黄葉乃 過麻久惜美 思共 遊今夜者 不開毛有奴香
もみちばの すぎまくをしみ おもふどち あそぶこよひは あけずもあらぬか
| momidiba no sugimaku wosimi omopudoti asobu koyopi pa akezu mo aranu ka | The autumn leaves’ Scattered passing, regretting With fine company Enjoying tonight— O, won’t dawn break not? |
The above is a poem by Ōtomo sukune Yakamochi of the Palace Guards.
□□さとにをしみぞとむるきくのはな霜にうつろふいろをみむとか
| …sato ni oshimi zo tomuru kiku no hana shimo ni utsurou iro o mimu to ka | Around my … estate Regrets linger for The chrysanthemum blooms, Fading beneath the frost Would I see their hues, I wonder? |
Masau[1]
19
ももしきにうつろふいろははつしものおきてかひあるこよひなりけり
| momoshiki ni utsurou iro wa hatsushimo no okite kai aru koyoi narikeri | Within the hundred-fold palace Fading hues with First frost’s Fall have some significance Tonight. |
Nakatsura[2]
20
[1] Possibly Taira no Masau 平將文
[2] Possibly Minamoto no Nakatsura 源仲連
Round Twenty-Two
Left
いなむしろしきつのうらのまつかぜはもりくるをりぞしぐれともしる
| inamushiro shikitsu no ura no matsukaze wa morikuru ori zo shigure to mo shiru | A straw mat spread At Shikitsu Bay, where when On the wind through the pines Come dripping droplets I know a shower is falling! |
Lord Kiyosuke
93
Right (Win)
おほぞらもみやこのかたをしのぶらしこよひはことにうちしぐれつつ
| ōzora mo miyako no kata o shinoburashi koyoi wa koto ni uchishiguretsutsu | The heavens, too, Of the capital Think fondly, it seems, For tonight is especially Filled with constant showers… |
Lord Sanetsuna
94
The poem of the Left appears to have a pleasant conception, blending showers with the wind through the pines and saying, ‘Come dripping droplets / I know a shower is falling!’, but it appears that the straw mat has only been spread because of the reference to Shikitsu [spreading] Bay. Considering the actual nature of a straw mat, however, I do not feel that the sense links with Shikitsu Bay, although it would be charming if sleeping on a journey in the shade of the willows beside a river, or even in a hut among the rice-fields. I do not feel it is appropriate to spread a straw mat beneath the pines at Sumiyoshi. In addition, it is only the straw mat here which has the conception of a journey—how should one feel about that? The configuration of the Right’s poem, beginning with ‘The heavens, too’ and following with ‘Of the capital / Think fondly, it seems’, I would say is a poem for a poetry match. While a counter-argument has been made about the Left’s poem, it’s really asking for the impossible, isn’t it. So, I impose victory for the Right.
Round Seventeen
Left (Win)
こよひしもあやにくにふるしぐれかなまばらにさせるしばのいほりに
| koyoi shimo ayaniku ni furu shigure kana mabara ni saseru shiba no iori ni | Of all nights How unfortunate it is that falls A shower! Upon my crudely erected Brushwood hut! |
Lord Kinshige
83
Right
くさまくらつゆけきたびのくれはとりあやにくにまたしぐれふるなり
| kusamakura tsuyukeki tabi no kurehatori akaniku ni mata shigure furu nari | My grassy pillow is Dew-drenched on my travels At Kurehatori—the weaver’s town! How warped that still A shower falls here! |
Enjitsu
84
Both Left and Right have their showers falling unfortunately, and the poem of the Right starts with ‘Kurehatori’ and continues with ‘warped’ which sounds charming, but to mention ‘dew-drenched travels’ and follow this with Kurehatori give a somewhat unexpected impression. The Left lacks anything as individual as Kurehatori’s warp, but ‘crudely erected’ is a direct description and, thus I could make the Left the winner.
Left
あまくだるかみもひさしくみやゐして月ものどかにすみよしのうら
| amakudaru kami mo hisashiku miya’ishite tsuki mo nodoka ni sumiyoshi no ura | Descending from Heaven, The Deity, too, eternally Manifests here, where The moon, too, is calm Above the bay of Sumiyoshi. |
Venerable Dharma Eye Shōken[1]
47
Right (Win)
かみよよりたぐひなしともすみよしのまつやこよひの月をみるらむ
| kamiyo yori taguinashi tomo sumiyoshi no matsu ya koyoi no tsuki o miruramu | Since the Age of Gods Is there nothing to compare with, At Sumiyoshi, The pines tonight with The moon filling my gaze? |
Novice Jakuchō[2]
48
The Left appears to have a truly charming conception and configuration, but beginning with ‘The Deity, too, eternally’ and then saying ‘The moon, too, is calm’ and repeating the same word is discordant. The Right, in addition to having no particular faults to mention, has an extremely pleasant-sounding configuration with ‘The pines tonight’. Thus, I make this a win for the Right.
[1] Hōgen kashōi Shōkaku 法眼和尚位静賢
[2] Shami Jakuchō沙弥寂超
Left (Win)
すみよしのまつにとはばやおいがよにこよひばかりの月はみきやと
| sumiyoshi no matsu ni towaba ya oi ga yo ni koyoi bakari no tsuki wa miki ya to | To Sumiyoshi’s Pines I would ask, Through all the ancient ages of your lives, Is tonight, simply, The finest moon you’ve seen? |
Kyō, in service to the Regent’s Household[i]
29
Right
すみよしのうらさえわたる月みればまつのこかげぞくもりなりける
| sumiyoshi no ura saewataru tsuki mireba matsu no kokage zo kumori narikeru | When across Sumiyoshi’s Bay, so chill crossing The moon I see, The shadows from the pines are The only clouds. |
Lord Minamoto no Suehiro
Junior Fifth Rank, Upper Grade
Without Office[ii]
30
While the Left’s poem has no remarkable elements, I must say that the configuration of ‘tonight, simply’ is pleasant. As for the Right’s poem, in addition to it being quite commonplace, when composing about the brightness of the moon, to say that something is the only cloud, if you say that ‘the shadows from the pines are / The only clouds’ it certainly sounds as if that’s what they are at the very least [and thus imply that Sumiyoshi is cloudy, when the topic is the brightness of the moon], so I make the Left the winner.
[i] Sessho no ie no Kyō摂政家卿
[ii] San’i jūgoijō Minamoto ason Suehiro 散位従五位上源朝臣季広
Round Seven
Left (Tie)
すみよしとあとたれそめしそのかみに月やかはらぬこよひなるらむ
| sumiyoshi to atotaresomeshi sono kami ni tsuki ya kawaranu koyoi naruramu | At Sumiyoshi Did He first manifest Surely when above, The moon differed not From this night… |
Kojijū, in service to the Empress Dowager[1]
13
Right
あきらけきかみのこころやたぐふらむほかよりもけにすめる月かな
| akirakeki kami no kokoro ya taguuramu hoka yori mo ke ni sumeru tsuki kana | So bright is The Deity’s heart that, surely Close by clings More than anywhere, indeed, The moon, so clear! |
Lord Fujiwara no Sanemori
Supernumerary Middle Captain in the Inner Palace Guards, Right Division
Exalted Senior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade[2]
14
The Left’s ‘Did He first manifest / Surely when above’ appears pleasant, but the diction of the latter part of the poem does not sound as if it does justice to the topic. The Right’s conception and diction sound as if they match the topic of the moon over the shrine, but I would have preferred a bit more technique than is in the line ‘More than anywhere, indeed’. Thus, as both contain faults the round ties once more.
[1] Taikōtaigōgū Kojijū太皇太后宮小侍従
[2] Shōyon’ige-gyō ukonoe gonchūjō Fujiwara ason Sanemori 正四位下行右近衛権中将藤原朝臣実守
