Tag Archives: katami

Teiji-in uta’awase 31

The following poems were not matched for Left nor Right.[i]

Left

あはずしていけらんことのかたければいまはわがみをありとやはおもふ

awazushite
ikeran koto no
katakereba
ima wa wa ga mi o
ari to ya wa omou
Not meeting you, and
Living on is
Impossible, so
Now, will I
Be around much longer, do you think?

62[i]

Right

あふことのかたのかたみはなみだがはこひしとおもへばまづさきにたつ

au koto no
kata no katami wa
namidagawa
koishi to omoeba
mazu saki ni tatsu
Meeting her was
Hard, so my only keepsake is
A river of tears;
When I recall my love for her,
That is first to flow.

63


[i] What Ise means here is that these poems had been prepared for the event, but were not formally recited and judged during the contest as it had to be truncated due to lack of time.

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 78

Left

月夜には花とぞ見ゆる竹のうへに降りしく雪を誰かはらはむ

tsukiyo ni wa
hana to zo miyuru
take no ue ni
furishiku yuki o
tare ka harawamu
On a moonlit night
As blossom it appears, so
From the bamboo
The fallen, scattered, snow—
Who would sweep it away?

151

Right

しら雪を分けてわかるるかたみには袖に涙のこほるなりけり

shirayuki o
wakete wakaruru
katami ni wa
sode ni namida no
kōru narikeri
That through the snow so white
I pressed on, forging,
A keepsake is
The tears upon my sleeves,
All frozen.

152

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 19

Left

春霞色の千ぐさにみえつるはたなびく山の花のかげかも

harugasumi
iro no chigusa ni
mieturu wa
tanabiku yama no
hana no kage kamo
The haze of spring has
Countless hues
It does appear;
Streaming across the mountains with
The blossoms’ glow.

Okikaze

37[1]

Right

日くるればかつちる花をあたらしみ春のかたみにつみぞいれつる

hi kurureba
katsu chiru hana o
atarashimi
haru no katami ni
tsumi zo iretsuru
When the sun goes down,
With the scattering blossoms
Feel renewed—
As a keepsake of spring
Have I plucked them up!

38


[1] Kokinshū II: 102/Shinsen man’yōshū 25/Kokin rokujō I: 620

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 10

Left

水のうへにあやおりみだる春雨や山のみどりをなべてそむらん

mizu no ue ni
aya orimidaru
harusame ya
yama no midori o
nabete somuran
Upon the waters
A confusing pattern paints
The rain of spring—
Will it now the mountains
All dye with green, I wonder?

19[1]

Right

色ふかくみる野辺だにも常ならば春は行くともかたみならまし

iro fukaku
miru nobe dani mo
tsune naraba
haru wa yuku tomo
katami naramashi
Deep the hues
On display within the meadows—if that
Should be the norm, then
Even when the spring is gone
A keepsake they would be.

20[2]


[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 1/Kokin rokujō I: 460/A minor variant of this poem also occurs in Shinkokinshū (I: 65), where it is attributed to Ise: 水のおもにあやおりみだる春雨や山のみどりをなべてそむらん mizu no omo ni / aya orimidaru / harusame ya / yama no midori o / nabete somuran ‘Upon the water’s surface / A confusing pattern paints / The rain of spring— / Will it now the mountains / All dye with green, I wonder?’

[2] Shinchokusenshū II: 89

SCSS II: 89

A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Empress Dowager during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.

色ふかくみる野辺だにも常ならば春は行くともかたみならまし

iro fukaku
miru nobe dani mo
tsune naraba
haru wa yuku tomo
katami naramashi
Deep the hues
On display within the meadows—if that
Should be the norm, then
Even when the spring is gone
A keepsake they would be.

Anonymous

SZS III: 136

Composed on the conception of changing into summer clothes, when a Hundred Poem Sequence was presented to His Majesty, Emperor Horikawa.
夏ごろもはなのたもとにぬぎかへて春のかたみもとまらざりけり

natsugoromo
hana no tamoto ni
nugikaete
haru no katami mo
tomarazarikeri
For summer garb
Blossom-laden sleeves
I remove, and with the change
Those keepsakes of springtime
Fail to linger on.

Former Middle Counsellor Masafusa

Love VIII: 21

Left (Win)
うらやまず臥す猪の床はやすくとも歎も形見寢ぬも契りを

urayamazu
fusu i no toko wa
yasukutomo
nageku mo katami
nenu mo chigiri o
I do not envy
The boar lounging in his bed:
He may be at ease, yet
Grief, too, is a memento;
Lying sleepless marks our bond…

Lord Sada’ie
1061

Right
いかにわれ臥す猪の床に身をかへて夢の程だに契結はん

ika ni ware
fusu i no toko ni
mi o kaete
yume no hodo dani
chigiri musuban
Somehow I
To a boar lounging in his bed
Would change myself, and
For just a brief dream’s length
Would form a bond with you…

Lord Takanobu
1062

The Gentlemen of the Right state: the initial line of the Left’s poem sounds poor. The sense of the ending, too, is difficult to grasp. The Gentlemen of the Left state: we wonder about the appropriateness of changing oneself into a bed.

In judgement:  both Left and Right refer to ‘a boar lounging in his bed’ (fusu i no toko), and it has been mentioned that the initial line of the Left’s poem sounds poor, and that its ending is difficult to grasp. There really are a number of unacceptable aspects to this poem, are there not, so I cannot add any further words to what has been said. The Right’s poem is not suggesting that one change oneself into a bed. It is saying that one should briefly become a boar, that one might dream briefly of love. How can one possibly see the dream of a boar lying asleep? It certainly seems inferior to ‘not envying a lounging boar’.