On winter rain, from a hundred poem sequence on the four seasons, composed in Jōkyū 2 [1220].
都人ちぎりしものをはつ雪に松の葉をしき夕暮の雨
| miyakobito chigirishi mono o hatsuyuki ni matsu no ha o shiki yūgure no ame | Capital folk Did make a vow: Upon the first snows Pine needles spread By the evening rain. |
Lord Ietaka, Junior Second Rank
Pine seedlings on the Day of the Rat (子日小松)
Left
ねの日する松の葉ごとにかぞふれば猶ぞつきせぬきみが千とせは
| ne no hi suru matsu no ha goto ni kazoureba nao zo tsukisenu kimi ga chitose wa | On this Day of the Rat Every single pine needle I count, but Still the number would not exhaust The millennia of my Lord… |
A Court Lady
1
Right
はるかなる君がよはひにくらべむと子日の松をけふは引くかな
| harukanaru kimi ga yowai ni kurabemu to ne no hi no matsu o kyō wa hiku kana | Distant is My Lord’s age: To what might it compare? Why The Rat Day pines that We pick today! |
A Court Lady
2
Left (Tie)
昔聞く君が手馴れの琴ならば夢に知られて音をも立てまし
| mukashi kiku kimi ga tenare no koto naraba yume ni shirarete ne o mo tatemashi |
Long ago, I heard Your favourite Zither play – if that were me, then In your dreams I would be known, and Make a sound most sweet within your sleep… |
Lord Sada’ie
1093
Right
わぎも子が心のひかぬ琴の音は我まつにこそ通はざりけれ
| wagimoko ga kokoro no hikanu koto no ne wa wa ga matsu ni koso kayowazarikere |
My darling’s Heartstrings are not tugged By my zither’s strains, so Though I pine for her ‘Tis of no use at all… |
The Supernumerary Master of the Empress’ Household Office
1094
The Right state: the Left’s poem gives the impression of being based on something – but what? The Left state: the Right’s poem has no faults to mention.
In judgement: there is nothing unusual about the Left’s poem. It simply seems to be in the conception of the Man’yōshū poem where, ‘a Japanese zither made from the wood of the parasol tree transforms into a maiden in a dream, and says “When will / The day come that / I shall sing / Making his lap / My pillow?”’ I also have the feeling that it is alluding to the subsequent poem, however. So, it is certainly not the case that it is not based on anything. The Right’s poem has ‘heartstrings are not tugged’ (kokoro no hikanu) and then the metaphorical ‘though I pine for her’ (wa ga matsu ni koso), so is certainly not lacking in conception either. They are equivalent and tie.
Left (Win).
夜とともに玉散る床の菅枕見せばや人に夜半の景色を
| yo to tomo ni tama tiru toko no sugamakura miseba ya Fito ni yowa no kesiki wo |
Together with the night Gemlets scatter on my bed’s Sedge-filled pillow; Should I show her This midnight sight? |
The Master 大夫
[Minamoto no Toshiyori 源俊頼]
27
Right.
波のよる岩根に立てる磯馴れ松また寝もいらで恋ひあかしつる
| nami no yoru iFane ni tateru sonare matu mata ne mo irade koFi akasituru |
The waves roll in To the cliffs where stands A hardy pine upon the rocks; Once more sleepless From love do I greet the dawn. |
The Assistant Master 佐
[Fujiwara no Mototoshi 藤原基俊]
28
