あきのよにかりかもなきてわたるなる我が思ふ人のことづてやせる[1]
aki no yo ni kari kamo nakite watarunaru wa ga omou hito no kotozute ya seru On an autumn night Is that the geese a’crying As they pass by? There is one I love— Would you take a message to her?
43
おく露にくちゆくのべのくさのはやあきのほたるとなりわたるらむ[2]
oku tsuyu ni kuchiyuku nobe no kusa no ha ya aki no hotaru to nariwataruramu Dew falls on The rotting meadows, where The blades of grass with The tired autumn fireflies Do seem to sound…
44
[1] A minor variant of this poem is included in Gosenshū (VII: 356 ), where it is attributed to [Ki no] Tsurayuki.
[2] This poem is included in Fubokushō (5548), where it is attributed to [Mibu no] Tadamine.
むらさきのねさへいろこき草なれやあきのことごとのべをそむらむ
murasaki no ne sae irokoki kusa nare ya aki no kotogoto nobe o somuramu Do even the gromwell’s Roots take on deeper hues Among the grasses, For in autumn every Meadow does seem dyed?
39
秋のよにひとを見まくのほしければあまのかはらをたちもならすか[1]
aki no yo ni hito o mimaku no hoshikereba ama no kawara o tachi mo narasu ka On an autumn night To see him is All my longing, so On the banks of Heaven’s river Should I be wont to stand?
40
[1] A minor variant of this poem occurs in Mandaishū (1801) and Shokugoshūishū (688): 秋の夜に人をみまくのほしければ天の川原を立ちならすかな aki no yo ni / hito o mimaku no / hoshikereba / ama no kawara o / tachinarasu kana ‘On an autumn night / To see him is / All my longing, so / On the banks of Heaven’s river / Is where I ever stand!’ (Anonymous).
あきくればむしとともにぞなかれぬるひとも草ばもかれぬと思へば[1]
aki kureba mushi to tomo ni zo nakarenuru hito mo kusaba mo karenu to omoeba When the autumn comes Together with the insects Do I weep, That both folk and grass and leaves Have withered, is in my thoughts…
33
からにしきみだれるのべとみえつるはあきのこのはのふるにざりける
karanishiki midareru nobe to mietsuru wa aki no ko no ha no furu ni zarikeru For Cathay brocade Confused the meadows Do seem, for In autumn, the leaves from the trees Have truly fallen!
34
[1] This poem also occurs in Fubokushō (5580).
しら露のおきしくのべを見るごとにあはれは秋ぞかずまさりける
shiratsuyu no okishiku nobe o miru goto ni aware wa aki zo kazu masarikeru Silver dewdrops, Fallen, scattered upon the meadows: Every time I see them The sadnesses of autumn Increase in number.
31
あきかぜのうちふくからにはなもはもみだれてもちるのべの草きか
aki kaze no uchifuku kara ni hana mo ha mo midarete mo chiru nobe no kusaki ka The autumn breeze Is blowing keenly, so will Both flowers and leaves Scatter confusedly From the trees and grasses on the meadow?
32
わびひとのとしふるさとはあきのののむしのやどりのなるぞわびしき[1]
wabibito no toshi furu sato wa aki no no no mushi no yadori no naru zo wabishiki For one sunk in sadness In an ancient dwelling Among the autumn fields, where The insects take their lodging, Their cries are more heartbreaking.
23
あきのよのつゆをばつゆとおきながらかりのなみだやのべをそむらん[2]
aki no yo no tsuyu oba tsuyu to okinagara kari no namida ya nobe o somuramu On Autumn nights The dew as dewdrops Falls, but, Perhaps goose tears Stain the fields?
24
[1] This poems also appears in Fubokushō (5579), where it is attributed to Ariwara no Motokata
[2] This poem also appears in Kokinshū (V: 258 ) and Kokin rokujō (584). In both collections it is attributed to Mibu no Tadamine.
A profusion of deutzia flowers in full bloom
Left
白妙に卯花さけるかきねをばつもりし雪とおもひけるかな
shirotae ni u no hana sakeru kakine o ba tsumorishi yuki to omoikeru kana A spread of white mulberry cloth, The deutzias have bloomed Along my brushwood fence Drifting snow is piled, or So it seems!
Minamoto no Narikata 13
Right
みわたせばたかねののべのうつぎ原みな白妙にさきにけるかな
miwatseba takane no nobe no utsugiwara mina shirotae ni sakinikeru kana When I gaze across The high-peak meadows A field of deutzia, All as white as mulberry cloth, Have bloomed there.
Ōe no Fumi’ichi 14
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Empress Dowager during the reign of the Kanpyō emperor.
春霞たなびく野べの若菜にもなり見てし哉人も摘むやと
Farugasumi tanabiku nobe no wakana ni mo narimitesigana Fito mo tumu ya to Spring haze Drifting through the fields over The new herbs I would become— For then she might pick me, perhaps…
Fujiwara no Okikaze
Topic unknown.
うぐひすのなく野べごとに来てみればうつろふ花に風ぞ吹ける
uguFisu no naku nobe goto ni kitemireba uturoFu Fana ni kaze zo fukikeru The warblers Sing from every field, and When I arrive I see, Faded flowers blown By the gusting wind.
Anonymous
Left
けふも猶雪はふりつつ春霞たてるやいづこ若菜つみてむ
kyō mo nao
yuki wa furitsutsu
harugasumi
tateru ya izuko
wakana tsumitemu
Still yet, today
Is the snow falling;
O, spring haze
Where do you arise?
For I would go and pluck fresh herbs!
3
In no hyakushu, shodo, Eighth Month Shōji 2 [September 1200]
Right
朝氷たがため分て此川のむかへの野べに若菜つむらん
asagōri
ta ga tame wakete
kono kawa no
mukae no nobe ni
wakana tsumuran
This film of morning ice:
For who’s sake do I break it?
On this river’s
Yonder side within the fields
Would I pluck fresh herbs…
4
Naidaijinke hyakushu , Ninth Month Kenpō 3 [October 1215]
Left (Tie)
この比の心の底をよそに見ば鹿鳴く野邊の秋の夕暮
kono koro no
kokoro no soko o
yoso ni miba
shika naku nobe no
aki no yūgure
Of late
Of the depths of my heart
Were you to catch a distant glimpse:
A stag belling in the meadow
On an autumn evening…
A Servant Girl
1067
Right
暮れかゝる裾野の露に鹿鳴きて人待つ袖も涙そふ也
kurekakaru
susono no tsuyu ni
shika nakite
hito matsu sode mo
namida sou nari
Twilight
Drapes dewfall on the mountains’ skirts,
With a stag’s sad cry;
Awaiting him, my sleeves, too,
Are wet with tears.
Nobusada
1068
Left and Right together: we find no faults to mention.
In judgement: it would be impossible to ever exhaust the overtones of feeling in ‘a stag belling in the meadow on an autumn evening’ (shika naku nobe no aki no yūgure ) in the Left’s poem; in the Right’s poem the configuration and conception of ‘awaiting him, my sleeves, too, are wet with tears’ (hito matsu sode mo namida sou nari ) is richly evocative. I find it extremely hard to put both poems down, so this round, again, is a tie of quality.
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