On the conception of the moon at dawn, for the Kasuga Poetry Match.
天の戸をおしあけがたの雲間より神よの月の影ぞ残れる
| ama no to o oshi akegata no kumoma yori kamiyo no tsuki no kage zo nokoreru | Upon the gates of Heaven Pushing brightening Through the cloud-gaps From the Age of Gods, the moon’s Light lingers. |
The Regent and Chancellor
An allusive variation on SKKS XIV: 1260.
Left
あまくだるかみもひさしくみやゐして月ものどかにすみよしのうら
| amakudaru kami mo hisashiku miya’ishite tsuki mo nodoka ni sumiyoshi no ura | Descending from Heaven, The Deity, too, eternally Manifests here, where The moon, too, is calm Above the bay of Sumiyoshi. |
Venerable Dharma Eye Shōken[1]
47
Right (Win)
かみよよりたぐひなしともすみよしのまつやこよひの月をみるらむ
| kamiyo yori taguinashi tomo sumiyoshi no matsu ya koyoi no tsuki o miruramu | Since the Age of Gods Is there nothing to compare with, At Sumiyoshi, The pines tonight with The moon filling my gaze? |
Novice Jakuchō[2]
48
The Left appears to have a truly charming conception and configuration, but beginning with ‘The Deity, too, eternally’ and then saying ‘The moon, too, is calm’ and repeating the same word is discordant. The Right, in addition to having no particular faults to mention, has an extremely pleasant-sounding configuration with ‘The pines tonight’. Thus, I make this a win for the Right.
[1] Hōgen kashōi Shōkaku 法眼和尚位静賢
[2] Shami Jakuchō沙弥寂超
Composed when Middle Counsellor Ienari had gone to Sumiyoshi and they were composing poems.
神世よりつもりのうらにみやゐしてへぬらんとしのかぎりしらずも
| kamiyo yori tsumori no ura ni miya’ishite henuran toshi no kagiri shirazu mo | Since the Age of Gods At the Bay of Tsumori Has there been a shrine; The years it will endure Know no bounds at all! |
Major Counsellor Takasue
Round Three
Left (Win)
春の夜のあくる霞の立田山これや神代の衣なるらん
| haru no yo no akuru kasumi no tatsutayama kore ya kamiyo no koromo naruran | At a spring night’s Dawn the haze around Tatsuta Mountain— Is this how in the age of gods Raiment might have been? |
Supernumerary Major Counsellor Moto’ie
5
Right
朝霞雲居をかけて見わたせばいたりいたらぬ山の端もなし
| asagasumi kumoi o kakete miwataseba itari itaranu yama no ha mo nashi | When, upon the morning haze Draping from the clouds, I turn my gaze, it Spread out, and fails to reach, Not a single mountain’s edge. |
Nobunari, Senior Third Rank
6
Both Left and Right are difficult to tell apart, yet the Left’s ‘clothing of the Age of Gods’ would seem to be superior.
