Tag Archives: meetings

Teiji-in uta’awase 30

Left (Tie)

あふことのきみにたえにしわがみよりいくらのなみだながれいでぬらむ

au koto no
kimi ni taenishi
wa ga mi yori
ikura no namida
nagare’idenuramu
My meetings with
You, my lord, have ceased, and
From my flesh
What a torrent of tears
Flow out!

Ise

59

Right

きみこひのあまりにしかばしのぶれどひとのしるらんことのわびしさ

kimi koi no
amari nishikaba
shinoburedo
hito no shiruran
koto no wabishiki
Loving you
Beyond all measure,
I kept it secret, yet
That folk seem to know
Is a cause of heartache.

Tsurayuki
60

On hearing His Highness, the Prince of the Right remark in irritation that the Left’s poem had appealed to His Majesty’s heart, His Majesty composed

ゆきかへりちどりなくなるはまゆふのこころへだてておもふものかは

yukikaeri
chidori naku naru
hamayū no
kokoro hedatete
omou mono ka wa
Going back and forth
Plovers cry from
The beach among the spider lilies
Do their hearts distinguish
Do you think?

His Majesty
61

Horikawa-in Enjo Awase 15

人しれぬ袖ぞ露けき逢ふことはかれのみまさる山のした草

hito shirenu
sode zo tsuyukeki
au koto wa
kare nomi masaru
yama no shitagusa
Unknown to all
My sleeves are drenched with dew;
For our meetings
Excel only in being withered
As the scrub grass on the mountainside.

[Nakako,] The Suō Handmaid
29

In reply.

おく山の下かげ草はかれやする軒ばにのみはおのれなりつつ

oku yama no
shitakagegusa wa
kare ya suru
nokiba ni nomi wa
onore naritsutsu
Deep within the mountains, have
The grasses growing in the trees’ dark shade
Really withered away?
Simply beneath your eaves,
Is where I ever am…

The Consultant Middle Captain
30

A picture of the eaves of a traditional Japanese house.
Image by joyfultta from Pixabay

Love VII: 16

Left.
つれなしと人をぞさらに思ひ河逢ふ瀬を知らぬ身を恨ても

tsurenashi to
hito o zo sara ni
omoigawa
ause o shiranu
mi o uramitemo
How cruel
She is, I ever feel,
My thoughts a river;
No rushed meetings between us –
I hate myself for that, and yet…

Lord Kanemune
991

Right (Win).
遥なる程とぞ聞し衣川かた敷く袖の名こそ有けれ

harukanaru
hodo to zo kikishi
koromogawa
katashiku sode no
na koso arikere
Far, far away
Lies, I have heard,
The River Robe:
For my single spread sleeve
How apt that name is!

Lord Takanobu
992

The Right state: we find the Left’s poem unconvincing. The Left state: the Right’s poem lacks any faults.

In judgement: in the Left’s poem, ‘my thoughts a river’ (omoigawa) is certainly not unconvincing. The latter section of the Right’s poem sounds fine. It should win.