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
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
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
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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
Her Majesty, the Empress, had such a limitlessly refined nature, that there was no one in the world who was her equal. Ise’s chamber had a most beautiful garden planted before them and, in autumn, when she had returned to her dwelling for a while, Her Majesty wrote, ‘Why have you not returned yet? It seems that you will be so late in coming that the pine crickets before your chamber will have ceased to sing and the flowers will, no doubt, be past their best.’ Ise replied:
松虫も鳴きやみぬなる秋の野に誰よぶとてか花見にも來む
| matu musi mo nakiyaminu naru aki no no ni tare yobu tote ka Fanami ni mo komu |
The pining crickets Have ceased to sing In the autumn fields; Who calls from there, I wonder, Will she come to view the flowers… |
When he was considerably over eighty, he was commanded to compose a hundred poem sequence, so he composed this and presented it.
しめをきていまやとおもふ秋山のよもぎがもとにまつむしのなく
| shime okite ima ya to omou aki yama no yomogi ga moto ni matsumushi no naku | ‘Tis there I’ll rest– And wonder if now is the time– Upon a mount in autumn Beneath a mugwort patch Pining, the crickets cry. |
Master of the Dowager Empress’ Household Office Toshinari
藤原俊成
