When former Emperor Reizei was Crown Prince and he instructed him to present a hundred poem sequence.
花の色にそめしたもとのをしければ衣かへうきけふにもあるかな
| Fana no iro ni somesi tamoto no wosikereba koromo kaFe’uki keFu ni mo aru kana | With the blossoms’ hues A’dyed, these sleeves Fill me with regret, so I am loath to change my garb, Indeed, today! |
Minamoto no Shigeyuki 源重之
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.
When returning from a pilgrimage to the twin shrines, there was a river called the Maekawa running before my beachside lodging.[i] Rain had been falling, so the waters were extremely high—I composed this when we crossed the river at sunset.
浜べなるまへの川せを行く水のはやくもけふのくれにけるかな
| hamabe naru mae no kawase o yuku mizu no hayaku mo kyō no kurenikeru kana | On the beachside The Mae’s river rapids’ Waters flow As fast as today Draws into evening. |
702
[i] This lodging was at what is now Sakawa 酒匂 within the bounds of Odawara 小田原 on the coast of Sagami Bay (Higuchi 2016, 181)
Original
ちらねどもかねてぞをしきもみぢばはけふをかぎりのいろとみつれば
| chiranedomo kanete zo oshiki momijiba wa kyō o kagiri no iro to mitsureba | They have yet to scatter, but Already, I regret The scarlet leaves, for Today is the utmost Extent of their hues… |
39
Left (Win)
あきふかきやまのもみぢもあるものをいまはのいろとおもはざらなむ
| aki fukaki yama no momiji mo aru mono o ima wa no iro to omowazaranamu | Though in the depths of autumn The mountains’ scarlet leaves Are fair, On their hues now I would not have you dwell… |
40
Right
かぎりなきいろはためしにをしけれどえだにもみぢはとまりげもなし
| kagiri naki iro wa tameshi ni oshikeredo eda ni momiji wa tomarige mo nashi | Limitlessly fair Hues have there been before, and Regrets, yet The scarlet leaves upon the boughs Show no signs of lingering… |
41
The scent of orange blossom incense on the breeze[i]
Left
ふくかぜに花たちばなぞにほふなるむかしのそでにあやまたれつつ
| fuku kaze ni hanatachibana zo niou naru mukashi no sode ni ayamataretsutsu | With the gusting breeze Orange blossom’s Fragrance comes— For those sleeves of bygone days Do I ever mistake it… |
13
Right
つねよりもことにもあるかなけふをまつはなたちばなのかぜのにほひは
| tsune yori mo koto ni mo aru kana kyō o matsu hanatachibana no kaze no nioi wa | More than ever So special it is! For today have I awaited, Orange blossom’s Scented breeze… |
14
In general, orange blossom is scented during early summer showers or has its fragrance carried on the evening breeze, so I wonder about the folk of bygone days: there’s nothing to compare it with, making the Left’s poem as hackneyed as one on Isonokami, yet there’s nothing special about it, like a weed growing under the eaves. The Right’s poem has ‘for today have I awaited’, which I think requires a reference to sweet-flags. My overall impression of both poems is that their conceptions are unclear.
[Judge’s poem missing]
[i] Rōkitsu bōfū 盧橘芳風
水の泡や種となるらむ浮草のまく人なみの上に生ふれば
| mizu no awa ya tane to naruramu ukikusa no maku hitonami no ue ni oureba | Might the foam upon the waters Be its seeds, perhaps? When the drifting waterweed Twines atop a wave Where it does grow… |
1[i]
山里は冬ぞさびしさまさりける人めも草もかれぬとおもへば
| yamazato wa fuyu zo sabishisa masarikeru hitome mo kusa mo karenu to omoeba | In a mountain retreat Winter’s loneliness Overwhelms As both folks’ gaze and the grasses, too Have withered away, I feel… |
2[ii]
今日人をこふる心はあすか川流るる水に劣らざりけり
| kyō hito o kouru kokoro wa asukagawa nagaruru mizu ni otorazarikeri | Today, for her The love within my heart, By the River Asuka’s Running waters Will not be outdone! |
[i] This poem is included in Shūishū (IX: 524) as an anonymous poem with the headnote ‘Produced but not matched in a poetry contest.’
[ii] This poem is included in Muneyuki-shū (15) with the headnote ‘For a poetry match’.
[iii] This poem is included in Muneyuki-shū (16) with the headnote ‘For a poetry match’.
