冬の夜の有明の月も塩の山指出の磯に千鳥なくなり
| fuyu no yo no ariake no tsuki mo shio no yama sashide no iso ni chidori nakunari |
A winter’s night At dawn, the moon on Mount Shio By the shore of Sashide does shine, and The plovers cry. |
Fujiwara no Ietaka
Tag Archives: night
Minishū 2296
Shōji godo hyakushu 461
Yorimasa-shū 409
Shinsen waka rokujō 411
KKS XV: 775
MYS IV: 531
A gentle poem in reply to His Majesty, by Princess Unakami.
梓弓爪引く夜音遠音にも君が御幸を聞くかくし良しも
| adusayumi tumabiku yo’oto no topo oto ni mo kimi ga miyuki o kiku kakusi yosi mo |
A catalpa bow String plucked in the night Sounds in the distance; That Your Majesty will on a journey go Is just as fortunate to hear. |
Love IV: 1
Left (Win).
夜を深みしば鳴く鶏は我ごとく寢ても覺めても戀やすべなき
| yo o fukami shibanaku kake wa ware gotoku netemo sametemo koi ya subenaki |
At the close of night The cock crows from time to time, Just as I Both sleeping and waking, Won’t a thought of love console me? |
Kenshō.
781
Right.
逢ひ見ては憂き折節も鳥の音に思出づれば戀しかりける
| aimite wa uki orifushi mo tori no ne ni omoi’izureba koishikarikeru |
A meeting always Brings a painful parting, but The cock’s crow Brings back memories Of the one I love… |
Jakuren.
781
The Right state: we cannot comprehend a cock feeling thoughts of love when asleep. The Left state: the initial section of the Right’s poem is incomprehensible. The second section is antiquated.
In judgement: the Left’s ‘cock crows from time to time’ (shibanaku kake) and ‘Won’t a thought of love console me?’ (koi ya subenaki) are expressions the style of which I am unable to accept. Moreover, I don’t feel that cocks really have thoughts of love while they are asleep. But, I have wondered, when hearing them crow so vigorously at dawn whether, ‘just as I, both sleeping and waking, they are thinking of love’? The Right’s poem is somewhat naïve in style, and suggests that after having met, and parted from, a lover, subsequently hearing the cock crow brings back mixed feelings of love and sorrow, but the initial impression it gives is that because a meeting has brought about painful feelings, something has happened – but what this is is left unclear. The Left’s poem is certainly not out of keeping with one in this style. Thus, the Left should win.
Love II: 22
Left (Tie).
唐衣重ぬる契朽ちずして幾夜の露をうち拂ふらん
| karakoromo kasanuru chigiri kuchizushite iku yo no tsuyu o uchiharauran |
Cathay robes Piled together mark our vow Unbroken; How many night’s dewfall Will they sleep away? |
703
Right.
夜を重ねかへす衣のうらみても現までとは思はざりしを
| yo o kasane kaesu koromo no uramite mo utsutsu made to wa omowazarishi o |
Night piled on night With robes reversed and Hating you; That it would be real one day I never did imagine! |
704
Left and Right together state they find no faults worth mentioning.
Shunzei’s judgement: the Left seems to have taken a poem saying ‘truth has broken not, and now we meet again’ (shin’nyo kuchisezu aimitsuru kana) and deepened the conception. The Right, wearing clothes night after night and not thinking it would ‘become real’ (utsutsu made) seems a rather pointless activity. The poems are of the same quality.
Love II: 7
Left (Win).
葛城や夜の契りは空しきに物思ふ橋はなどや途絶えぬ
| kuzuragi ya yoru no chigiri wa munashiki ni mono’omou hashi wa nado ya todaenu |
Just as Kuzuragi, A night’s vow Is empty, yet My longing’s end: Why does it never come? |
673
Right.
頼むるに露の命をかけつればこの言の葉ぞ置き所なき
| tanomuru ni tsuyu no inochi o kaketsureba kono koto no ha zo okidokoro naki |
Trustworthy for A dewdrop life’s Length, but These words of yours Will find no place here… |
674
The Gentlemen of the Right state: the Left’s poem contains a significant amount of less than desirable diction. The Gentlemen of the Left state: we have nothing in particular to mention.
Shunzei’s judgement: while the Left’s ‘Why does it never come?’ (nado ya todaenu) is certainly undesirable, the initial section is most tasteful [yū]. The Right’s ‘dewdrop life long’ (tsuyu no inochi o kaku) ‘words’ (koto no ha) seems hackneyed, so still, ‘Kuzuragi Bridge’ should stand as the winner.