Felicitations 賀
かしは木を推のしづえにをりかへてさいうさまでやふしまろぶらん
| kashiwagi o shii no shizue ni orikaete saifusa made ya fushimaroburan | An oak tree into A brushwood branch Have I twisted – Until the formal procession Will I be overcome with joy? |
Toshiyori
Tag Archives: shii
Eikyū hyakushu 375
Winter II: 15
Left (Win).
冬ごもる賤の妻木に事添ひて風も折ける嶺の椎柴
| fuyugomoru shizu no tsumaki ni koto soite kaze mo orikeru mine no shiishiba |
Hemmed in by winter, Woodsmen make kindling, Just as The wind, too, does break The brushwood on the peak. |
569
Right.
冬寒み椎の眞柴を折鎖せど宿には風もたまらざりけり
| fuyu samumi shii no mashiba o orisasedo yado ni wa kaze mo tamarazarikeri |
In winter’s chill Evergreen brushwood I break to stop my door, yet My dwelling the wind Does naught to stop… |
570
The Right wonder about the use of ‘just as’ (koto soite). The Left merely state that the Right’s poem is ‘commonplace’ [tsune no koto nari].
Shunzei’s judgement: In the Left’s poem, should it not be ‘to the woodsmen’s kindling/add, will you?’ (shizu no tsumaki ni/soeyo to ya)? Using ‘just as’ (koto soite) does not seem a suitable expression in that it sounds somewhat pompous [yōyōshiku kikoyuru hodo]. As for the Right’s poem, ‘in winter’s chill’ (fuyu samumi) is an ordinary expression. ‘I break to stop my door, yet’ (orisasedo), too, lacks strong feeling. The final section of the Left’s poem, though, sounds pleasant [yoroshiku kokoyu]. It should win.
MYS XIV: 3493
Winter II: 14
Left.
山人の便りなりとも岡邊なる椎の小枝は折ずもあらなむ
| yamabito no tayori naritomo okabenaru shii no koyade wa orazu mo aranamu |
For the mountain folk Essential they may be, but Upon the hillside The brushwood branches I would have them leave unbroken… |
567
Right.
山深く賤の折りたく椎柴の音さへ寒き朝ぼらけかな
| yama fukaku shizu no oritaku shiishiba no oto sae samuki asaborake kana |
Deep within the mountains Woodsmen break and burn The brushwood; That sound brings the chill To me this dawning… |
568
The Right wonder what the intention is in the Left’s poem of regretting the breakage of ‘brushwood branches’. The Left say that the Right’s poem, ‘recalls a famous poem by one of the other gentlemen of the Right.’
Shunzei’s judgement: Simply using the old-fashioned koyade in place of the more current shiishiba does not improve the sound of the poem, I think. Starting ‘Deep within the mountains’ (yama fukaku) and then continuing ‘Woodsmen break and burn’ (shizu no oritaku) – is this supposed to convey the conception of felling trees [shiba o koru kokoro ni ya]? I hardly think that if one lived in the mountains, the sound of trees being cut and burnt would make one feel the chill. The diction of ‘deep within the mountains’ does not seem appropriate [‘yama fukaku’ no kotoba, kanai mo sezaru]. Given that it does sound old-fashioned, koyade does not sound like a winner, either. The poems are of equal quality.
MYS II: 142
家にあれば笥に盛る飯を草枕旅にしあれば椎の葉に盛る
| ipe ni areba keni moru ipi wo kusamakura tabi ni shi areba sipi no pa ni moru |
When I am at home The pots are full of rice, but Pillowed on the grass On this journey now Only the chinquapin leaves are plentiful… |
Prince Arima
有間皇子