Tag Archives: matsumushi

Yasuakira shinnō tachihaki no jin uta'awase

Yasuakira shinnō tachihaki no jin uta’awase 04

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Pine crickets

Left (Win)

いまこむとたれたのめけむあきのよをあかしかねつつまつむしのなく

ima komu to
tare tanomekemu
aki no yo o
akashikanetsutsu
matsumushi no naku		‘I’m coming now’—
Who might I trust to say that,
On an autumn night
Ever unable to greet the dawn
The pine crickets cry.

Tachibana no Yasūdoki
7

Right

あききてはほどへにけるをあやしくもわがまつむしのおとづれもせぬ

aki kite wa
hodo henikeru o
ayashiku mo
wa ga matsumushi no
otozure mo senu		Autumn comes, and
Time has passed, but
How strange it is
I pine for the crickets
That never come to call.

Minamoto no Satake
8

Teishi-in ominaeshi awase

Teishi-in ominaeshi uta’awase 18

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をみなへしあきののをわけをりつればやどあれぬとてまつむしぞなく

ominaeshi
aki no no o wake
oritsureba
yado arenu tote
matsumushi zo naku		O, maidenflower,
Through the autumn meadows did I press
To pick you, so
My home has gone to ruin where
The pine crickets sing.

Yasuki
35

むしのねになきまどはせるをみなへしをればたもとにきりのこりゐる

mushi no ne ni
naki madowaseru
ominaeshi
oreba tamoto ni
kiri nokori’iru		The insects’ cries
With her sobs are confused, that
Maidenflower,
I pluck her, and within my sleeve
Traces of the mists do linger.

Amane
36

Teishi-in ominaeshi awase

Teishi-in ominaeshi uta’awase 06

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Left

かくをしむあきにしあはばをみなへしうつろふことはわすれやはせぬ

kaku oshimu
aki ni shi awaba
ominaeshi
utsurou koto wa
wasure ya wa senu		If feeling such regret
I should encounter autumn, then
O, maidenflower,
To fade
You should not forget, should you?

11

Right

ながきよにたれたのめけむをみなへしひとまつむしのえだごとになく

nagaki yo ni
tare tanomekemu
ominaeshi
hito matsumushi no
edagoto ni naku		On a long, long night
Who is it has made you believe,
O, maidenflower?
Pining for him while crickets
Cry from your every branch…

12[1]

[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 536; Fubokushō 4231

Koresada shinnō-ke uta'awase

Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase 33

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あきくともみどりのかへであらませばちらずぞあらましもみぢならねど

aki ku tomo
midori no kaede
aramaseba
chirazu zo aramashi
momiji naranedo		Autumn comes, yet
The maples in green
Do display themselves, so
I would you not scatter,
For your leaves have not turned scarlet…

65

しづはたにこひはすれどもこぬ人をまつむしのねぞあきはかなしき

shizu wa ta ni
koi wa suredomo
konu hito o
matsumushi no ne zo
aki wa kanashiki		Peasants in the rice-fields
Do fall in love, yet
For a man who fails to come, I
Pine crickets cries make
Autumn all the more sad.

66

Fubokushō

Fubokushō XI: 4232

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A poem from the Poetry Contest held in the first year of Shōtai by former emperor Uda.[1]

wominaFesi
woritoru goto ni
matumusi no
yado Fa karenu to
naku ga kanashiki		O, maidenflowers,
Each and every time I pick you,
The pine crickets, that
Their lodging should not fade away
Do cry, and that is sad, indeed.

Anonymous

[1]The headnote is mistaken, as this poem actually comes from another maidenflower contest held by Uda, the year of which is unknown.

San'I minamoto no hirotsune ason uta'awase

San’i minamoto no hirotsune ason uta’awase 10

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Round Ten:  Insects’ songs from behind thickets of grass

Left

たづねくるかひもあるかな草村に我まつむしの声ぞきこゆる

tazunekuru
kai mo aru kana
kusamura ni
ware matsumushi no
koe zo kikoyuru		Paying a visit here—
Has some point, I think!
Among the grassy thickets
I pine crickets’
Song in my ears.

A Court Lady

19

Right

松虫のこゑもたえせぬ草むらはたづねぬ人も尋ねきにけり

matsumushi no
koe mo taesenu
kusamura wa
tazunenu hito mo
tazunekinikeri		Pine crickets’
Songs I would have ever carry on
Among the grassy thickets
The one who has not called
Has finally paid a visit!

A Court Lady

20

Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Love VIII: 30

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Left (Tie)
忘れじの契うらむる故郷の心も知らぬ松蟲の聲

wasureji no
chigiri uramuru
furusato no
kokoro mo shiranu
matsumushi no koe		 Never will I forget you –
Despairing of that vow
At home
All unknowing of my feelings
Comes a bell cricket’s cry…

Lord Sada’ie
1079

Right
來ぬ人の秋のけしきやふけぬらん恨みによはる松蟲の聲

konu hito no
aki no keshiki ya
fukenuran
urami ni yowaru
matsumushi no koe		 He comes not, so
Is all seeming done, as autumn
Does wear on?
How I envy the weakening
Bell cricket’s song…

Jakuren
1080

Left and Right: both poems are equally admirable.

In judgement: the Left’s poem, with ‘all unknowing of my feelings comes a bell cricket’s cry’ (kokoro mo shiranu matsumushi no koe) is fine. The Right, with ‘is all seeming done, as autumn does wear on’ (aki no keshiki ya fukenuran), is too, so both Left and Right do truly move the heart, do they not? I have no way of distinguishing superior from inferior here, so thus must make the round a tie.

Poetry Competition in Six Hundred Rounds

Love VIII: 29

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Left (Win)
つらからん中こそあらめ萩原やした松蟲の聲をだに問へ

tsurakaran
naka koso arame
hagiwara ya
shita matsumushi no
koe o dani toe		 Cold will
Our bond, no doubt, become, but
Among the bush clover
Eagerly awaiting, the bell-cricket’s
Call is all that I would ask…

A Servant Girl
1077

Right
夜もすがら人まつ蟲の鳴く聲を我身の上によそへてぞ聞く

yo mo sugara
hito matsu mushi no
naku koe o
wa ga mi no ue ni
yosoete zo kiku		 All through the night
A cricket pines –
The song it sings
Upon myself does
Seem to dwell – or so it sounds…

Lord Tsune’ie
1078

The Gentlemen of the Right state: we have no reason to mention any faults in the Left’s poem. The Gentlemen of the Left state: the Right’s poem is pedestrian.

In judgement: both poems refer to ‘bell crickets’, with the Left saying, ‘our bond, no doubt, become’ (naka koso arame), then ‘call is all that I would ask’ (koe o dani toe), and ‘eagerly awaiting, the bell cricket’ (shita matsumushi) – all of these are extremely difficult to grasp, however, the Right’s poem is pointlessly pedestrian. So, the Left wins.

Teika-kyō Hyakuban Jika Awase

Love 62

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Left (Tie).

忘れじのちぎりうらむる故郷の心もしらぬ松蟲の聲

wasureji no
chigiri uramuru
furusato no
kokoro mo shiranu
matsumushi no koe		 Never to forget,
He vowed – how hateful!
Around my aged home,
All unknowing of my heart,
The pine crickets sing their song…

123

Right (Tie).

こぬ人をまつほの浦の夕なぎに燒くやもしほの身もこがれつゝ

konu hito o
matsuo no ura no
yūnagi ni
yaku ya moshio no
mi mo kogaretsutsu		 For one who fails to come,
I pine; within the bay of Matsuo
In the evening calm,
Burns seaweed salt,
As does my breast with longing.

124