Composed and sent to a certain person’s residence to say how transient this mundane world is.
世中にかしこきこともはかなきも思ひしとけば夢にぞ有りける
| yo no naka ni kashikoki koto mo hakanaki mo omoishi tokeba yume ni zo arikeru | In this mundane world The glories and Trivialities both, When you think them over, Are but dreams… |
715
On impermanence.
かくてのみありてはかなき世中をうしとやいはんあはれとやいはん
| kakute nomi arite hakanaki yo no naka o ushi to ya iwan aware to ya iwan | So, simply Being here, briefly In this mundane world— Should I call cruel, or That ‘tis full of sorrow?[i] |
711
[i] See: Topic unknown. よのなかにいづらわが身のありてなしあはれとやいはむあなうとやいはむ yo no naka ni / izura wa ga mi no / arite nashi / aware to ya iwamu / ana uto ya iwamu ‘Within this mundane world / Where should my sorry self / Be, or not? / Should I cry out in sorrow, or / At its cruelties?’ Anonymous (Kokinshū XVIII: 943)
Composed on the conception of the essential nature of things.
神といひ仏といふも世中の人の心のほかのものかは
| kami to ii hotoke to iu mo yo no naka no hito no kokoro no hoka no mono ka wa | What we call God, and What we call Buddha, too— In this mundane world ‘Tis in the human heart that They are and nowhere else, aren’t they? |
654
A poem on how Mahāyāna[i] develops the viewpoint of the Middle Way.[ii]
世の中はかがみにうつるかげにあれやあるにもあらずなきにもあらず
| yo no naka wa kagami ni utsuru kage ni are ya aru ni mo arazu naki ni mo arazu | Is this mundane world A mirror’s reflected Shape, perhaps? Not existing, and Not not existing… |
653
[i] Mahāyāna (the ‘Great Vehicle’) (Jp.: daijō 大乗) is the largest major tradition of Buddhism.
[ii] The ‘Middle Way’ (Madhyamāpratipada) (Jp.: chūdō 中道) refers to a spiritual practice of Buddhism that steers clear of both extreme asceticism and sensual indulgence.
Boats
世中はつねにもがもななぎさこぐあまの小船のつなでかなしも
| yo no naka wa tsune ni mogamo na nagisa kogu ama no obune no tsunade kanashi mo | This mundane world, I would be ever so! Rowing through the calm, A fisher’s tiny boat’s Hawsers move me most! [i] |
572
[i] See: A poem from Michinoku. みちのくはいづくはあれどしほがまの浦こぐ舟のつなでかなしも michinoku wa / izuku wa aredo / shiogama no / ura kogu fune no / tsunade kanashi mo ‘O, Michinoku, / This may be true elsewhere, too, but / At Shiogama / Bay, a rowing boat’s / Hawsers move me most!’ Anonymous (Kokinshū XX: 1088)
Sand Pear Blossom
よの中をうしといひてもいづくにかみをばかくさむ山なしの花
| yo no naka o ushi to iitemo izuku ni ka mi oba kakusamu yamanashi no hana | This mundane world I hate, I say, yet Somewhere I would hide myself away among The sand-pear blossoms. |
15[i]
[i] This poem is included in Kokin rokujō (4268), with the headnote ‘Sand Pear’, and also in Mandaishū (2812) with the headnote, ‘From the Poetry Match at the Residence of the Ōmi Lady of the Bedchamber’.
行く年の行へをとへば世中の人こそひとつまうくべらなれ[i]
| yuku toshi no yukue o toeba yo no naka no hito koso hitotsu mōkuberanari | When, of the departing year’s Destination I enquire, To this mundane world’s Folk, indeed, one more Does it bestow. |
407
Round Fourteen
Left (Win)
みやゐしていくよへぬらむすみよしのまつふくかぜもかみさびにけり
| miya’ishite iku yo henuramu sumiyoshi no matsu fuku kaze mo kamisabinikeri | Since He manifested here How many ages might have passed? At Sumiyoshi The wind gusting through the pines, too, Is touched with divinity… |
Tsunemasa
127
Right
よのなかをいとふこころはさきだちていつまでとまるうきみなるらむ
| yo no naka o itou kokoro wa sakidachite itsu made tomaru ukimi naruramu | This mundane world My heart does despise and Would depart, but How long will I remain, Suffering as I am? |
Nakatsuna
128
Both Left and Right are expressions of grievance, but the Left is merely concerned with ‘Since He manifested here / How many ages might have passed?’, while the Right simply wonders ‘How long will I remain’ while despising the mundane world. I cannot really say that either is superior in the emotions they express, yet due to its reference to the deity, I should say that the Left wins.
