Tag Archives: mind

Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 13

Round Thirteen

Left

すみよしのあまくだりますまつのうへにそらよりかくる月のしらゆふ

sumiyoshi no
amakudarimasu
matsu no ue ni
sora yori kakuru
tsuki no shirayū
At Sumiyoshi
Did the Deity descend from Heaven
To the pines—upon them
From the skies are hung
The moon’s sacred streamers.

Kamo no Agatanushi Masahira
Kataoka Junior Assistant Priest[1]
25

Right (Win)

しめのうちにしらゆふかけぬひまぞなき月もたむけのこころありけり

shime no uchi ni
shirayū kakenu
hima zo naki
tsuki mo tamuke no
kokoro arikeri
Within the holy precints
Sacred streamers fail to hang
In not a single spot—
The moon to make an offering
Is of a mind.

Lord Fujiwara no Chikashige
Junior Fifth Rank, Upper Grade,
Without Office[2]
26

While the poem of the Left’s ‘From the skies are hung’ and so forth seems charming, I do wonder about the idea of the ‘Deity descending from Heaven / To the pines’—it’s vague. The poem of the Right’s conception and configuration of ‘The moon to make an offering’ appears pleasant, and thus it wins.


[1] Kataoka negi jūyon’ijō Kamo agatanushi Masahira 片岡禰宜従四位上賀茂県主政平

[2] San’i jūgoijō Fujiwara ason Chikashige 散位従五位上藤原朝臣親重

Kyōgoku no miyasudokoro uta’awase 09

Original

はるごとにきみしかよはばかすがののやちよのまつもかれじとぞおもふ

haru goto ni
kimi shi kayowaba
kasugano no
yachiyo no matsu mo
kareji to zo omou
Should every single spring
My Lady visit here,
On Kasuga Plain
The pines, eight thousand ages old
Would never wither, I feel!

25

Left (Win)

かすがのにはるはかよはむわがためにまつこころありてよはひますなり

kasugano ni
haru wa kayowamu
wa ga tame ni
matsu kokoro arite
yowai masu nari
To Kasuga Plain
Where spring is wont to come
For my sake, then
Should the pines be a mind to tarry with me
How exceeding old would I become.

26

Right

かすがののまつしかれずはみたらしのみづもながれてたえじとぞおもふ

kasugano no
matsu shi karezu wa
mitarashi no
mizu mo nagarete
taeji to zo omou
On Kasuga Plain
The pines will wither never, for
The Mitarashi’s
Water’s flow, too,
Will never cease, I feel.

27