Composed on the topic of lingering snow for a poetry match held by Her Majesty, the Empress during the reign of the Goreizei emperor:
はなならでをらまほしきはなにはえのあしのわかばにふれるしらゆき
| Fana narade woramahosiki Fa naniFae no asi no wakaba ni Fureru shirayuki | Though they are not blossoms How I long to pick At Naniwa Inlet From the new-grown reed tips Fallen snowflakes. |
Lord Fujiwara no Norinaga
On the 29th day of the Eighth Month, Taiji 3,[i] Head of the Department of Shinto, His Excellency Akinaka gave a lecture before the Hirota Shrine, and various people from among his friends and relative met together in the same place.
Judge Mototoshi, Former Assistant Captain in the Palace Guards, Left Division.
Personal Grievances and the Moon
Round One
Left
難波江のあしまにやどる月みれば我が身ひとつも沈まざりけり
| naniwae no ashima ni yadoru tsuki mireba wa ga mi hitotsu mo shizumazarikeri | When, at the inlet at Naniwa Between the reeds a’lodging The moon I see, My sorry self, alone, Is sunk in sadness, am I not? |
Lord Akisuke, Former Governor of Mimasaka
1
Right
かがみ川影見る月にそこ澄みて沈むみくづのはづかしきかな
| kagamigawa kage miru tsuki ni soko sumite shizumu mikuzu no hazukashiki kana | In the mirror of Kagami River, The shape, I see, of the moon Clear down to the bed of Sunken flotsam— How terrible that I am so! |
His Excellency Akinaka, Head of the Department of Shintō
2
While both Left and Right show awareness of the conventions, I find it difficult to be beguiled more by coming to the realisation that ‘My sorry self, alone, / Is sunk in sadness, am I not’ on seeing the moon lodging between the reeds, than I am by the conception of the one who seems to have seen the moon over Mount Obasute[1], so I could say that it has a bit of conception about it at present.
[1] Topic unknown. わが心なぐさめかねつさらしなやをばすて山にてる月を見て wa ga kokoro / nagusamekanetsu / sarashina ya / obasuteyama ni / teru tsuki o mite ‘My heart / Cannot be consoled— / In Sarashina / Above Mount Obasute / On seeing the shining moon…’ Anonymous (KKS XVII: 878)
[i] 25 September 1128
Round Six
Left (Tie)
すみよしのまつのむらだちかぜさえてしきつのなみにやどる月かげ
| sumiyoshi no matsu no muradachi kaze saete shikitsu no nami ni yadoru tsukikage | At Sumiyoshi The pines crowd together In the chilly wind, as Upon the waves at Shikitsu Lodges moonlight. |
Lord Fujiwara no Sane’ie
Supernumerary Middle Captain of the Inner Palace Guards, Right Division
Exalted Junior Third Rank[1]
11
Right
なにはえのそこにやどれる月をみてまたすみのぼるわがこころかな
| naniwae no soko ni yadoreru tsuki o mite mata suminoboru wa ga kokoro kana | At Naniwa Bay, Lodged on the bottom, The moon fills my gaze, as Once more, clearly soars My heart! |
Lord Fujiwara no Atsuyori
Junior Fifth Rank, Upper Grade
Without Office[2]
12
In the Left’s poem, I can say that the configuration of ‘Upon the waves at Shikitsu / Lodges moonlight’ is pleasant. In the Right’s poem, saying ‘Lodged on the bottom, / The moon fills my gaze, as / Once more, clearly soars / My heart!’ appears to show deep thought but, while it appears that ‘Naniwa Bay’ encompasses Sumiyoshi, the conception of the topic expressing ‘over the shrine’ sounds somewhat vague. Then again, the Left’s tone is more in keeping with a poem for a poetry match, but it lacks any language particularly evocative of the topic, so the round ties.
[1] Jūsan’i-gyō ukon gonchūjō Fujiwara ason Sane’ie 従三位行右近衛権中将藤原朝臣実家
[2] San’i jūgoige Fujiwara ason Atsuyori 散位従五位上藤原朝臣敦頼