Tag Archives: Sato

Kyōgoku no miyasudokoro uta’awase 08

Original

きみしなほかくしかよはばいそのかみふるきみやこもふりじとぞおもふ

kimi shi nao
kaku shi kayowaba
isonokami
furuki miyako mo
furiji to zo omou
O, my Lady,
Should you thus ever visit
Isonokami, where at
Furu, the ancient capital, too,
Never stales, I feel![1]

Mitsune
22

Left (Win)

かよふともしられじものをふるさとはかすがのやまのふもとならねば

kayou tomo
shirareji mono o
furusato wa
kasuga no yama no
fumoto naraneba
To ever visit there is something
Folk might not know, for
The ancient capital
Among Kasuga Mountain’s
Foothills does not lie…

23

Right

はるごとにきてはみるともいそのかみふりにしさとのなにはかはらじ

haru goto ni
kite wa miru tomo
isonokami
furinishi sato no
nani wa kawaraji
Every single spring
I come to gaze, yet
At Isonokami,
Furu’s ancient capital
Does nothing ever change?

24


[1] A variant of this poem occurs in Mitsune’s personal collection: When the Priestly Emperor’s Rokujō Lady of the Bedchamber visited Kasuga, I met and conversed with Lord Tadafusa, the Governor of Yamato, and he mentioned that he had been asked to compose eight quality poems in the name of his province, so I sent him two of my own. The date was the 7th day of the Third Month, Engi 21 [17.4.921]. きくになほかくしかよはばいそのかみふるきみやこもふりしとぞおもふ kiku ni nao / kaku shi kayowaba / isonokami / furuki Miyako mo / furishi to zo omou ‘O, I hear that / Should you ever thus visit / Isonokami, where at / Furu, the ancient capital, too, / Has grown old, I feel.’(Mitsune-shū 323)

Entō ōn’uta’awase 17

Round Seventeen

Cuckoos

Left (Tie)

さのみやは心あるべき時鳥ね覚の空に一声もがな

sanomi ya wa
kokoro arubeki
hototogisu
nezame no sora ni
hitogoe mogana
Not much of
The heart can you know,
O, cuckoo, but
On waking from the sky
I would hear a single call.

A Court Lady
33

Right

やはた山むかひの里の郭公しのびしかたの声もかはらず

yawatayama
mukai no sato no
hototogisu
shinobishi kata no
koe mo kawarazu
By Yawata Mountain,
At the estate of Mukai,
A cuckoo,
Fondly remembers someone
With a changeless song!

Lord Ietaka
34

The Left’s poem would seem to fail to reflect the essential meaning of the topic of cuckoos by having it not yet being heard, and thus its overall technique seems dreadful. The Right’s poem also lacks any superlative elements, they must tie.

SKKS VII: 748

A folk song about the village of Asahi in Ōmi Province, performed at the eastern celebration of the Great Thanksgiving Service in Chōwa 5 [1016].

あかねさす朝日のさとのひかげぐさ豊明のかざしなるべし

akane sasu
asahi no sato no
hikagegusa
toyo no akari no
kazashi narubeshi
Shining madder red
Morning sun rises over Asahi village,
Sunlight upon the ground pines, for
The banquets, ever lit,
A fine hair decoration!

Sukechika, Master of Service
祭主輔親

Entō ōn’uta’awase 02

Round Two

Left (Tie)

大はらやをしほの里の朝霞ゆききになれし春ぞ忘れぬ

ōhara ya
oshio no sato no
asagasumi
yukiki ni nareshi
haru zo wasurenu
In Ōhara
At Oshio estate among
The morning haze
Accustomed to go back and forth,
Never will I forget that springtime!

The Former Minister of the Centre
3

Right

浦人のしほやく里のあさ霞春の物とやわかでみるらん

urabito no
shio yaku sato no
asagasumi
haru no mono to ya
wakade miruran
Folk dwelling by the bay
Roasting salt in their village:
The morning haze
From a scene in spring ‘tis
Hard to distinguish, is it not?[1]

Kozaishō
4

The Left’s poem composes ‘Oshio estate among the morning haze accustomed to go back and forth’ and, in addition to seeming to have some feeling in it, displays fine configuration and diction, while the Right’s poem ‘From as scene in spring ‘tis hard to distinguish, is it not?’ recollects Narihira’s poem ‘a scene from spring: ever-falling rain to gaze upon all day’ and has a gentle air about it, so both are difficult to distinguish from each other. I make this a tie.


[1] An allusive variation on KKS XIII: 616.