Tag Archives: nights

Love V: 20

Left (Win).
いかなれば程なき中の通ひ路も逢ひ見ぬ夜半は苦しかるらん

ika nareba
hodo naki naka no
kayoiji mo
aiminu yowa wa
kurushikaruran
Why is it that
We are so close in love
And distance, yet
Those nights we cannot meet
Are so painful still?

Lord Kanemune
879

Right.
思ひこそ遠き程だにしるべなれ手も通ひなん中の隔ては

omoi koso
tōki hodo dani
shirube nare
te mo kayoi nan
naka no hedate wa
Love’s flame
Across a distance far
Is a beacon; though
An outstretched hand
Is our only separation…

Lord Takanobu
880

As the previous round.

In judgement: the Right sounds as if the lovers are exceedingly close. The Left, that even when the distance separating you is not that great, it is still painful, is, indeed, the case. Thus, the Left wins.

 

MYS III: 324

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