shunzei, however, says, ‘The initial part of the Left’s poem is fine, indeed, but one wonders where the “dwelling among the rice fields” (tanaka no sato) is. I wonder whether nowadays poets can simply refer to a house among the rice fields. I do seem to have heard it before, but for the life of me I cannot remember where. As for the Right’s poem, this, too, has a perfectly standard beginning, but then has the expression “lightning dripping” (moru inazuma) – this seems rather new-fangled to me! Both poems are about the same.’
Left (Tie).
蚊遣火の煙いぶせき賤の庵にすゝけぬ物は夕顔の花
kayaribi no kemuri ibuseki shizu no io ni susukenu mono wa yūgao no hana |
Mosquito smudge fires’ Fumes fill the dreary Peasant’s hut; but Untouched by soot are The moonflower blooms. |
269
Right (Tie).
煙立つ賤が庵か薄霧のまがきに咲ける夕顔の花
kemuri tatsu shizu no iori ka usugiri no magaki ni sakeru yūgao no hana |
Is this smoke rising from The peasants’ huts? Faintly misted Blooming on the rough-hewn fence Are moonflowers… |
270
The Right have no criticisms to make this round. The Left simply say the phrase ‘huts? Faintly misted’ (iori ka usugiri) ‘stands out’.
Again, Shunzei is blunt: ‘The Left’s “untouched by soot” (susukenu) and the Right’s “faintly misted” (usugiri) are both equally poor. The round should tie.’
Left (Tie).
夏山の草葉のたけぞ知られぬる春見し小松人し引かずは
natsuyama no kusaba no take zo shirarenuru haru mishi komatsu hito hikazu wa |
Summer in the mountains, and The grasses reach so high, that Had they but known In springtime, on the glimpsed pine-seedlings Folk would have laid no hand… |
201
Right (Tie).
道もなき夏野の草の庵かな花にけがるゝ庭と見しまに
michi mo naki natsuno no kusa no iori kana hana ni kegaruru niwa to mishi ma ni |
Within a trackless Summer field does my grass Hut stand now; While on fallen blossom staining My garden did I rest my gaze… |
202
The Right wonder, ‘Whether summer greenery recalls the mountains as much as it does the plains? The overall point of the poem seems difficult to grasp.’ The Left have no particular comments to make.
Shunzei states, ‘The gentlemen of the Right have already questioned the suitability of greenery in relation to mountains rather than the plains. In addition, what is one to make of blossom falling round a hut, as opposed to a mountain lodge. If the topic was “Field Lodges”, then there are some autumn blooms, but cherry and plum blossom, and the like, fail to fall that much on the plains. Thus, I would agree with the Right’s comments on the Left’s poem. The Right’s poem, though, lacks logic. The round must be a tie.’