Autumn Moon
Left (Tie)
しらつゆのそこにひかりはやどれどもとまらでぞゆくあきのつきかげ
| shiratsuyu no soko ni hikari wa yadoredomo tomarade zo yuku aki no tsukikage | At silver dewdrops Base its light Does lodge, yet Never stays, but departs— The autumn moonlight. |
Fujiwara no Kakena
9
Right
あきのつきこのしたなべてあかければこのもかのものかげだにもせず
| aki no tsuki ko no shita nabete akakereba kono mo kano mo no kage dani mo sezu | When the autumn moon Aligns beneath the trees So bright, Each and every one Casts no shadow at all. |
Miyaji no Sukeon
10
When His Majesty was recently retired, on a night when the moon was shining brightly, he sent this to him via a court lady.
すみのぼる月のひかりにさそはれてくものうへまでゆくこころかな
| suminoboru tsuki no hikari ni sasowarete kumo no ue made yuku kokoro kana | Clearly climbing The light of the moon Invites, Above the clouds, To go my heart! |
The Chancellor
Left (Win)
たまがきにひかりさしそふゆふづくよかみにたむくるかげにやあるらむ
| tamagaki ni hikari sashisouru yūzukuyo kami ni tamukuru kage ni ya aruramu | The jewelled fences, Trailed with light, On an early moonlit evening: Is this to the Deity an offering Of light, I wonder? |
Lord Fujiwara no Kunisuke
Supernumerary Senior Secretary of the Empress Household Office
Exalted Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade
39
Right
くもはらふあらしのみがく月にまたひかりをそふるあけのたまがき
| kumo harau arashi no migaku tsuki ni mata hikari o souru ake no tamagaki | Clouds swept away By the storm wind, polish The moon, so once more Light trails across The vermillion jewelled fences. |
Horikawa, from the Residence of the Former Chancellor[1]
40
The Left’s poem is extremely charming with the solicitousness it displays in the sequence ‘On an early moonlit evening: / Is this to the Deity an offering’, but it is truly regrettable that it does not use the full moon or that at the dawn. The Right’s poem focusses on ‘light trailing’ and, as I get the impression that I have heard this a lot recently, the earlier instances have said all there is to say here, so once more the overall style of the Left is superior.
[1] Zen-dajō daijin no ie Horikawa 前太政大臣家堀川
Left
さえわたる月のひかりやすみよしのまつのはしのぎふれるしらゆき
| saewataru tsuki no hikari ya sumiyoshi no matsu no ha shinogi fureru shirayuki | So chill The moon’s light, that Sumiyoshi’s Pines’ needles seem weighed down With fallen snow. |
Grand Dharma Master Yūsei[i]
37
Right (Win)
月のすむなにはのうらのけしきにはかみのこころもたえずやあるらむ
| tsuki no sumu naniwa no ura no keshiki ni wa kami no kokoro mo taezu ya aruramu | The moon rising above The bay of Naniwa— At the scene Even the Deity’s heart Must be unable to endure… |
Lord Fujiwara no Norimori
Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade
Without Office[ii]
38
The poem of the Left appears pleasant in configuration and sequencing, but it lacks any profundity of thought and simply seems to flow easily. The Right’s poem appears to have some conception, managing to follow ‘Having a sensitive heart: / To such a one would I show / The land of Tsu’[1] and also seems to sound as if it conveys the sense of the old poem about a man finding the bay of Naniwa unbearably fine[2]. With that being said, expanding this to the Deity’s heart as well is charming. Thus, the Right wins.
[1] Sent to someone’s residence, when he was in Tsu province around the beginning of the year. こころあらむ人にみせばやつのくにのなにはわたりのはるのけしきを kokoro aramu / hito ni miseba ya / tsu no kuni no / naniwa watari no / haru no keshiki o ‘I would to a sensitive / Soul show / The land of Tsu / Around Naniwa— / Truly, the scenery of spring!’ Dharma Master Dōin (GSIS I: 43)
[2] Composed as a spring poem, when he presented a hundred-poem sequence. 心なきわが身なれども津の国の難波の春にたへずも有るかな kokoro naki / wagami naredomo / tsu no kuni no / naniwa no haru ni / taezu mo aru kana ‘Insensitive / Is my sorry self, yet / In the land of Tsu / Naniwa in springtime is / Unbearably fine!’ Fujiwara no Suemichi (SZS II: 106/Kyūan hyakushu 413)
[i] Daihōshi Yūsei大法師祐盛
[ii] San’i jūgoige Fujiwara ason Norimori 散位従五位下藤原朝臣憲盛
Left (Tie)
てる月もおのがひかりやたむくらむしらゆふかくるすみよしのまつ
| teru tsuki mo ono ga hikari ya tamukuramu shirayū kakuru sumiyoshi no matsu | Does the shining moon Of his own light Make an offering? Sacred white streamers hung From the pines of Sumiyoshi. |
Lord Fujiwara no Koretsuna
Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade
Without Office[i]
35
Right
かたそぎのゆきあはぬまよりもる月はしもにしもをやおきかさぬらむ
| katasogi no yukiawanu ma yori moru tsuki wa shimo ni shimo o ya okikasanuramu | The ridge poles Fail to meet and from the gaps Drips moonlight— Is it frost atop of frost A’falling? |
Lord Fujiwara no Suesada
Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade
Without Office[ii]
36
The Left appears elegant, but I do not feel that ‘his own’ is particularly appropriate here. The Right’s configuration of ‘Is it frost atop of frost’ seems charming. However, there is also the point that I sincerely feel that there is no good reason in the current composition to shoehorn in ‘The ridge poles / Fail to meet and from the gaps’, and thus these tie again.
[i] San’i jūgoige Fujiwara ason Koretsuna散位従五位下藤原朝臣伊綱
[ii] San’i jūgoige Fujiwara ason Suesada 散位従五位下藤原朝臣季定
