Tag Archives: shika

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 59

Left

あき山に恋する鹿の声たてて鳴きぞしぬべき君がこぬよは

akiyama ni
koisuru shika no
koe tatete
naki zo shinubeki
kimi ga konu yo wa
In the autumn mountains
A loving stag
Cries out,
I could die from weeping
On nights you fail to come to call…

116[1]

Right

契りけむ心ぞつらき七夕の年にひとたびあふは逢ふかは

chigiriken
kokoro zo tsuraki
tanabata no
toshi ni hito tabi
au wa au ka wa
The vow
Of a pitiless heart:
The Weaver Maid,
But once a year
Will meet; can it be true?

Fujiwara no Okikaze

117[2]


[1] Shokukokinshū XII: 1194/Shinsen man’yōshū 119

[2] Kokinshū IV: 178/Shinsen man’yōshū 460/Kokin rokujō I: 143

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 42

Left

おく山に紅葉ふみわけ鳴く鹿の声きく時ぞ秋はかなしき

okuyama ni
momiji fumiwake
naku shika no
koe kiku toki zo
aki wa kanashiki
Deep within the mountains
Forging through the scarlet  leaves
When a belling stag’s
Cry I hear, indeed,
Autumn is so sad.

82

Right

わがために来る秋にしもあらなくに虫の音聞けば先ぞかなしき

wa ga tame ni
kuru aki ni shimo
aranaku ni
mushi no ne kikeba
saki zo kanashiki
Not for my sake
Has autumn come
And yet,
When the insects’ cries I hear
What lies ahead is sad, indeed.

83

Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase 24

ひとしれぬなみだやそらにくもりつつあきのしぐれとふりまさるらむ[1]

hito shirenu
namida ya sora ni
kumoritsutsu
aki no shigure to
furimasaruramu
Unknown to all
With tears the skies
Are ever clouded;
The autumn drizzle
Seems to fall the harder.

47

あきくれば山とよむまでなくしかに我おとらめやひとりぬるよは

aki kureba
yama toyomu made
naku shika ni
ware otorame ya
hitori nuru yo wa
When the autumn comes
The mountains echo with
The belling stags;
Will they lose to me
These nights I sleep alone?

48


[1] This poem appears in Fubokushō (5546), where it is attributed to [Ariwara no] Motokata.

Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase 15

山ざとは秋こそものはかなしけれねざめねざめにしかはなきつつ

yamazato wa
aki koso mono wa
kanashikere
nezame nezame ni
shika wa nakitsutsu
A mountain retreat in
Autumn is much more
Sad;
Waking, ever waking
To the stags constant cries…

29

ことのねをかぜのしらべにまかせてはたつたひめこそあきはひくらし

koto no ne o
kaze no shirabe ni
makasete wa
tatsustahime koso
aki wa hikurashi
A zither’s strains
By the wind tuned
Up—
Princess Tatsuta
Is plucking out the notes of autumn, it seems.

30

Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase 14

あさぎりにかたまどはしてなくかりのこゑぞたえせぬ秋の山べは

asagiri ni
kata madowashite
naku kari no
koe zo taesenu
aki no yamabe wa
In the morning mists
Having lost their way,
Crying, the geese
Call out ceaselessly
From the autumn mountain meadows.

27

山ざとはあきこそことにかなしけれしかのなくねにめをさましつつ[1]

yamazato wa
aki koso koto ni
kanashikere
shika no naku ne ni
me o samashitsutsu
In a mountain retreat
The autumn, especially,
Is lonely.
The belling of the stags
Continually awakens me.

28


[1] This poem also occurs in Kokinshū (IV: 214), where it is attributed to [Mibu no] Tadamine.

KKS XII: 582

A poem from the Poetry Contest at Prince Koresada’s house.

秋なれば山とよむまでなく鹿に我おとらめやひとり寝る夜は

aki nareba
yama toyomu made
naku sika ni
ware otorame ya
Fitori nuru yo Fa
When the autumn comes
Until the very mountains resound
Do bell the stags, but
Are their cries any less than mine,
Sleeping alone tonight…

Anonymous

Love VIII: 24

Left (Tie)
この比の心の底をよそに見ば鹿鳴く野邊の秋の夕暮

kono koro no
kokoro no soko o
yoso ni miba
shika naku nobe no
aki no yūgure
Of late
Of the depths of my heart
Were you to catch a distant glimpse:
A stag belling in the meadow
On an autumn evening…

A Servant Girl
1067

Right
暮れかゝる裾野の露に鹿鳴きて人待つ袖も涙そふ也

kurekakaru
susono no tsuyu ni
shika nakite
hito matsu sode mo
namida sou nari
Twilight
Drapes dewfall on the mountains’ skirts,
With a stag’s sad cry;
Awaiting him, my sleeves, too,
Are wet with tears.

Nobusada
1068

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

In judgement: it would be impossible to ever exhaust the overtones of feeling in ‘a stag belling in the meadow on an autumn evening’ (shika naku nobe no aki no yūgure) in the Left’s poem; in the Right’s poem the configuration and conception of ‘awaiting him, my sleeves, too, are wet with tears’ (hito matsu sode mo namida sou nari) is richly evocative. I find it extremely hard to put both poems down, so this round, again, is a tie of quality.