Tag Archives: nusa

Yōzei-in uta’awase (Engi jūsan-nen kugatsu kokonoka) 21

Left

いまはとてすぎゆく秋のかたみにはかぜのおくれにもみぢをやみん

ima wa tote
sugiyuku aki no
katami ni wa
kaze no okure ni
momiji o ya min
Might now be when
Departing autumn’s
Keepsake is
Presented on the breeze:
A glimpse of scarlet leaves?

41

Right

あきながらとしはくれなん紅葉ばをぬさとちらせる山のみねより

aki nagara
toshi wa kurenan
momijiba o
nusa to chiraseru
yama no mine yori
It’s autumn, so
The year has reached its dusk;
Scarlet leaves for
A garland are made to scatter
From the mountain peaks…

42

Yōzei-in uta’awase (Engi jūsan-nen kugatsu kokonoka) 05

Left (Tie)

しぐれつつ草ばもなべてもみづともときはの山にあきはとまれり

shiguretsutsu
kusaba mo nabete
momizu to mo
tokiwa no yama ni
aki wa tomareri
Ever falls the drizzling rain, and
Both leaves and grasses, all,
Take on autumn hues, yet
Within the evergreen mountains
Autumn has halted.

9

Right

をしめども秋はとまらぬ竜田山もみぢを幣とそらにたむけん

oshimedomo
aki wa tomaranu
tatsutayama
momiji o nusa to
sora ni tamuken
How I regret it, yet
Autumn does not linger upon
Tatsuta Mountain:
Its autumn leaves as a garland
To the skies it seems to offer.

10

Teishi-in ominaeshi uta’awase 17

たつたやまあきをみなへしすぐさねばおくるぬさこそもみぢなりけれ

tatsutayama
aki o mina heshi
sugusaneba
okuru nusa koso
momiji narikere
On Tatsuta Mountain
Autumn for all has
Not yet passed by, so
Proffered are garlands of
Scarlet leaves.

Motoyori
33

あきぎりをみなへしなびくふくかぜをこのひともとにはなはちるらし

akigiri o
mina heshi nabiku
fuku kaze o
kono hitomoto ni
hana wa chirurashi
The autumn mists
Have borne down on all
With the gusting wind
A single stalk of
Blooms seems to scatter…

Yoshikaze
34

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 54

Left

雁がねにおどろく秋のよを寒み虫のおりだす衣をぞきる

kari ga ne ni
odoroku aki no
yo o samumi
mushi no oridasu
koromo o zo kiru
The goose cries are
Startling on an autumn
Night so chill
The insects’ woven
Robes I will put on!

106[1]

Right

あき風はたがたむけとか紅葉ばをぬさにきりつつ吹きちらすらん

akikaze wa
ta ga tamuke to ka
momijiba o
nusa ni kiritsutsu
fukichirasuran
The autumn wind:
To whom does it make its offering
Of scarlet leaves?
Ever cutting them to streamers, and
Seeming to scatter them with its gusts…

107


[1] Fubokushō XII: 4881

Love X: 7

Left
頼むなるあさけ神しも幣はせん君が心やわれになびくと

tanomu naru
asake kami shimo
nusa wa sen
kimi ga kokoro ya
ware ni nabiku to
Worship she does
The goddess Asake, so should even
I make her an offering?
Then might my lady’s heart
Trail in my direction…

Kenshō
1153

Right (Win)
鏡山君に心やうつるらむいそぎ立たれぬ旅衣かな

kagamiyama
kimi ni kokoro ya
utsururamu
isogi tatarenu
tabigoromo kana
Upon Mirror Mount
Has my heart
Found lodging? For
In haste to rise and don
My travelling garb, I am not!

Lord Tsune’ie
1154

Left and Right state: there are no faults to mention in either poem.

In judgement: both Left and Right here refer to a ‘person’ (kimi), with the Left’s ‘making her an offering’ (nusa wa sen) that she might ‘trail in my direction’ (ware ni nabiku ya), while the Right’s has left his heart on Mirror Mount and ‘is not in haste to rise and don his travelling garb’ (isogi tatarenu tabigoromo): each of these poems is evocative, and makes effective use of wordplay, with the Left’s ‘make her an offering’ certainly resembling something I have come across previously, but the initial ‘goddess Asake’ is poor. The Right’s ‘Mirror Mount’ (kagami yama) is something I am familiar with, and this has a gentle tone. Thus, the Right wins.