Bush Clover
Left (Tie)
あきはぎの花のさかりとさをしかのよぶかきこゑといづれまされり
| akihagi no hana no sakari to saoshika no yobukaki koe to izure masareri | The autumn bush clover’s Profusion of blossom, or A stag’s Bell deep in the night: Which was better? |
Koremori
5
Right
したばよりいろづくはぎといひながらことしはつゆも心おくらし
| shitaba yori irozuku hagi to iinagara kotoshi wa tsuyu mo kokoro okurashi | From its underleaves The bush clover takes on autumn hues, They say, but This year, the dew also Seems to fall on my heart. |
Lady Suke
6
This is a poem which was written on a poetry slip and attached to the diorama when it was presented to the young prince,[i] on the day following the match.
なでしこのはなさきそむる夏の野にけふひぐらしのこゑかきこゆる
| nadeshiko no hana sakisomuru natsu no no ni kyō higurashi no koe ka kikoyuru | The pinks In bloom have begun to be On the summer plains From today the sunset crickets’ Cries do I hear? |
7[ii]
In reply from His Highness, the prince.[iii]
ひぐらしのなくもことわりなでしこのかひあるなつの野べとみゆれば
| higurashi no naku mo kotowari nadeshiko no kai aru natsu no nobe to miyureba | That the sunset crickets Should cry makes sense, for The pinks bring A point to the summer Meadows, or so it seems to me… |
8
A further reply from within the Hall of Cool Purity.
みやぎのにけふさきそむるなでしこはならはぬいろに人やみるらむ
| miyagino ni kyō sakisomuru nadeshiko wa narawanu iro ni hito ya miruramu | On Miyagi Plain Today has begun to bloom A pink— Its extraordinary hue I wonder, will folk see? |
9[iv]
[i] A reference to Imperial Prince Norihira 憲平, the future Emperor Reizei 冷泉 (950-1011; r. 967-969).
[ii] Anonymous (Fubokushō IX: 3461); (Nakatsukasa-shū 120)
[iii] Given that Norihira would have been only six years old when this match was held, it is most likely that this reply was penned in his stead by his mother, Fujiwara no Yasuko (Anshi) 藤原安子 (927-964).
[iv] This poem is included in Fubokushō (IX: 3469) attributed to the ‘Seiryōden Junior Consort’ (Seiryōden nyōgo 清涼殿女御), with the headnote ‘Poetry Match held by Junior Consort Yoshiko (Hōshi) in the Fifth Month, Tenryaku 10’. It is now generally believed that the Fubokushō attribution is erroneous, and this was, instead, composed by Emperor Murakami.
Warblers
Left (Win)
うぐひすのこゑなかりせばゆききえぬやまざといかではるをしらまし
| uguisu no koe nakariseba yuki kienu yamazato to ikade haru o shiramashi | Should the warbler’s Song be made to cease, then though The snow has vanished from This mountain retreat, how Would one know ‘tis spring? |
Nakatsukasa
7[i]
Right
かがみやまはるくるかげやみえつらむたにのうぐひすいでてなくなり
| kagamiyama haru kuru kage ya mietsuramu tani no uguisu idete naku nari | Upon Mirror Mountain Signs of coming spring Have appeared, it seems, for In the valleys warblers Have emerged to sing. |
8
[i] This poem is included in Shūishū (I: 10), attributed to Middle Counsellor [Fujiwara no] Asatada, with the headnote ‘From a palace poetry match on the 29th day of the Third Month, Tenryaku 10’ [12.5.956]. It is also included in Shūishō (I: 6) as an anonymous poem in some texts, or attributed to Nakatsukasa in others, with the headnote ‘When a poetry match was held at the palace on the 29th day of the Third Month, Tenryaku 10’.
Round Fourteen
Left (Tie)
さよふけてねざめざりせばほととぎす人づてにこそきくべかりけれ
| sayo fukete nezamezariseba hototogisu hitozute ni koso kikubekarikere | When brief night broke, and I failed to awaken to The cuckoo, Via a message, indeed, Was I able to hear it! |
Tadami
27
Right
人ならばまててふべきをほととぎすふたこゑとだにきかですぎぬる
| hito naraba mate chōbeki o hototogisu futa koe to dani kikade suginuru | Were you a man, ‘Wait!’ is what I’d tell you, O, cuckoo! For without even a second call For me to hear have you passed by. |
Motozane
28
The Left’s poem, where the poet seems to awaken without a thought of hearing the cuckoo, is certainly somewhat odd. Nevertheless, the poem overall is charming. As for the Right’s poem, well, what is the poet trying to say by asking the cuckoo to wait when he will hear its first call, if it were a man? Is the conception, perhaps, for the cuckoo to wait a while? There’s not enough diction for the conception here, I feel. Both of these are about the same standard, so I make this a tie.
Round Eleven
The Beginning of Summer[1]
Left (Tie)
なくこゑはまだきかねどもせみのはのうすきころもをたちぞきてける
| naku koe wa mada kikanedomo semi no ha no usuki koromo wa tachi zo kitekeru | Their buzzing song Is not yet to be heard, yet Cicada wing Light clothing Has been cut to wear today. |
Yoshinobu
22[2]
Right
夏ごろもたちいづるけふは花ざくらかたみのいろもぬぎやかふらん
| natsugoromo tachi’izuru kyō wa hanazakura katami no iro mo nugi ya kauran | Summer garb: Cut out from today, departing The blossom of the cherries’ Hues—a keepsake—, too, Will I put off and change? |
Nakatsukasa
23
The Left’s poem gives the impression of the beginning of summer, but the Right’s ‘Sewn from today, departing’ suggests that it is the year that is doing so. In addition, it seems to use ‘put off and change’, and so sounds as if time has passed more swiftly than in the Left’s poem. Thus, because the poems’ quality is about the same, I make this a tie.
[1] Shuka 首夏. This Sinitic expression was also used to refer to the the Fourth Month.
To say that from now on they should rest and relax in the pines’ shade, when he visited someone’s house.
かげにとて立ちかくるれば唐衣ぬれぬ雨ふるまつの声かな
| kage ni tote tachikakurureba karakoromo nurenu ame furu matsu no koe kana | In the shade, I say, To stand and hide myself away, for Upon my Cathay robe Will fall soughing rain— The sound of pines! |
Tsurayuki
When he had finally, after great effort, received a letter from a woman who would give him no reply.
跡みれば心なぐさのはまちどり今は声こそきかまほしけれ
| ato mireba kokoro nagusa no Famatidori ima Fa kowe koso kikamaFosikere | Seeing these tracks Does ease my heart Plover on the beach, but Now, it is your voice, indeed, That I long to hear more!’ |
Anonymous
