Composed as a love poem.
よもすがら物思ふころはあけやらぬねやのひまさへつれなかりけり
| yomosugara mono’omoFu koro wa akeyaranu neya no Fima saFe turenakarikeri | Night after night, Sunk in gloomy thoughts which Never lift, The time spent in my bed Is tedious, indeed! |
Monk Shun’e
Tag Archives: neya
Eikyū hyakushu 549
Ancient Estates 故郷
さしながらまだをののえはくちなくにまがきもねやもあらぬ里かな
| sashinagara mada ono no e wa kuchinaku ni magaki mo neya mo aranu sato kana | Not entirely Yet has my axe handle Rotted, but No fence or bedchamber Has this estate! |
Nakazane
Eikyū hyakushu 390
Blankets
ねやのうへにあられたばしる夜半なれどいもとふすまはさえずぞ有りける
| neya no ue ni arare tabashiru yowa naredo imo to fusuma wa saezu zo arikeru | Upon my bedroom Hail scatters Late this night, yet Beneath the covers with my darling There is no chill, at all! |
Minamoto no Kanemasa
源兼昌
Love VI: 22
Left.
独のみ寢屋の板間もあはずして雨も涙も所せきまで
| hitori nomi neya no itama mo awazushite ame mo namida mo tokoroseki made |
All alone, and The boards above my bedchamber Fail to come together; Until with raindrops and tears both I am excessively… |
Lord Ari’ie.
943
Right (Win).
深き夜の寢覺に何を思けむ窓打ちてすさむ暁の雨
| fukaki yo no nezame ni nani o omoikemu mado uchisusamu akatsuki no ame |
Late within the night, I start awake; what Was in my thoughts? Beating against my window is The dawntime rain. |
Jakuren.
944
The Right state: we cannot grasp the sense of the Left’s use of ‘until’ (made). The Left state: the Right’s poem is certainly not easy to understand on hearing.
In judgement: is not the use of ‘until’ (made) simply because it is appropriate to conclude a poem with that syllable? I can see nothing problematic with the use of ‘beating against my window’ (mado uchisusamu) in the Right’s poem. Thus, I make the Right the winner.
Love VI: 11
Left (Tie).
我戀や晴れゆくままの空の雲よそにのみして消ぬべき哉
| wa ga koi ya hareyuku mama no sora no kumo yoso ni nomi shite kienubeki kana |
Is my love As the clearing Clouds with within the skies? While you remain distant Must I fade away… |
Lord Ari’ie.
921
Right.
をのづから閨もる月も影消えてひとりかなしき浮雲の空
| onozukara neya moru tsuki mo kage kiete hitori kanashiki ukigumo no sora |
From my Bedchamber the flooding moon Light has vanish; To be alone is sad, as The heartless drifting, clouds. |
Lord Takanobu.
922
The Right state: the central line of the Left’s poem is stiff. The Left state: the Right’s poem has no particular faults.
In judgement: the statements in regard to both poems are at variance with my own opinion. I will refrain from expressing that here, although I do regret that, somewhat. If, indeed, a central line is core, then it is better for it to lack connection with the remainder of the poem. In the case of the Left’s poem, however, it seems well linked with what follows. As for the Right’s poem, ‘bedchamber the flooding moon’ (neya moru tsuki) is not phrasing which is acceptable to me. However, the Left’s initial section seems pleasant, and the Right’s final section is elegant. Thus, the round is a tie.
SIS IX: 529
In reply [to a poem from Minamoto no Tsunefusa].
山伏も野伏もかくて試みつ今は舎人の閨ぞ床しき
| yamaFusi mo nobusi mo kakute kokoromitu ima Fa toneri no neya zo yukasiki |
Sleeping in the mountains, and Sleeping in the fields, I have tried them both, but Now it is an attendant’s Bed for which I long! |
Kenshu
健守法師
Taikenmon’in Horikawa-shū 134
さいたづま結ぶをたにもわかずとて角ぐむ野辺に閨は見るへき
| saitaduma musubu wo dani mo wakazu tote tunogumu nobe ni neya Fa mirubeki |
In fleeceflower Even if I am entangled I’ll not part it, but Where it grows out upon the fields Must I find my bed! |
Taikenmon’in Horikawa
待賢門院堀河
Love I: 7
Left (Win).
洩らすなよ雲ゐる嶺の初時雨木の葉は下に色變るとも
| morasunayo kumoiru mine no hatsu shigure ko no ha wa shita ni iro kawarutomo |
O, let it not leak out! Though the cloud-capped peaks’ First shower of rain, On the leaves’ underside Has left a change of hue… |
613
Right.
閨のうちは涙の雨に朽ち果てゝしのぶは茂る妻にぞ有ける
| neya no uchi wa namida no ame ni kuchihatete shinobu wa shigeru tsuma ni zo arikeru |
Within my bedchamber A rain of tears Has rotted all, so The weeping ferns secretly grow thick Around the edges… |
The Provisional Master of the Empress’ Household Office.
614
The Gentlemen of the Right state: the Left’s poem has no defects worth criticising. The Gentlemen of the Left state: the initial and final sections of the Right’s poem lack connection with each other. Does the poem have a conception of hiddenness?
Shunzei’s judgement: The conception and configuration of the Left’s ‘cloud-capped peaks’ first shower of rain’ (kumoiru mine no hatsu shigure) seems charming [kokoro sugata okashiku mie]. On that basis, it should win.
Winter II: 24
Left.
引きかくる閨の衾の隔てにも響きは變る鐘の音かな
| hikikakuru neya no fusuma no hedate ni mo hibiki wa kawaru kane no oto kana |
Drawn up beneath The covers in my bedchamber, and With them between The echo is somehow different When the bells chime… |
587
Right (Win).
雪の夜の思ふばかりも冴えぬこそ閨の衾のしるしなりけれ
| yuki no yo no omou bakari mo saenu koso neya no fusuma no shirushi narikere |
It is a snowy night I know, yet There is no chill: The covers in my bedchamber Have that effect! |
588
The Gentlemen of the Right state: why have the ‘bell’ (kane) here? The Gentlemen of the Left state: the Right’s poem has no faults.
Shunzei’s judgement: the Left’s poem, having the poet buried beneath his bedclothes, which alter the sound of the bell recollects a composition on the ‘bell at the Temple of Bequeathed Love’. Nevertheless, the Gentlemen of the Right have asked, ‘Why have the bell here?’, and they are right to do so. The Right’s poem, on how the feeling of cold on a chill, snowy night vanishes briefly, exactly conveys the ‘bedding’s effect’ (fusuma no shirushi). Thus, it is without fault. I must make the Right the winner.
Winter II: 19
Left (Win).
冴ゆる夜に鴛鴦の衾を方敷きて袖の氷を拂ひかねつゝ
| sayuru yo ni oshi no fusuma o katashikite sode no kōri o haraikanetsutu |
On a freezing night Beneath my duck-down bedding I lie alone; The ice upon my sleeve I can never brush away… |
577
Right.
木の葉をや鳥の上毛に殘すらん閨の衾も冴ゆる霜夜に
| ko no ha o ya tori no uwage ni nokosuran neya no fusuma mo sayuru shimo yo ni |
Are there any leaves Left by the birds For extra feathers? The bedding in my chamber Is frozen with frost tonight… |
578
Neither Left nor Right have anything in particular to say.
Shunzei’s judgement: I wonder about accepting the Left’s ‘Beneath my duck-down bedding I lie alone’ (oshi no fusuma o katashikite). The strengths and weaknesses are plain, and so there is not much more to say than that. The Left wins.