For the Day of the Rat celebrations at the palace in Eihō 4 [1084].
ねのびする野べのこまつをうつしうゑて年のをながく君ぞ引くべき
| ne no bi suru nobe no komatsu o utsushi’uete toshi no o nagaku kimi zo hikubeki | For the Day of the Rat Pine seedlings from the plains We transplant, that The long thread of their years Will draw our Lord with them! |
Supernumerary Middle Counsellor Michitoshi
Fresh Herbs
Left (Tie)
みわたせばひらのたかねにゆききえてわかなつむべくのはなりにけり
| miwataseba hira no takane ni yuki kiete wakana tsumubeku no wa narinikeri | When I gaze across To the high peak of Hira, The snow has vanished, and I might pick fresh herbs From the meadow it has become. |
Kanemori
11[i]
Right
はるの野のわかなはきみがためにこそおほくのとしをつまむとはおもへ
| haru no no no wakana wa kimi ga tame ni koso ōku no toshi o tsumamu to wa omoe | In the springtime meadows Fresh herbs, for my Lord’s Sake, indeed, In many a year Will I pick, I feel! |
12
The Right’s poem was inferior, but tied as it contained an element of Felicitation.
[i] This poem is included in Shoku gosenshū (I: 34), attributed to Kanemori, with the headnote ‘A poem from the Poetry Match held by the Reikeiden Junior Consort’.
A poem for the year in which the Great Thanksgiving Service was held.[i]
くろきもて君がつくれる宿なれば万代ふともふりずも有りなん
| kuroki mote kimi ga tsukureru yado nareba yorozuyo futomo furizu mo arinan | With barken logs For my Lord constructed is This hall, so Even when ten-thousand ages pass, Ageless shall it be![ii] |
677
[i] The ‘Great Thanksgiving Service’ (dajiōe 大嘗会) was a special version of the ‘First Fruits Service’ (niiamesai 新嘗祭) held in the first year after the accession of the new emperor to the throne (see McAuley (2020, 1111) for more details). The ceremony Sanetomo is referring to here was conducted in 1212, following the accession of Emperor Juntoku 順徳 (1197-1242; r. 1210-1221) (Juntoku formally took the throne on the 25th day of the Eleventh Month, Jōgen 承元 4 [12.12.1210], and was enthroned on the 28th day of the Twelfth Month of the same year [14.1.1211]. His Great Thanksgiving Service was held on the 13th day of the Eleventh Month, Kenryaku 建暦 2 [7.12.1212])
[ii] See: A poem by Her Majesty, the Senior Retired Empress. 波太須珠寸 尾花逆葺 黒木用 造有室者 迄万代 hadasusuki / obana sakafuki / kuroki mochi / tsukureru muro wa / yorozuyo made ni ‘Still a’bud / The silver grass, reverse-thatched, / Upon the barken logs: / Thus constructed is this hall, / To stand until ten thousand ages pass!’ Empress Genshō (Man’yōshū VIII: 1637)
Composed on the conception of felicitation for the poetry match held at the residence of His Excellency, Saneyuki.
みづがきのひさしかるべき君が代をあまてる神やそらにしるらん
| midugaki no Fisasikarubeki kimi ga yo wo ama teru kami ya sora ni siruran | As sacred precincts, Eternal shall be My Lord’s reign, as Shining in the Heavens the deity In the skies must know! |
Fujiwara no Tametada
