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Daikōtaigōgū no suke taira no tsunemori-ason ke uta’awase 15

Round Three

Left (Win)

たれよりも秋のあはれやまさるらん声にたてては鹿ぞ鳴くなる

tare yori mo
aki no aware ya
masaruran
koe ni tatete wa
shika zo nakunaru
Who might it be that
The sadness of autumn
Strikes more keenly?
Lifting up his voice,
It is the stag crying out!

Lord Yorisuke
29

Right

春夏はなにに心をなぐさめて秋のみ鹿の妻をこふらん

haru natsu wa
nani ni kokoro o
nagusamete
aki nomi shika no
tsuma o kouran
Spring and summer, too,
How do they the heart
Console?
‘Tis in autumn, alone, the stag
Seems to yearn for his mate.

Kenshō
30

The Left charmingly sounds as if the scene it describes is entirely natural. The Right isn’t bad, but, I seem to recall that there was a poem in—I think it was the Poetry Match at Lord Aritsuna’s Residence—that has the phrase ‘In autumn, above all, / The stag seems to yearn for his mate’, so it would have better to refrain from the final two lines. The Left should win.

Teiji’in tenjōbito uta’awase 10

Left (Tie)

あかなくにわかれにしかばたなばたのおりきしそではいまやぬるらむ

akanaku ni
wakarenishikaba
tanabta no
orikishi sode wa
ima ya nururamu
If, though unsatisfied
She did part, then
Would the Weaver Maid’s
Woven and then worn sleeves
Now be truly drenched?

19

Right

たなばたのあひけむそらもおもほえじわかれてのちの心まどひに

tanabata no
aikemu sora mo
omohoeji
wakarete nochi no
kokoro madoi ni
The Weaver Maid
It seems, met him in the skies, but
It does not feel so,
After parting
Lost at heart…

20

Teiji’in tenjōbito uta’awase 09

Left

あまのがはわたりてのちぞたなばたのふかきこころもおもひしるらむ

ama no gawa
watarite nochi zo
tanabata no
fukaki kokoro mo
omoishiruramu
After the River of Heaven
She has crossed,
The Weaver Maid
The depths of her heart’s
Feelings seems to know too well.

17

Right (Win)

あふよなきたなばたなればいまはとてかへるくもぢにまどはれしかな

au yo naki
tanabata nareba
ima wa tote
kaeru kumoji ni
madowareshi kana
Were there no night’s meeting
For the Weaver Maid, then
Now,
Upon her homeward path among the clouds
Would she have wandered, lost!

18

Daikōtaigōgū no suke taira no tsunemori-ason ke uta’awase 11

Round Eleven

Left (Win)

われこそは野べをば宿にうつしつれたがさそひこし虫の音ぞこは

ware koso wa
nobe oba yado ni
utsushitsure
ta ga sasoikoshi
mushi no nezoko wa
‘Twas I, indeed, who
The meadow to my dwelling
Shifted, but
Who is it has been invited here
By the insects’ songs?

Shun’e Tayū no kimi
21

Right

秋の野の千くさの花の色色を心ひとつにそめてこそみれ

aki no no no
chikusa no hana no
iroiro o
kokoro hitotsu ni
somete koso mire
The autumn meadows
Thousand grasses’ blooms
Have hues a’plenty, but
My heart, but one,
Has been dyed, you see!

Mikawa, Court Lady to His Excellency
22

The Left sounds as if the poet is being comforted by the insects which is at some variance from the essential meaning of the topic, and yet when I listen to it, it has an abundance of charm. The Right doesn’t differ, does it, from Kanemasa’s poem in the Poetry Match held at the Residence of the Minister of the Centre in Gen’ei 2 [1119]:

秋くれば千くさに匂ふ花の色の心ひとつにいかでしむらん

aki kureba
chikusa ni niou
hana no iro no
kokoro hitotsu ni
ikade shimuran
When the autumn comes
The thousand grasses glow
With flowers’ hues, but
Why, then, does my heart with but one
Seem to be stained?

Thus, the Left wins.

Daikōtaigōgū no suke taira no tsunemori-ason ke uta’awase 10

Round Ten

Left (Win)

色色に心ぞうつる秋ののは露もあだなる花しなければ

iroiro ni
kokoro zo utsuru
aki no no wa
tsuyu mo adanaru
hana shi nakereba
From one to another
My heart does shift, for
In the autumn meadows
Even a slightly unattractive
Bloom is there not a one…

Master Shinkaku
19

Right

花すすき風のけしきにしたがひて心おこらぬ人なまねきそ

hanasusuki
kaze no keshiki ni
shitagaite
kokoro okoranu
hito na maneki so
O, silver grass!
The feelings of the wind
Follow, and
Folk whose hearts will not be moved
Beckon not!

Lay Priest and Supernumerary Director of the Bureau of Horses, Right Division Sanekiyo
20

The Left, in terms of both conception and diction seems to be much better composed than the Right.

Daikōtaigōgū no suke taira no tsunemori-ason ke uta’awase 09

Round Nine

Left (Win)

女郎花いづれの秋かみえざりし野原の霧に立ちなかくれそ

ominaeshi
izure no aki ka
miezarishi
nohara no kiri ni
tachi na kakure so
O, maidenflower,
In which autumn is it, that
You have remained unseen?
In the mists upon the meadow
Stand and don’t hide yourself!

Kataoka Shrine Priest Kamo no Masahira
17

Right

心から夜のまの露にしほたれてあさじめりする女郎花かな

kokoro kara
yo no ma no tsuyu ni
shiotarete
asajimerisuru
ominaeshi kana
Her heart
Throughout the night with dewdrops
Drenches her,
Dripping with morning tears is
The maidenflower!

Fujiwara no Koreyuki, Supernumerary Junior Assistant Minster of the Sovereign’s Household
18

The Left is extremely absorbingly composed. As for the Right, though, I wonder about the use of being ‘drenched with dewdrops’—while it does put me in mind of fisherfolk at Ise, because it fails to indicate anything in the conception of the topic, it should lose, I think.

Daikōtaigōgū no suke taira no tsunemori-ason ke uta’awase 06

Round Six

Left (Tie)

むつごともいはまほしきを女郎花くちなし色のつらくもあるかな

mutsugoto mo
iwamahoshiki o
ominaeshi
kuchinashi iro no
tsuraku mo aru kana
A lover’s whisper is
What I wish you’d say to me,
O, maidenflower, but
Your silent yellow hue
Is cruel, indeed!

Minamoto no Moromitsu, Supernumerary Master of the Right Capital Office
11

Right

女郎花はなの心はしらねども名をきくにこそをらまほしけれ

ominaeshi
hana no kokoro wa
shiranedomo
na o kiku ni koso
oramahoshikere
O, maidenflower,
A flower’s heart,
I cannot know, yet
Simply on hearing your name,
How I wish to pick you!

Hōribe no Narinaka, Hiyoshi Shrine Priest
12

The Left is charming. However, would a flower which is not ‘silent yellow’ be saying something? It’s more common to say that flowers say nothing. Even so, this is not a profound fault, so it’s better to evaluate this poem as charming. The Right is elegantly composed—saying ‘simply on hearing your name’, just sounds skillful, so it’s impossible for me to state a winner or loser this round.

Daikōtaigōgū no suke taira no tsunemori-ason ke uta’awase 05

Round Five

Left

あきののは花の色色おほかれど萩のにしきにしく物ぞなき

aki no no wa
hana no iroiro
ōkaredo
hagi no nishiki ni
shiku mono zo naki
In the autumn meadows
The blooms have hues
Aplenty, yet
To the bush-clover’s brocade
There’s nothing to compare.

Lord Fujiwara no Yorisuke, Assistant Master of the Empress Dowager’s Household Office
9

Right (Win)

ほりはてぬ花こそあらめ秋ののに心をさへものこしつるかな

horihatenu
hana koso arame
aki no no ni
kokoro o sae mo
nokoshitsuru kana
As yet undug
Flowers, indeed, may there be
In the autumn meadows, for
Even my heart
Does linger there!

Lord Minamoto no Yorimasa, Former Director of the Bureau of Military Storehouses
10

The Left seems a bit cliched, yet it’s not bad. As for the Right, the image of having dug up all the flowers is unsatisfying, yet it’s not worth drawing attention to when the whole sentiment is so charming, and thus the Right should win.

Daikōtaigōgū no suke taira no tsunemori-ason ke uta’awase 04

Round Four

Left

行人を野べの尾花にまねかせて色めきたてる女郎花かな

yuku hito o
nobe no obana ni
manekasete
iromeki tateru
ominaeshi kana
Folk going by
The meadows the silver grass
Is made to beckon by
The seductively standing
Maidenflowers!

Lord Fujiwara no Suetsune, Former Junior Assistant Minister of Central Affairs
7

Right (Win)

吹くをりぞ過ぐる人をばまねきけるかぜや尾花の心なるらん

fuku ori zo
suguru hito oba
manekikeru
kaze ya obana no
kokoro naruran
When it blows,
Folk passing by
Are beckoned—
Does the wind the silver grasses’
Heart become?

Minor Controller of the Left Fujiwara no Tamechika
8

The Left appears to have nothing remarkable about it, while the Right’s initial three sections sound clumsy, yet appear to have some degree of conception, so I would say it wins.

Daikōtaigōgū no suke taira no tsunemori-ason ke uta’awase 03

Round Three

Left

女郎花露もわきてやおきつらんしほれ姿のあてにも有るかな

ominaeshi
tsuyu mo wakite ya
okitsuran
shioresugata no
ate ni mo aru kana
Upon the maidenflowers
Might the dew discriminate
In its falling?
For its dampened form
Is so fine!

Lord Minamoto no Michiyoshi, Minor Captain of the Inner Palace Guards, Right Division
5

Right (Win)

もも草の花もあだにやおもふらんひと色ならずうつす心を

momokusa no
hana mo ada ni ya
omouran
hito iro narazu
utsusu kokoro o
A multitude of grasses
Blooms: do they play me false
Should I think?
For not to one hue alone
Is my heart drawn…

Kojijū, Court Lady to Her Majesty
6

The Left, by saying ‘Might the dew discriminate / In its falling?’ seems to want to describe the way that the flowers’ colours become deeper or fainter. It is not appropriate, however, to use ‘dampened form’ in this way. Furthermore, saying something ‘seems fine’ lacks elegance, doesn’t it. The Right does not lack the conception of the topic, so it should win.