Round Eight
Left
秋風の吹来る声はやまながらなみ立ちかへるおとぞきこゆる
| akikaze no fukikuru koe wa yama nagara nami tachikaeru oto zo kikoyuru | The autumn breeze’s Cry comes gusting; And in the mountains, The sound of waves washing back and forth Comes to my ears. |
15
Right
すみの江の松を秋風吹くからにこゑうちそふる沖つ白なみ
| suminoe no matsu o akikaze fuku kara ni koe uchisouru oki tsu shiranami | At Suminoe The pines by the autumn breeze Are blown, so The sound lies atop The whitecaps in the offing. |
16
Composed on plovers.
沖つ潮指出の磯の浜千鳥風寒からし夜半に友呼ぶ
| oki tsu shio sashide no iso no hama chidori kaze samukarashi yowa ni tomo yobu | From the offing the tides Strike the shore at Sashide; On the beach plovers, Chilled by the wind Call for their mates at midnight. |
Supernumerary Middle Counsellor [Fujiwara no] Nagakata (1139-1191)
藤原長方
Boats 船
くもつよりすすめぐりするこし舟のおきこぎさかるほのぼのにみゆ
| kumotsu yori susu megurisuru koshibune no oki kogisakaru honobono ni miyu | From Kumotsu Around to Susu go The boats from Koshi, Rowing further into the offing Only faintly to be seen. |
Nakazane
Cathay Folk 唐人
うな原やはかたのおきにかかりたるもろこし舟に時つぐるなり
| unabara ya hakata no oki ni kakaritaru morokoshibune ni toki tsuguru nari | Across the seabed To the offing by Hakata Have trailed Ships from far Cathay and There will they spend some time. |
Kanemasa
Stones 石
浪たててかるとばかりはきこゆれどかへるも見えずおきのしら石
| nami tatete karu to bakari wa kikoyuredo kaeru mo miezu oki no shira’ishi | Waves breaking, then Dryly departing is all I hear, yet Their return goes unseen by White stones in the offing… |
Akinaka
Left (Win)
うかりける我み山木の契かな連なる枝もありとこそ聞け
| ukarikeru wa ga mi yamagi no chigiri kana tsuranaru eda mo ari to koso kike |
In despair Am I: hidden among the mountain trees Is my love; Though once branches lay atop each other I did hear… |
Lord Suetsune
1039
Right
涙には憂き深山木も朽ちぬべし沖つ小嶋のひさきならねど
| namida ni wa uki fukayamagi mo kuchinubeshi oki tsu kojima no hisaki naranedo |
Among my tears, Drift, despairing, trees from the mountain deeps, Rotting all away, though On islets in the offing On bush-covered beaches, they are not… |
Lord Tsune’ie
1040
Both Left and Right state: we find no faults.
In judgement: both Left and Right use the image of ‘trees from the mountain deeps’ (fukayamagi), and neither is superior, or inferior, to the other in this, but I would have to say that the Left’s ‘though once branches lay atop each other I did hear…’ (tsuranaru eda mo ari to koso kike) is somewhat better than the Right’s ‘on bush-covered beaches, they are not…’ (hisaki naranedo).
A poem by Her Majesty, the Dowager Empress.
鯨魚取り 近江の海を 沖放けて 漕ぎ来る船 辺付きて 漕ぎ来る船 沖つ櫂 いたくな撥ねそ 辺つ櫂 いたくな撥ねそ 若草の 夫の 思ふ鳥立つ
| isana tori opomi no umi wo oki sakete kogikitaru pune pe tu kite kogikuru pune oki tu kai itaku na pane so pe tu kai itaku na pane so wakakusa no tuma no omopu tori tatu |
In the whale-hunting Sea of Ōmi From far off in the offing Boats come rowing; Nearing the shore, Boats come rowing; Off in the offing, oars Beat not so hard! By the shore, oars Beat not so hard! A fresh blade of grass – My husband’s Beloved birds you’ll start to flight! |
Yamato Hime no Ōkimi
倭皇后
[One of] eight travel poems composed by Takechi no muraji Kurohito.
我が舟は比良の港に漕ぎ泊てむ沖へな離りさ夜更けにけ
| wa ga pune pa pira no minato ni kogipatemu oki pe na sakari sayo pukenikeri |
My boat In the port of Hira Shall rest its oars! O, leave not the offing, for Brief night has dawned. |
Takechi no Kurohito
高市黒人
Composed on the conception of Love and Stones.
我が袖は潮干に見えぬ沖の石の人こそ知らねかわく間ぞなき
| wa ga sode Fa siFoFi ni mienu oki no isi no Fito koso sirane kaFaku ma zo naki |
My sleeves are As unseen low-tide Stones in the offing, Unknown to all They have not a moment dry. |
Sanuki, from the Nijō Palace
二条院讃岐
Left (Win).
與謝の海の沖つ潮風浦に吹けまつなりけりと人に聞かせん
| yosa no umi no oki tsu shio kaze ura ni fuke matsunarikeri to hito ni kikasen |
By the sea at Yosa, Tidewinds on the offing, Blow across the bay! That I am waiting without end, Tell him! |
A Servant Girl
983
Right.
浪かくるさしでの磯の岩根松ねにあらはれてかはくまもなし
| nami kakuru sashide no iso no iwane matsu ne ni arawarete kawaku ma mo nashi |
Waves beat Upon the shore at Sashide, where The pine trees on the crags Roots are bared and Never dry for but a moment. |
The Supernumerary Master of the Empress’ Household Office
984
The Right state: the Left’s poem lacks any faults. The Left state: the Right’s poem is pedestrian.
In judgement: the configuration of the Left’s ‘Blow across the bay!’ (ura ni fuke) and its links with the preceding and subsequent lines, sounds charming. The Right’s poem is stylistically elegant, but the poem more closely resembles a poem on the topic of ‘Love and Pine Trees’. Thus, the Left wins.