Tag Archives: spring haze

Entō ōn’uta’awase 7

Round Seven

Left (Tie)

けさはまたそれともみえず淡路島霞のしたに浦風ぞ吹く

kesa wa mata
sore tomo miezu
awajishima
kasumi no shita ni
urakaze zo fuku
This morning, once again,
I cannot that clearly see
Awaji Isle, but
Beneath the haze
The winds are blowing o’er the beach!

Chikanari, Ranked without Office
13

Right

春霞なびく朝けの塩風にあらぬけぶりや浦に立つらん

harugasumi
nabiku asake no
shiokaze ni
aranu keburi ya
ura ni tatsuran
Spring haze
Trails over with the morn—
Salt-fire breezes
It is not, yet does smoke
Seem to rise across the bay?

Ie’kiyo, Ranked without Office
14

Both Left and Right don’t seem bad. I make them a tie.

Teiji-in uta’awase 14

Left

さはみづにかはづなくなりやまぶきのうつろふいろやそこにみゆらむ

sawamizu ni
kawazu nakunari
yamabuki no
utsurou iro ya
soko ni miyuramu
Among the marsh waters
The frogs are crying;
The kerria’s
Fading hues—might
They see them below the surface there?

27

Right (Win)

ちりてゆくかたをだにみむはるがすみはなのあたりはたちもさらなむ

chiriteyuku
kata o dani mimu
harugasumi
hana no atari wa
tachi mo sara namu
Scattering off
If only I might see them, but
The spring haze
Around the blossoms is
Already rising!

28

Teiji-in uta’awase 05

Left (Win)

はるがすみたちしかくせばやまざくらひとしれずこそちりぬべらなれ

harugasumi
tachishi kakuseba
yamazakura
hito shirezu koso
chirinuberanare
If the spring haze
Has risen to conceal
The mountain cherries,
Then, indeed, will no one know
When they have seemed to scatter!

Tsurayuki
9

Right

たのまれぬはなのこころとおもへばやちらぬさきよりうぐひすのなく

tanomarenu
hana no kokoro to
omoeba ya
chiranu saki yori
uguisu no naku
Untrustworthy are
The blossoms’ hearts
I do think, so
While they are unscattered
Will the warbler sing.

Okikaze
10[i]

Both of these are the same—they tie.[ii]


[i] This poem is included in Shinshūishū (XI: 1549), attributed to Okikaze, with the headnote, ‘From Former Emperor Uda’s Poetry Contest’. It is also included twice in Kokin rokujō (I: 31) and (VI: 4395): in both cases the poem is attributed to Okikaze, but the first instance lacks a headnote, while the second is classified as a ‘Warbler’ poem. Finally, it is also included in Mandaishū (II: 254), again attributed to Okikaze, but this time with the headnote, ‘Topic unknown’.

[ii] Given that the Left’s poem here is marked as winning, presumably Uda means that both poems are equally worthy of a win—that is, that this is a yoki ji, a ‘tie of quality’.

Sahyōe no suke sadafumi uta’awase 3

The End of Spring

Left

をしめどもとどまらなくにはるがすみかへるみちにしたちぬとおもへば

oshimedomo
todomaranaku ni
haragasumi
kaeru michi nishi
tachinu to omoeba
Though sad am I,
There’s no stopping it:
The spring haze
On its homebound path
Has departed.

Motokata
5

Right (Win)

とどむべきものとはなしにはかなくもちるはなごとにたぐふこころか

todomubeki
mono to wa nashi ni
hakanaku mo
chiru hanagoto ni
taguu kokoro ka
That would halt them
There is nothing, yet
How hopelessly
To every scattered flower
My heart is drawn.

Mitsune
6

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 8

Left

春がすみあみにはりこめ花ちらばうつろひぬべし鶯とめよ

harugasumi
ami ni harikome
hana chiraba
utsuroinubeshi
uguisu tomeyo
The spring haze
Spreads its net to catch
The blossom—should they scatter,
And then, for sure, decline,
O, warbler, tarry a while!

15[1]

Right

春雨の色はこくしもみえなくに野辺のみどりをいかでそむらん

harusame no
iro wa koku shimo
mienaku ni
nobe no midori o
ikade somuran
The spring rain’s
Hue great depths
Does not seem to have, but
How are the meadows with green
So deeply dyed?

16[2]


[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 9; Fubokushō II: 464: ‘Haze’

[2] A minor variant of the poem, with a headnote associating it with this contest, and attributed to Ki no Tomonori, appears in Shokusenzaishū (I: 62): 春雨の色はこしともみえなくに野べのみどりをいかでそむらん harusame no / iro wa koshi tomo / mienaku ni / nobe no midori o / ikade somuran ‘The spring rain’s / Hue no great depths / Does seem to have, but / How are the meadows with green / So deeply dyed?’