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Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Love V: 3

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Left.
いひわたる我年波を初瀬川映れる影もみつわさしつゝ

iiwataru
wa ga toshinami o
hatsusegawa
utsureru kage mo
mitsuwashitsutsu		 Many times I have proposed,
As the years come on me in waves
By the River Hatsuse,
But the reflection of my face
Shows signs of stiffness…

Kenshō.
845

Right.
姿こそ雪降りにたる身なれども袖は涙に色めきにけり

sugata koso
yuki furinitaru
mi naredomo
sode wa namida ni
iromekinikeri		 My very form,
Has snow drifts
Upon me, but
My sleeves with tears
Have been strongly stained…

Lord Tsune’ie.
846

Both Left and Right state together that they are unable to find any words of praise.

In judgement: ‘River Hatsuse’ (hatsusegawa) and ‘many times I have proposed’ (iiwataru) are the only expressions with some conception of love, but they seem somewhat lacking, do they not? A form with ‘snow drifts’ (yuki furinitaru), having ‘sleeves strongly stained with tears’ (sode no namida wa iromeku) has a profound conception of love.

Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Love IV: 25

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Left.
拂ひつる夜床は咎もなき物を來ぬ人ゆへにうとく成ぬる

haraitsuru
yodoko wa toga mo
naki mono o
konu hito yue ni
utoku narinuru		 I swept clean
My bed tonight, and faults
Has it none, but
Because he has failed to come
I hate it now!

Kenshō.
829

Right.
戀かぬる我をばをきて誰にさは枕かはして妹が寢ぬらん

koi kanuru
ware o ba okite
tare ni sa wa
makura kawashite
imo ga nenuran		 Unable to bear this love
Am I, abandoned;
With whom, I wonder,
Does she swap pillows,
When my darling sleeps now?

The Provisional Master of the Empress’ Household Office.
830

The Right state: we wonder about the use of ‘faults’ (toga). The Left state: this style of poem is commonplace.

In judgement: both Left and Right are the same level, and there is no difference between them.

Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Love IV: 22

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Left.
夕まぐれひとつ離れて飛鳥も寢に行く方はありけりと見ゆ

yūmagure
hitotsu hanarete
tobu tori mo
ne ni yuku kata wa
arikeri to miyu		 As the evening comes
As a single, distant,
Flying bird
Going to roost do
I seem to be…

Kenshō.
823

Right.
今は我待たじと思ふ心さへまたかき亂す蜘蛛の振舞

ima wa ware
mataji to omou
kokoro sae
mata kakimidasu
kumo no furumai		 Now, I
Will wait no more, I think, and
My very heart
Is thrown into confusion by
The spider spinning…

Jakuren.
824

Both Left and Right state: we find no faults to remark upon.

In judgement: the Left’s ‘flying bird going’ (tobu tori no yuku kata) and the Right’s ‘spider spinning’ (kumo no furumai) are both certainly not uncharming. I make this round a tie.

Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Love IV: 14

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Left.
巳に過ぎて午こそ物は悲しけれ戀や未の歩み成らむ

mi ni sugite
muma koso mono wa
kanashikere
koi ya hitsuji no
ayuminaramu		 More than I can bear, past the hour of the snake,
The hour of the horse is
All the more sad;
Love is like a sheep’s
Steps to the slaughter…

Kenshō.
807

Right (Win).
命さへ身の終りにや成ぬらん今日暮すべき心地こそせぬ

inochi sae
mi no owari ni ya
narinuran
kyō kurasubeki
kokochi koso senu		 Has my very life
At the hour of snake, its end
Reached?
That I should live throughout this day,
Is something I cannot bear…

Lord Takanobu.
808

The Right state: we cannot admire the Left’s poem. The Left state: in the Right’s poem ‘Has my very life at the hour of snake, its end’ (inochi sae mi no owari) sounds as if it is referring to two different matters.

In judgement: the Left’s poem simply says that after the hour of the snake comes the hour of the horse. It is unnecessary to say such things. The final line certainly seems to have nothing to do with anything. As for the fault of the Right’s poem, ‘life’ and ‘self’ have always had different meanings. Its first line, too, sounds elegant. Once more, the Right should win.

Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Love IV: 10

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Left.
朝戸出の妹が振りこす黒髪は見るよそ目さへ心亂れぬ

asa tode no
imo ga furikosu
kurokami wa
miru yosome sae
kokoro midarenu		 In the morning, opening the door
Draped with my love’s
Tresses of black:
The sight any
Heart would excite!

Kenshō.
799

Right.
立ちかへり惜しみし袖の移り香をよそにも今は思こそやれ

tachikaeri
oshimishi sode no
utsuriga o
yoso ni mo ima wa
omoi koso yare		 Reluctant
To leave, upon my sleeves
Her scent was left, and
Now, so far away,
It recalls her still…

Jakuren.
800

The Right state: the Left’s poem is pretentious. The Left state: the conception of morning fails to appear in the Right’s poem.

In judgement: Although the Left’s ‘tresses of black’ (kurokami) is used extremely frequently, the configuration of combining it with ‘my love, opening the door in the morning’ (asa tode no imo) whose ‘sight any heart would excite’ (miru yosome sae kokoro midare) is terrifying, is it not? The Right’s ‘upon my sleeves her scent was left’ (sode no utsuriga) does not sound objectionable. Although the conception of morning there is lacking, the Left simply has ‘tresses of black’ the ‘heart would excite’, which does not sound particularly in keeping with Love so, overall, the round should tie.

Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Love IV: 1

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Left (Win).
夜を深みしば鳴く鶏は我ごとく寢ても覺めても戀やすべなき

yo o fukami
shibanaku kake wa
ware gotoku
netemo sametemo
koi ya subenaki		 At the close of night
The cock crows from time to time,
Just as I
Both sleeping and waking,
Won’t a thought of love console me?

Kenshō.
781

Right.
逢ひ見ては憂き折節も鳥の音に思出づれば戀しかりける

aimite wa
uki orifushi mo
tori no ne ni
omoi’izureba
koishikarikeru		 A meeting always
Brings a painful parting, but
The cock’s crow
Brings back memories
Of the one I love…

Jakuren.
781

The Right state: we cannot comprehend a cock feeling thoughts of love when asleep. The Left state: the initial section of the Right’s poem is incomprehensible. The second section is antiquated.

In judgement: the Left’s ‘cock crows from time to time’ (shibanaku kake) and ‘Won’t a thought of love console me?’ (koi ya subenaki) are expressions the style of which I am unable to accept. Moreover, I don’t feel that cocks really have thoughts of love while they are asleep. But, I have wondered, when hearing them crow so vigorously at dawn whether, ‘just as I, both sleeping and waking, they are thinking of love’? The Right’s poem is somewhat naïve in style, and suggests that after having met, and parted from, a lover, subsequently hearing the cock crow brings back mixed feelings of love and sorrow, but the initial impression it gives is that because a meeting has brought about painful feelings, something has happened – but what this is is left unclear. The Left’s poem is certainly not out of keeping with one in this style. Thus, the Left should win.

Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Love III: 27

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Left.
わが中を布留の荒田とうち捨て誰にゆきあひの早稲作らん

wa ga naka o
furu no arada to
uchisutete
tare ni yukiai no
wase tukuran		 Our love
As the overgrown fields at Furu
Has been abandoned;
Who do you go to now,
To grow fresh seedlings?

Kenshō
773

Right (Win).
山深み苔の下もる谷水や年経る恋の涙なるらん

yama fukami
koke no shita moru
tanimizu ya
toshi heru koi no
namida naruran		 Deep within the mountains
From underneath the moss leaks
Water to the valleys;
Enduring through the years are my love’s
Tears…

Ietaka
774

Both teams say the poems have no fault.

In judgement: both poems seem equal in expression, but the quality of the lower section of the Left’s poem is extremely poor, so I make the Right’s ‘from underneath the moss leaks’ (koke no shita moru) the winner.

Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Love III: 19

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Left.
引かへて荒き氣色をみだらおのこまごまとこそ恨かけつれ

hikikaete
araki keshiki o
midarao no
komagoma to koso
uramikaketure		 You have changed, and
Dishevelled in appearance
As a piebald
Colt, you are not, yet
I hate you still!

Kenshō
757

Right (Win).
露しげき秋の野も狭の眞葛原いつまでよその物と聞きけん

tsuyu shigeki
aki no no mo se no
makuzubara
itsu made yoso no
mono to kikiken		 Dew drenched,
The autumn field is all
Covered with kuzu,
For how long will such distant
Whispers reach me?

Lord Takanobu
758

The Right state: the Left’s poem sounds pretentious. We are also unable to accept the use of ‘colt, you are not’ (komagoma). The Left state: the Right’s poem sounds archaic.

In judgement: ‘Dishevelled in appearance as a piebald’ (araki keshiki o midarao) is entirely unacceptable style. As for ‘covered with kuzu’, while ‘field is all’ (no mo se) is also undesirable, the final section is elegant. It should win over ‘piebald’.

Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Love III: 17

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Left.

海原の根柔ら小菅今更に誰に引かれて見えず成らん

unabara no
neyawara kosuge
imasara ni
tare ni hikarete
miezunaruran		 Throughout the seabed
Have you found spots to lay your head,
And now,
Who is it that draws you
That I see you no more?

Kenshō

753

Right (Win).

さしも我が絶ず忍びし中にしも渡してけりな久米の岩橋

sashimo wa ga
taezu shinobishi
naka ni shimo
watashitekeri na
kume no iwabashi		 And thus,
For so long have I hidden
Our love, and yet
You have not passed
The stone bridge of Kume…

Nobusada

754

Both Right and Left find no fault.

In judgement: It is certainly not the case that the Left’s ‘Have you found spots to lay your head’ (neyawara kosuge) is not an unpleasant expression. The Right’s ‘stone bridge of Kume’ (kume no iwabashi) is much better, and should win.