今来むと契りしほどの夕暮は荻のは風ぞ人頼めなる
| ima komu to chigirishi hodo no yūgure wa ogi no ha kaze zo hito tanomenaru | That he would come now He did vow, but On that evening The wind passing o’er the silver grass fronds Alone was faithful to me! |
Fujiwara no Akinaka
Tag Archives: silver grass
Horikawa hyakushu 674
SZS IV: 226
Love V: 24
Left.
葦垣の上吹越ゆる夕風に通ふもつらき荻の音かな
| ashigaki no ue fukikoyuru yūkaze ni kayou mo tsuraki ogi no oto kana |
The rush-wood fence is Brushed over By the evening breeze; So hard, its coming In the sound of the silver grass… |
A Servant Girl
887
Right (Win).
葦垣の間近き程に住む人のいつか隔てぬ中となるべき
| ashigaki no majikaki hodo ni sumu hito no itsuka hedatenu naka to narubeki |
The rush-wood fence: So near She lives; When will unblocked Our bond be? |
The Provisional Master of the Empress’ Household Office
888
The Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults. The Left state: the Right’s poem is old-fashioned.
In judgement: both poems start with ‘rush-wood fence’ (ashigaki); the Left’s sound of the silver grass passed over by the evening wind sounds pleasant, but simply saying that the sound is hard means that the conception of Love in the poem is weak. While the initial section of the Right’s poem does sound antiquated, it is quite normal for this to be the case, and the lower section is certainly elegant. The conception of Love also seems clear, so the Right should win.
KYS VIII: 449
Sent to a man with whom she had conversed, when she had heard nothing from him for a long time.
萱葺きのこや忘らるるつまならむ久しく人の音づれもせぬ
| kayabuki no koya wasuraruru tuma naramu Fisasiku Fito no wotodure mo senu |
Is silver-grass the thatch for The ancient hut where a forgotten Wife does dwell? Long has it been With no word from you… |
Hizen, from the household of the Former Ise Virgin
前斎宮肥前
GSIS XII: 728
SIS XIV: 886
MYS X: 2283
Love IV: 23
Left (Win).
君もまた夕や分きて眺むらん忘れず拂ふ荻の風哉
| kimi mo mata yūbe ya wakite nagamuran wasurezu harau ogi no kaze kana |
Are you, once more, my darling, Spending this evening On thoughts of love? Faithfully sweeps The wind across the silver-grass… |
A Servant Girl.
825
Right.
時しもあれ悲しかりける思ひかな秋の夕に人は忘れじ
| toki shi mo are kanashikarikeru omoi kana aki no yūbe ni hito wa wasureji |
Of all the times there are, now Does sadness Most fill my thoughts; On an autumn evening Unable to forget her… |
Ietaka.
826
The Right state: we wonder about the appropriateness of ‘faithfully sweeps’ (wasurezu harau). The Left state: while the Right’s poem is in keeping with the conception of the topic, it seem as if the reference to ‘evening’ serves little purpose.
In judgement: the Left’s ‘Spending this evening on thoughts of love’ (yūbe ya wakite nagamuran) is appropriate, but I find ‘The wind across the silver-grass’ (ogi no kaze) somewhat problematic. The initial section of the Right’s poem, too, is not bad, but saying ‘On an autumn evening unable to forget her’ (aki no yūbe ni hito wa wasureji) suggests that forgetting is the norm, and I wonder about that. The Left wins on account of its initial section.
Love III: 15
Left (Win.)
侘びつゝは音する風のつてもかが荻の上葉の枯果てぬとも
| wabitsutsu wa otosuru kaze no tsute mo gana ogi no uwaba no karehatenu tomo |
Sunk in constant grief A whispered wind-borne Word would do; though The fronds of silver-grass Have withered all away… |
749
Right.
あさましや淵とせく瀬の末だにもかく絶果つる程は見えぬを
| asamashi ya fuchi to seku se no sue dani mo kaku taehatsuru hodo wa mienu o |
How unexpected! The flow dammed into a pool Has reached an end; That it would cease so It never did seem… |
750
The Right state: it sounds as if the silver-grass after withering make no sound. The Left state: the expression ‘flow dammed into a pool’ (fuchi to seku se) is odd.
In judgement: the Left is not saying that silver-grass makes no sound after withering, but that there is no wind. The Right’s ‘flow dammed into a pool’ is certainly not poor, but the final section sounds clumsy. The Left’s poem is better. It should win.