Tag Archives: rapids

Hon’in sadaijin-ke uta’awase 06

Bush clover

Left

しかのこゑたかさごやまのはぎなればをりてこしよりねをやなくらん

shika no koe
takasagoyama no
hagi nareba
oritekoshi yori
ne o ya nakuran
A stag’s cry
On Takasago Mountain, where
Lies bush clover:
Might someone have come and picked her
That he lets out such cries?

11

Right

あきはぎの花のながるるかはのせにしがらみかくるしかのねもせぬ

akihagi no
hana no nagaruru
kawa no se ni
shigarami kakuru
shika no ne mo senu
Autumn bush clover
Blooms flow down
The river rapids and
Hang upon the lattice weir, and
The stag cries not at all…

12

Horikawa-in enjo awase 20

あふせをば流れてとこそたのめしかいかにとだにも音なしのたき

ause oba
nagarete to koso
tanomeshi ka
ika ni to dani mo
otonashi no taki
Our meeting, like the rapids,
Will flow on—can I
Trust in that?
However much they seem
The silenced cataract of Otonashi…

Lady Ki
39

In reply.

すみわぶる名をながさじとつつむまにしばしよどむぞ音なしの滝

sumiwaburu
na no nagasaji to
tsutsumu ma ni
shibashi yodomu zo
otonashi no taki
Living on in sorrow and
Letting no word of it flow out—
Thus wrapped up
Briefly stilled has been
The cataract of Otonashi.

Supernumerary Minor Captain Morotoki
40

Horikawa-in enjo awase 8

数ならで世に住江のみをつくしいつを待つともなき身なりけり

kazu narade
yo ni sumie no
mi o tsukushi
itsu o matsu tomo
nakimi narikeri
Countless are
The generations spent at Sumie, with
The channel buoys: exhausted
What should I await but
To be dead.

Master of the Left Capital Office Toshiyori
15

In reply

ながれてもあふせは絶えじ住江の身をつくしてもくちはててなん

nagaretemo
ause wa taeji
sumie no
mi o tsukushitemo
kuchihatetenan
Flowing on, yet
The rapids’ meetings will not cease;
At Sumie with
The channel buoys, you may be exhausted, but
Would you rot away…

Kazusa, in service to the Empress
16

A picture of channel markers in the sea.
Channel buoys. Image by Claudia Thorn from Pixabay

Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase 34

あきのむしなどわびしげにこゑのするたのめしかげに露やもりくる

aki no mushi
nado wabishige ni
koe no suru
tanomeshi kage ni
tsuyu ya morikuru
Why do the autumn insects
And more let out plaintive
Cries;
Is your trustworthy face
Drenched in dew?

67

もみぢばのながれてゆけば山がはのあさきせだにもあきはふかみぬ

momijiba no
nagareteyukeba
yamagawa no
asaki se dani mo
aki wa fukaminu
The scarlet leaves
Have come flowing, so
The mountain stream’s
Shallow rapids—even they
Are deep in autumn!

68

Love VII: 18

Left (Tie).
吉野河はやき流れを堰く岩のつれなき中に身を砕くらん

yoshinogawa
hayaki nagare o
seku iwa no
tsurenaki naka ni
mi o kudakuran
The River Yoshino’s
Swift flow is
Dammed by boulders;
With the chilling of our bond
It seems my very self will shatter…

A Servant Girl
995

Right.
ありとても逢はぬためしの名取川朽ちだにはてよ瀬せの埋れ木

ari tote mo
awanu tameshi no
natorigawa
kuchi dani hateyo
sese no mumoregi
We live, yet
Cannot meet – our situation
A source of rumours; in the River Natori
Let all rot away with
The drowned trees in the rapids!

Jakuren.
996

Both Left and Right together state: we find no faults to mention.

In judgement: both poems are extremely good. This is a tie of quality.

Love VII: 10

Left (Tie).
雲井まで續きて見ゆわたつ海の行衛知られぬ物思かな

kumoi made
tsuzukite miyu
wata tsu umi no
yukue shirarenu
mono’omoi kana
Beyond the clouds
My gaze goes on and on;
The endless sea:
What lies beyond is unknown
As my gloomy thoughts…

Lord Suetsune.
979

Right.
伊勢の海の潮瀬にさはぐさざれ石の砕けて物を思ふ比かな

ise no umi no
shiose ni sawagu
sazare’ishi no
kudakete mono o
omou koro kana
The sea at Ise:
Raging rapids with the tides,
Where pebbles
Shatter, gloom
Filling my thoughts these days…

Ietaka.
980

The Right state: the Left’s poem is clichéd. The Left state: the Right’s poem is that of Shigeyuki.

In judgement: the Left’s poem is clichéd, but in addition to this uses ‘goes on and on’ (tsuzukite), which is not something one should say. The Right’s poem is, indeed, overly close to Shigeyuki’s, so both Left and Right poem are deficient and lacking in any element allowing a win.