道芝の露におきゐる人により我が手枕の袖もかわかず
| michishiba no tsuyu ni oki’iru hito ni yori wa ga tamakura no sode mo kawakazu |
The roadside grasses Dewfall On him Make my pillow – His sleeve undrying. |
Izumi Shikibu
Tag Archives: sleeve
Winter II: 23
Left (Win).
埋火のあたりの円居飽かぬ間は夜床の衾よそにこそ見れ
| uzumibi no atari no matoi akanu ma wa yodoko no fusuma yoso ni koso mire |
A charcoal fire-pit, And friendly folk gathered around: While I would not have it end My night time bedding Seems of little point! |
585
Right.
片敷きの袖冴え渡る冬の夜は床に衾の甲斐も無きかな
| katashiki no sode saewataru fuyu no yo wa toko ni fusuma no kai mo naki kana |
Just my single Sleeve is so chill On this winter’s night, The blankets on my bed Seem to do no good at all… |
586
The Gentlemen of the Right state: we wonder about the use of ‘bedding of little point’ (fusuma yoso ni)? The Gentlemen of the Left state: we find no faults in the Right’s poem.
Shunzei’s judgement: Both poems are on ‘bedding’ (fusuma), with the Left saying that it seems of little purpose at a gathering around a charcoal fire-pit, and the Right, that it seems to be thin when the cold comes. So, we go from it doing no good, even if you do have it on, to it being pointless when you are happy and warm. What point are these poems trying to make, I wonder? The Left should win.
Summer II: 1
Left (Win).
裏もなき名立ながら夏衣たもとに風はなを隔てけり
| ura mo naki natachinagara natsugoromo tamoto ni kaze wa nao hedatekeri |
Unlined By repute is Summer garb, But this sleeve to the wind Does pose some hindrance. |
241
Right.
夏衣ひとへなれども中なかにあつさぞまさる裏となりける
| natsugoromo hitoe naredomo nakanaka ni atsusa zo masaru ura to narikeru |
Summer garb Is but a single layer, yet This slight Heat overpowers To lie beneath it. |
242
The Right team state that they ‘cannot comprehend the use of “by repute” (natachinagara)’, while the Left counter that they ‘do not understand the use of “slight” (nakanaka ni) before saying that the heat gets under one’s clothing.’
Shunzei responds by stating, ‘The Left’s “by repute” is simply a conventional companion to the statement that summer garb is but a single layer – that is just what one says. It would also seem to suggest the rise of a rumour about an affair, would it not? Nor is there any reason to be puzzled by the Right’s statement of heat beneath one’s clothes; I do wonder, though about “slight” in conjunction with “this heat” (atsusa zo). Thus, even though the rumour in the Left’s poem is unclear, its concluding line is most fine, and it should be the winner.’