Tag Archives: Nishiki

Daikōtaigōgū no suke taira no tsunemori-ason ke uta’awase 07

Round Seven

Left (Win)

萩がはな分けゆく程は古郷へかへらぬ人もにしきをぞきる

hagi ga hana
wakeyuku hodo wa
furusato e
kaeranu hito mo
nishiki o zo kiru
When through the bush-clover blooms
He forges his way,
To his ancient home
Never to return—that man, too,
Wears a fine brocade!

Minamoto no Arifusa, Minor Captain in the Inner Palace Guards, Right Division

13

Right

声たてて鳴くむしよりも女郎花いはぬ色こそ身にはしみけれ

koe tatete
naku mushi yori mo
ominaeshi
iwanu iro koso
mi ni wa shimikere
They lift their songs in
Plaintive cries, but far more than the insects
‘Tis the maidenflower’s
Wordless hue that truly
Pierce my soul!

Junior Assistant Minister of Central Affairs Sadanaga
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The Left is well-composed, but what is the Right’s ‘wordless hue’? Are we supposed to imagine that the expression means ‘silent yellow’? This is difficult to grasp, isn’t it. Whatever way you look at it, the Left seems to win.

Daikōtaigōgū no suke taira no tsunemori-ason ke uta’awase 05

Round Five

Left

あきののは花の色色おほかれど萩のにしきにしく物ぞなき

aki no no wa
hana no iroiro
ōkaredo
hagi no nishiki ni
shiku mono zo naki
In the autumn meadows
The blooms have hues
Aplenty, yet
To the bush-clover’s brocade
There’s nothing to compare.

Lord Fujiwara no Yorisuke, Assistant Master of the Empress Dowager’s Household Office
9

Right (Win)

ほりはてぬ花こそあらめ秋ののに心をさへものこしつるかな

horihatenu
hana koso arame
aki no no ni
kokoro o sae mo
nokoshitsuru kana
As yet undug
Flowers, indeed, may there be
In the autumn meadows, for
Even my heart
Does linger there!

Lord Minamoto no Yorimasa, Former Director of the Bureau of Military Storehouses
10

The Left seems a bit cliched, yet it’s not bad. As for the Right, the image of having dug up all the flowers is unsatisfying, yet it’s not worth drawing attention to when the whole sentiment is so charming, and thus the Right should win.

Yōzei-in uta’awase (Engi jūsan-nen kugatsu kokonoka) 16

Left

まてといひてとまらぬあきと知りながらそらゆく月のをしくもあるかな

mate to iite
tomaranu aki to
shirinagara
sora yuku tsuki no
oshiku aru kana
‘Wait!’ I say, but
Autumn will not linger
I know, so
The moon passing through the skies
Fills me with regret!

31

Right

みやまなるもみぢのにしき色にいでてをしむに秋のたたばうからん

miyama naru
momiji no nishiki
iro ni idete
oshimu ni aki no
tataba ukaran
Deep within the mountains
The scarlet leaves in brocade’s
Hues stand out, so
I would regret it were autumn
Cut short—how heartless that would be!

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Yōzei-in uta’awase (Engi jūsan-nen kugatsu kokonoka) 10

Left (Win)

したひてもとめまほしきはいまはとて秋のゆくらんかたぞしられぬ

shitaitemo
tomemahoshiki wa
ima wa tote
aki no yukuran
kata zo shirarenu
These fair hues
I would detain
For now, I say, for
Whither autumn might go
Is unknown to all…

19

Right

もみぢばをにしきとみゆる秋なればたつををしとや鹿のなくらん

momijiba o
nishiki to miyuru
aki nareba
tatsu o oshi to ya
shika no nakuran
The scarlet leaves as
Brocade do appear
In autumn, so
Is it regret that departure cuts them short
That makes the stag cry out?

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Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 58

Left

秋の月草むらわかずてらせばややどせる露を玉とみすらん

aki no tsuki
kusamura wakazu
teraseba ya
yadoseru tsuyu o
tama to misuran
Does the autumn moon
Not forge through the grassy thickets
As it shines? For
The dewdrops it lodges there
It seems to display as jewels.

114

Right

なほざりに秋のみやまに入りぬれば錦のいろの衣をこそきれ

naozari ni
aki nomi yama ni
irinureba
nishiki no iro no
kinu o koso kire
Easily, indeed,
Does autumn, simply, to the mountains
Enter in, so
In garb the hue of
Brocade do they clothe themselves!

115

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 43

Left

ひぐらしに秋の野山をわけくれば心にもあらぬ錦をぞきる

higurashi ni
aki no noyama o
wakekureba
kokoro ni mo aranu
nishiki o zo kiru
When at sundown
Through the autumn mountain meadows
I come forging,
Lying not within my heart,
Brocade I am, indeed, cutting!

84

Right

秋といへばあま雲までにもえにしを空さへしるくなどか見ゆらん

aki to ieba
amagumo made ni
moenishi o
sora sae shiruku
nado ka miyuran
‘Autumn’ is when
Even as far as heaven’s clouds
Have burned, but
Why does the sky
Seem so clear?

85

Shiki koi sanshu uta’awase – Winter

Winter

Left

冬くれば紅葉ふりしく神無月佐保の山辺はむべもりぬらん

fuyu kureba
momiji furishiku
kaminazuki
saho no yamabe wa
mube morinuran
When the winter comes,
Scarlet leaves, falling and scattering
In the Godless Month,
Upon the slopes of Mount Saho,
Indeed, are at their finest.

19

冬ごもりかれてみゆらん梅がえは今はた花の春はにほはん

fuyugomori
karete miyuran
ume ga e wa
ima hata hana no
haru wa niowan
Sealed in winter, and
All withered seeming,
The plum tree’s branches,
Now, for sure, the blossoms’
Spring will scent.

20

冬みれば水もまかせぬ小山田にいつすき返し種をまきけん

fuyu mireba
mizu mo makasenu
oyamada ni
itsu sukikaeshi
tane o makiken
‘Tis winter, I see, so
There’s no water to draw for
The little mountain paddies:
O, when might I till them, and
Sow my seeds, I wonder?

21

Right

時雨降る宿にすまへば冬の夜に錦とみゆる木木の花かな

shigure furu
yado ni sumaeba
fuyu no yo ni
nishiki to miyuru
kigi no hana kana
Showers fall
Upon the house where I do dwell, so
Upon a winter’s night
As brocade do seem
The blossoming trees!

22

ゆふだすき神の社にかけつればしもし降るにもたのもしきかな

yūdasuki
kami no yashiro ni
kaketsureba
shimo shi furu ni mo
tanomashiki kana
Sacred mulberry cords
Around the God’s shrine
Are hung, so
Even amidst the frost fall,
The future does seem bright!

23

白雲のふたへふりしくときは山うらはへとしはみどりなりけれ

shiragumo no
futae furishiku
tokiwa yama
ura hae toshi wa
midori narikere
Clouds of white
Lie scattered, twofold, upon
The unchanging mountain:
Stretching out behind, the year
Is simply green.

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