From the pond at Ōsawa in Saga. From this point on, poems refer to flowers on the suhama.
人本と思ひしものを大沢の池の底にも誰か植ゑけむ
| Fitomoto to omoFisi mono wo oFosaFa no ike no soko ni mo tare ka uwekemu | A single bloom Did I think it was, but In Ōsawa Pond’s depths Who might have planted it there? |
Tomonori
2
A variant of this poem occurs in Kokinshū (V:275).
池の辺の小槻の下の小竹な刈りそねそれをだに君が形見に見つつ偲はむ
| ike no pe no wotuki no sita no sino na kari so ne sore wo dani kimi ga katami ni mitutu sinopamu |
Beside the pond, Beneath the young zelkova tree, Reap not the arrow bamboo! For that, alone, Is my keepsake of you, and I would gaze on it and remember what is gone… |
Hitomaro kashū
人麻呂歌集
A poem presented to Imperial Prince Niitabe.
勝間田の池は我れ知る蓮なししか言ふ君が鬚なきごとし
| katumata no ike pa ware siru patisu nasi sika ipu kimi ga pige naki gotosi |
Katsumata Pond, I do know well: It has no lotus; And you say so, my Lord, Have no beard, either! |
A certain person has told me they had heard the following about this poem: Prince Niitabe had left the precincts of the capital for a pleasure trip and, on seeing Kasumata Pond, was deeply moved. On his return, his interest in the pond did not abate. Then, he said to a lady, ‘If you saw Katsumata Pond, where I went today, words could not describe the sight of the light reflecting brilliantly from the surface of the waters, and special beauty of the lotus flowers, which were in full bloom.’ Then the lady composed this humourous poem and sang it to him.
When he had first gone to the residence of the former Regent and Rokujō Minister, and people were composing on the conception of long clear pond waters.
今年だに鏡と見ゆる池水の千世経てすまむ影ぞゆかしき
| kotosi dani kagami to miyuru ikemidu no tiyo Fete sumamu kage zo yukasiki |
Especially this year A mirror it does seem: This pond water – Clear through the passage of a thousand ages, How I long for its light! |
Fujiwara no Norinaga
藤原範永
Composed on frogs for a poetry competition held at the residence of the Kokiden Consort in Chōkyū 2 [1041].
みがくれて集く蛙の諸声に騒ぎぞわたる池の浮草
| migakurete sudaku kaFadu no morogowe ni sawagi zo wataru ike no ukikusa |
Concealing themselves The swarming frogs’ Chorus Drifts loudly across The pond’s floating weeds |
Ryōsen
良暹
Left (Tie).
もろ聲にいたくな鳴きそさもこそはうき沼の池のかはづ成とも
| morogoe ni itaku na naki so samo koso wa ukinu no ike no kawazu naritomo |
O, that in such a chorus They would not sing! However much A swamp the pond of Frogs may be! |
167
Right (Tie).
夜とゝもに浪の下にて鳴くかはづ何ゆへ深き恨みなるらん
| yo to tomo ni nami no shita nite naku kawazu nani yue fukaki urami naruran |
With nightfall from Beneath the wavelets Call the frogs; For what are such depths Of despair… |
168
Once again, neither team has anything special to say this round.
Shunzei’s judgement is, ‘Both poems are similar in expression, mentioning “frogs” (kawazu), “swamp” (ukinu) and “depths of despair” (fukaki urami). The round should tie.’
Left (Tie).
春風に池の氷や解けぬらん待たれぬ浪の花を見る哉
| haru kaze ni ike no kôri ya tokenuran matarenu nami no hana o miru kana |
In the breath of spring Will the ice upon the pond Melt? Unanticipated blossom touched Waves come into view… |
31
Right (Tie).
鶯のなみだのつらゝ聲ながらたよりにさそへ春の山水
| uguisu no namida no tsurara koe nagara tayori ni sasoe haru no yama mizu |
The bush warbler’s Tears of ice, And song, Issue an invitation! To the mountain waters this springtime… |
32
The Right team have no comments to make about the Left’s poem this round, but the Left wonder whether the essence of the poem, of the warbler’s ‘tears of ice’ and song inviting the waters, might not be a bit much?
Shunzei remarks that the form and phrasing of the Left’s poem is ‘certainly charming’, and echoes their criticism of the Right’s poem, as having an ‘impossible essence’. He then goes on to say, ‘The Left is placidly charming; the Right’s essence must be excessive. They are equivalent and I judge this round a tie.’
