[One of] five poems composed when dropping anchor at Nagadojima in Aki province.
石走る瀧もとどろに鳴く蝉の声をし聞けば都し思ほゆ
| ipabasiru taki mo todoro ni naku semi no kowe o si kikeba miyako si omopoyu |
Running o’er the rocks Cataracts resound – When the singing cicadas Song I hear The capital comes to my thoughts. |
Ōishi no Minomaro
大石蓑麻呂
Left (Win).
都にて馴れにし物をひとり寢の片敷く袖は何かさびしき
| miyako nite narenishi mono o hitori ne no katashiku sode wa nani ka sabishiki |
In the capital I grew accustomed to it, but Sleeping alone With only a single sleeve spread out Is somehow sad… |
Lord Suetsune
891
Right.
妹だにも待つとし聞かば小余綾のいそぐ舟路も嬉しからまし
| imo dani mo matsu to shi kikaba koyurugi no isogu funaji mo ureshikaramashi |
That girl of yours Awaits you – were I to hear that, From Koyurugi’s Rocky shore in haste I’d go, even The sea-lanes filled with joy! |
The Provisional Master of the Empress Household Office.
892
The Right state: the Left’s poem lacks the essence of love on a journey, and even the sense of sorrow seems insufficient. The Left state: the Right’s poem has no particular faults.
In judgement: what do the Right mean by saying the Left ‘lack the essence of love on a journey’? And is it really right that ‘is somehow sad’ (nani ka sabishiki) is insufficient? The poem is composed to give an impression of someone fooling themselves. The Right’s ‘Koyurugi’ is certainly not an expression which I have not come across. However, the Left should win.
When a woman who had long been in the same house left, on hearing that her parents in the province of Mino were unwell.
今はとて立帰ゆくふるさとの不破の関路に都忘るな
| ima Fa tote taikaFeriyuku Furusato no Fuwa no sekidi ni miyako wasuruna |
“Now is the time,” you say Getting up to leave for Your home on The roads past the barrier of Fuwa, Don’t forget the capital! |
Fujiwara no Kiyotada (? – 958)
藤原清正
A poem composed Yamabe no Akahito when he climbed Kamioka.
みもろの 神なび山に 五百枝さし しじに生ひたる 栂の木の いや継ぎ継ぎに 玉葛 絶ゆることなく ありつつも やまず通はむ 明日香の 古き都は 山高み 川とほしろし 春の日は 山し見がほし 秋の夜は 川しさやけし 朝雲に 鶴は乱れ 夕霧に かはづは騒く 見るごとに 音のみし泣かゆ いにしへ思へば
| mimoro no kamunabi yama ni iope sasi sidi ni opitaru tuga no ki no iya tugitugi ni tamakadura tayuru koto naku aritutu mo yamazu kayopamu asuka no puruki miyako pa yama takami kawa toposirosi paru no pi pa yama si migaposi aki no yo pa kapa si sayakesi asagumo ni tadu pa midare yupugiri ni kawadu wa sawagu miru goto ni ne nomi si nakayu inisie omopeba |
On the sacred Mountain of the Gods With many branches Flourishing grow Hemlock trees, All and ever joined with Hydrangea Never-ending Always there Ever would I be In Asuka, The ancient capital, where Mountains mighty and Rivers grand do lie, and On spring days It is the mountains I would see; On autumn nights The river, so refreshing! Amongst the morning clouds The cranes do swoop and soar; The evening mists Are noisy with the frogs; The simple sights Call forth my tears While I think on times gone by… |
Yamabe no Akahito
山部赤人
Left.
我戀は布留野の道の小笹原いく秋風に露こぼれ來ぬ
| wa ga koi wa furuno no michi no osasawara iku akikaze ni tsuyu koborekinu |
My love is as The path to Furuno through The bamboo groves: With the coming of the autumn winds An endless fall of dewdrops. |
Lord Ari’ie.
779
Right.
戀そめし心はいつぞ石上宮この奧の夕暮の空
| koi someshi kokoro wa itsu zo isonokami miyako no oku no yūgure no sora |
When did this love First touch my soul? The ancient Capital’s heart, gazing At the evening skies. |
Nobusada.
780
The Right wonder with it sounds appropriate for the Left’s poem to end with kinu. The Left say that the Right’s ‘Capital’s heart’ (miyako no oku) is a vague expression.
In judgement: ‘The faults of both poems this round are so minor as not to be worth criticism. The Left’s ‘path to Furuno through the bamboo groves’ (furuno no michi no osasawara) followed with ‘the coming of the autumn winds an endless fall of dewdrops’ (iku aki kaze ni tsuyu koborekinu) sounds particularly fine [yoroshiku koso kikoe]. I wonder whether the Right’s ‘ancient’ (Isonokami) followed by ‘capital’s heart’ (miyako no oku) is really that vague? People who make such criticisms must not read poetry in the same way as this old fool. What a sad situation this is! However, the round is a good tie.’