Tag Archives: kesa

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 98

Left

恋しきに侘びてたましひまどひなば空しきからの名にやのこらむ

koishiki ni
wabite tamashii
madoinaba
munashiki kara no
na ni ya nokoramu
If, for love of you and
Suffering, my soul
Should wander in confusion,
As an empty husk—
Would that be my reputation?

190[1]

Right

あかずして今朝のかへりぢおもほえず心をひとつおきてこしかば

akazushite
kesa no kaeriji
omohoezu
kokoro o hitotsu
okitekoshikaba
Still hungering for you
On my way home this morning,
I felt nothing
In my heart, but that one feeling
Placed there, so…

191


[1] Kokinshū XII: 571/Shinsen man’yōshū 219/Kokin rokujō IV: 1983

Love IV: 15

Left.
歸りつる今朝こそあらめいかにこは干る間も知らぬ袖の氣色ぞ

kaeritsuru
kesa koso arame
ika ni ko wa
hiru ma mo shiranu
sode no keshiki zo
Having come home
This morning, I am certain,
Why is it that
A daytime dry moment is a stranger
To my sleeves?

Lord Kanemune.
809

Right.
をのづから暮れ行く空を待つ程も頼むことゝは夢路成けり

onozukara
kureyuku sora o
matsu hodo mo
tanomu koto to wa
yumeji narikeri
While I
For darkening skies
Do wait,
The only thing in which I can place my trust
Is the path of dreams.

Jakuren.
810

The Right state: we find no particular faults to mention. The Left state: we wonder about the appropriateness of placing one’s trust in dreams during the daytime. Was he having a nap?

In judgement: the conception of the Left’s poem is well developed from beginning to end. The Right’s poem has an elegant configuration, but it is unacceptable to have the speaker napping. However, the Left’s ‘Why is it that’ (ika ni ko wa) is unsatisfactory style. I have to say the poems are equal and tie.