Tag Archives: rain

Naidaijin-ke uta’awase 02

Round Two

Left (T – Tie; M – Win)

あやしくも時雨にかへる袂かなゐなの笠はらさして行けども

ayashiku mo
shigure ni kaeru
tamoto kana
ina no kasawara
sashite yukedomo
How strange that
From the shower I shelter
Beneath my sleeves!
Though into the umbrella of the dwarf-bamboo groves of Ina
Is where I’m heading…

A Court Lady
3

Right

ぬるれども嬉しくもあるか紅葉ばの色増す雨の雫とおもへば

nuredomo
ureshiku mo aru ka
momijiba no
iro masu ame no
shizuku to omoeba
Soaked, yet
Happy am I!
For the scarlet leaves
Take on brighter hues with these rain
Drops, I feel…

Lord Akikuni
4

Toshiyori states: The first poem’s section on ‘the umbrella of the dwarf-bamboo groves of Ina’ is well expressed, but then is ‘shower I shelter’ referring to clothing? The second poem can be read as meaning that the speaker is happily being soaked by raindrops standing beneath scarlet leaves on one particular day, but getting drenched by any old shower, even if it’s one which stains leaves scarlet is not something that would make one happy and, sounds tedious. Both poems sound vague, so they should tie.

Mototoshi states: ‘the shower I shelter / Beneath my sleeves’ is better than ‘Happy am I!’

Aru tokoro no shunjū mondō uta’awase

Question and Response Poetry Contest on Spring and Autumn held in a Certain Place[1]

It is entirely unclear whether this fragment of a match is an offcut of another event, such as Sadafumi uta’awase 貞文歌合 (dates unknown) or Tsurayuki uta’awase 貫之歌合 (939), in which case one can suppose the poems formed part of a larger consideration of the seasons. Another possibility, however, is that this is taken from a selection of his own poems by Ōshikōchi no Mitsune, with the final self-deprecatory comment being an indication of his unwillingness to take a view on the quality of his own work (Hagitani 1957, 233).

春にみなあひにし花の今日の雨に咲くをみるにぞ片負けぬべき

haru ni mina
ainishi hana no
kyō no ame ni
saku o miru ni zo
katamakenubeki
In springtime, all
The blossoms that I met,
In the rain today
I see a’blooming—
Not completely inferior at all!

1

こきまぜに花紅葉散るただ今は春秋ぞともいかがさだめむ

kokimaze ni
hana momijiba
chiru tada ima wa
haru aki zo to mo
ikaga sadamemu
All mixed together
Blossoms and scarlet leaves
Scatter so now whether
‘Tis spring or autumn,
How can I decide?

2

I had thought to write down the winner and loser, but when, in my extreme ignorance, I tried judging, embarrassingly I was unable to do it. The poems are just as in the text. Incomprehensible untruths and all.


[1] Aru tokoro no shunjū mondō uta’awase 或所春秋問答歌合

Kinkai wakashū 160

Orange blossom at an ancient estate.

いにしへをしのぶとなしにふる里のゆふべの雨ににほふたち花

inishie o
shinobu to nashi ni
furusato no
yūbe no ame ni
niou tachibana
Bygone days
I do not recall, but
At an ancient estate
In the evening rain
Comes the scent of orange blossom.[i]

[i] This poem functions as a reply to: Topic unknown. さつきまつ花橘のかをかげば昔の人の袖のかぞする satsuki matsu / hana tachibana no / ka o kageba / mukashi no hito no / sode no ka zo suru ‘Awaiting the Fifth Month / The orange blossoms’ / Scent fills the air, and / Folk from long ago / With their perfumed sleeves come back to me.’ Anonymous (KKS III: 139).

Sahyōe no suke sadafumi uta’awase 6

The Beginning of Autumn

Left (Win—in a certain book Tie)

しぐれにもあめにもあらぬはつぎりのたつにもそらはさしくもりけり

shigure ni mo
ame ni mo aranu
hatsugiri no
tatsu ni mo sora wa
sashikumorikeri
Neither a shower
Nor rain,
The first mists
Simply rise into the skies
And cover all with cloud.

11

Right

としごとにあふとはすれどたなばたのぬるよのかずぞすくなかりける

toshi goto ni
au to suredo
tanabata no
nuru yo no kazu zo
sukunakarikeru
Every year
She meets him, yet
The Weaver Maid’s
Nights of passion
Are few indeed.

Mitsune
12