Fireflies
五月雨に草のいほりはくづれども蛍と成るぞうれしかりける
| samidare ni kusa no iori wa kuzuredomo hotaru to naru zo ureshikarikeru | In the early summer rain Grassy lodgings Wither away, yet That they turn to fireflies Brings me joy. |
Ōe no Masafusa
Tag Archives: iori
Kikigakishū 90
SZS VIII: 531
Composed as a travel poem, when the Regent and Former Minister of the Right had a hundred poem sequence composed at his residence.
あはれなる野しまかさきのいほりかな露おく袖に浪もかけけり
| awarenaru nojima ga saki no iori kana tsuyu oku sode ni nami mo kakekeri |
Mournful Nojima Point is where My hut lies; Upon my dew-dropped sleeves Have rushed the waves… |
Master of the Dowager Empress Household Office, Toshinari
皇太后宮大夫俊成
Kokin rokujō III: 1851
Autumn I: 29
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.’
Summer II: 15
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.’
Summer I: 11
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.’