Tag Archives: kami

Shiki koi sanshu uta’awase – Love

Love

Left

恋せじと御手洗川に御祓して神うけつらんとおもほゆるかな

koi seji to
mitarashigawa ni
oharaishite
kami uketsuran to
omohoyuru kana
I’ll not fall in love, and
At the River Mitarashi
Purify myself—
Would the gods then accept me,
I wonder!

25

恋なれどそこにもすまぬひれはみづにごれりとおもほゆるかな

koi naredo
soko ni mo sumanu
hire wa mizu
nigoreri to
omohoyuru kana
This is love, yet
The deeps are all disturbed, with
Fins the waters
Clouding,
I feel!

26

こひわたる程のふかさにそめ川の色あさからじとおもほゆるかな

koiwataru
hodo no fukasa ni
somekawa no
iro asakaraji to
omohoyuru kana
So long have I loved you that
The depths of
Dyers’ River have
Lost their pale hues
I feel!

27

Right

おもふとて夕ぐれがたのながめをや人待つほどの恋といふらん

omou tote
yūguregata no
nagame o ya
hito matsu hodo no
koi to iuran
Thinking of him
As evening draws on, and
I gaze on long rains falling; is
Time pining for a man
Being in love, I wonder?

28

年の内にあまる月日の有りければかぞへのうちにははわぶるかな

toshi no uchi ni
amaru tsuki hi no
arikereba
kazoe no uchi ni
haha waburu kana
Throughout the year
The days and months mount up
So
Counting them
My mother grieves!

29

Shiki koi sanshu uta’awase – Summer

Summer

Left

夏くればかみにあふひの草つみてかざしにいのるひとにばかりぞ

natsu kureba
kami ni aoi no
kusa tsumite
kazashi ni inoru
hito ni bakari zo
When the summer comes
For the God, hollyhocks
 Are plucked, and for a
Prayer placed in the hair of
All folk, every one!

7

夏草も茂りにければ駿河なる田子のうらなへ今やひくらん

natsu kusa mo
shigerinikereba
suruga naru
tago no ura nae
ima ya hikuran
The summer grasses, too,
Have grown lush, so
As Suruga’s
Tago Bay,
Do they now extend their charm?

8

夏虫のやどるにまつは色ならで春秋空にうつろひやする

natsumushi no
yadoru ni matsu wa
iro narade
haru aki sora ni
utsuroi ya suru
The summer insects
Lodge upon the pines
Unchanging hues;
Is it the spring and autumn skies
Which fade away?

9

Right

卯花の咲く夏の夜はやみなれどかきねにやどる月かとぞみる

u no hana no
saku natsu no yo wa
yami naredo
kakine ni yadoru
tsuki ka to zo miru
The deutzia flowers
Bloom upon a summer night
‘Tis dark, yet
Lodged upon my brushwood fence
I wonder if I see the moon?

10

五月きぬことかたらはむほととぎす君にあふちの花も咲きけり

satsuki kinu
koto katarawamu
hototogisu
kimi ni auchi no
hana mo sakikeri
That the Fifth Month has come
Is announced by
The cuckoo:
For you, the chinaberry
Blossoms, too, have bloomed.

11

空蝉のからにはあらで置く露の身をあらたむる心なるべし

utsusemi no
kara ni wa arade
oku tsuyu no
mi o aratamuru
kokoro narubeshi
A cicada’s shed
Shell I am not, for
The dripping dew
Does refresh my flesh, or
So my heart seems to feel.

12

Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase 1

Round One

Left

山だもるあきのかりほにおく露はいなおほせどりのなみだなりけり

yamada moru
aki no kariho ni
oku tsuyu wa
inaosedori no
namida narikeri
Warding mountain fields, in
Autumn upon a hasty hut
The dripping dewdrops are
Migrating birds’
Tears.

Tadamine
1

Right

たつたひめいかなるかみにあればかは山をちくさにあきはそむらん

tatsutahime
ika naru kami ni
areba ka wa
yama o chikusa ni
aki wa somuran
Princess Tatsuta:
What manner of deity
Might she be, that
All the mountain’s thousand grasses
She dyes with autumn hues?

2

Love X: 7

Left
頼むなるあさけ神しも幣はせん君が心やわれになびくと

tanomu naru
asake kami shimo
nusa wa sen
kimi ga kokoro ya
ware ni nabiku to
Worship she does
The goddess Asake, so should even
I make her an offering?
Then might my lady’s heart
Trail in my direction…

Kenshō
1153

Right (Win)
鏡山君に心やうつるらむいそぎ立たれぬ旅衣かな

kagamiyama
kimi ni kokoro ya
utsururamu
isogi tatarenu
tabigoromo kana
Upon Mirror Mount
Has my heart
Found lodging? For
In haste to rise and don
My travelling garb, I am not!

Lord Tsune’ie
1154

Left and Right state: there are no faults to mention in either poem.

In judgement: both Left and Right here refer to a ‘person’ (kimi), with the Left’s ‘making her an offering’ (nusa wa sen) that she might ‘trail in my direction’ (ware ni nabiku ya), while the Right’s has left his heart on Mirror Mount and ‘is not in haste to rise and don his travelling garb’ (isogi tatarenu tabigoromo): each of these poems is evocative, and makes effective use of wordplay, with the Left’s ‘make her an offering’ certainly resembling something I have come across previously, but the initial ‘goddess Asake’ is poor. The Right’s ‘Mirror Mount’ (kagami yama) is something I am familiar with, and this has a gentle tone. Thus, the Right wins.

Love VIII: 25

Left
起きもゐで年ふる戀はをのづから常世の神やしるし見すべき

oki mo ide
toshi furu koi wa
onozukara
tokoyo no kami ya
shirushi misubeki
Unable to arise
From love these many years,
May I
By the eternal gods
Be shown a sign!

Kenshō
1069

Right (Win)
獨臥すながながし夜のかなしきを語らひあかすきりぎりす哉

hitori fusu
naganagashi yo no
kanashiki o
katarai akasu
kirigirisu kana
Lying alone,
So long, long the night’s
Sorrow;
Lightening it with chatter
Are the crickets!

The Supernumerary Master of the Empress’ Household Office
1070

The Gentlemen of the Right state: what is the meaning of ‘the eternal gods’ (toko no kami). In appeal, the Left: in the Chronicles of Japan, insects are worshipped under the name of ‘the eternal gods’ and made to seem like men. The Left state: what can an insect chatter about?

In judgement: in regard to the Left’s poem, while it is true that insects were worshipped, a poem on ‘Love and Insects’ with no insect is lacking something from the start. This poem would seem to be more a case of ‘Love and Prayers’. Thus, this is nothing enduring. A prior example has been contrived, but this is ineffective. It does not seem as if this insect’s nature has any relation to the topic. The Right’s poem has a commonplace cricket. Where is the fault in having it lighten one’s mood with chatter? Thus, the Right must win.