Tag Archives: springtime

Kyōgoku no miyasudokoro uta’awase 07

Original

わかなつむとしはへぬれどかすがのののもりはけふやはるをしるらむ

wakana tsumu
toshi wa henuredo
kasugano no
nomori wa kyō ya
haru o shiruramu
Plucking fresh herbs do
The years pass by, yet
On Kasuga Plain,
The wardens today
Must truly know ‘tis spring. [1]

Mitsune
19

Left (Tie)

けふ見てぞわれはしりぬるはなはなほかすがののべのものにぞありける

kyō mite zo
ware wa shirinuru
hana wa nao
kasuga no nobe no
mono ni zo arikeru
Today did I see, and
Understood it well, that
Blossom, truly,
Upon the meadows of Kasuga
Is best of all.

20

Right

ありへてもかすがののもりはるにあふはとしもわかなもつめるしるしか

arihete mo
kasuga no nomori
haru ni au wa
toshi mo wakana mo
tsumeru shirushi ka
Over passing ages,
For the wardens of Kasuga,
Encountering the springtime,
The years and the fresh herbs, both,
Have garnered as a sign, perhaps.

21


[1] A variant of this poem occurs in Shokugosenshū: In the twenty-first year of the same era, on a day when the Kyōgoku Lady of the Bedchamber visited the shrine at Kasuga, he composed this in place of the official from the province of Yamato. としごとにわかなつみつつかすが野ののもりもけふやはるをしるらん toshi goto ni / wakana tsumitsutsu / kasugano no / nomori mo kyō ya / haru o shiruran ‘Every single year / Ever plucking fresh herbs / On Kasuga Plain / The wardens, too, today / Must truly know ‘tis spring.’Mitsune (XVI: 1032/1029)

Kyōgoku no miyasudokoro uta’awase 06

Original

うぐひすのなきつるなへにかすがののけふのみゆきをはなとこそみれ

uguisu no
nakitsuru nae ni
kasugano no
kyō no miyuki o
hana to koso mire
While the warbler
Sings on
Kasuga Plain
Today, accompanying the progress, snow
As blossom does appear.[1]

16

Left (Win)

いまはしもはなとぞいはむかすがののはるのみゆきをなにとかは見む

ima wa shimo
hana to zo iwamu
kasugano no
haru no miyuki o
nani to ka wa mimu
Now, of all,
The blossom, I would describe,
On Kasuga Plain, as
Springtime progress snow—
What else can I say?

17

Right

ふるさとにゆきまじりたるはなと見ばわれにおくるなのべのうぐひす

furusato ni
yukimajiritaru
hana to miba
ware ni okuru na
nobe no uguisu
Around the ancient capital
Have I gone amidst the snow—
If as blossom I did see it, then,
O, don’t send me off,
Warbler upon the plain!

18


[1] SIS 1044 attributed to Fujiwara no Tadafusa ‘Headnote ‘Among the many poems presented by provincial officials, when the Kyōgoku Lady of the Bedchamber visited Kasuga.’

Daikōtaigōgū daijin kiyosuke-ason ke uta’awase 30

Round Thirty

Personal Grievances

Left (Tie)

としをへて梅も桜もさくものを我が身のはるにまちぞかねぬる

toshi o hete
ume mo sakura mo
saku mono o
wa ga mi no haru ni
machi zo kanenuru
The years go by and
The plum and cherry, too,
Burst into bloom, yet
For the springtime of my sorry self
It is so hard to have waited!

Kiyosuke
59

Right

数ならで年へぬる身は今さらに世をうしとだにおもはざりけり

kazu narade
toshi henuru mi wa
ima sara ni
yo o ushi to dani
omowazarikeri
Innumerable are
The years I’ve passed, but
Right now, that
The world is a cruel place, even
I do not think.

Shun’e
60

Both of these have no faults to point out, but also no superlative parts either.

Daikōtaigōgū daijin kiyosuke-ason ke uta’awase 04

Round Four

Left (Win)

春の夜はいこそねられねねやちかき梅のにほひにおどろかれつつ

haru no yo wa
i koso nerarene
neya chikaki
ume no nioi ni
odorokaretsutsu
On a night in springtime
I cannot sleep at all, for
Close by my bedchamber
The scent of plum
Ever wakes me from my slumber…

Norimori
7

Right

さ夜ふかみ旅ねの床にかをらずは梅さく宿といかでしらまし

sayo fukami
tabine no toko ni
ka orazu wa
ume saku yado to
ikade shiramashi
Deep within brief night
In a traveller’s bed
No scent reaches me, yet
That plum blooms at this dwelling—
How is it I might know?

Kenshō
8

The Left is particularly evocative. The Right is from an old poetry match.

Daikōtaigōgū daijin kiyosuke-ason ke uta’awase 03

Plum

Round Three

Left (Tie)

あしがきのおくゆかしくもみゆるかな誰がすむ宿の梅の立えぞ

ashigaki no
oku yukashiku mo
miyuru kana
ta ga sumu yado no
ume no tachie zo
A fence of reeds and
Within, how charming
They appear!
Who is it dwells at this house of
Beckoning branches of plum?

Lord Kiyosuke
5

Right

ひばりあがる春の日ぐらし袖たれてかきねの梅の花みるわれは

hibari agaru
haru no higurashi
sode tarete
kakine no ume no
hana miru ware wa
Skylarks soar
In springtime all day long,
Dangling my sleeves, upon
The plum inside the lattice fence,
At the blossom gaze I…

Kenshō
6

The Left is in cliched style, while the final line of the Right is interrupted—a tie, I think.

Daikōtaigōgū daijin kiyosuke-ason ke uta’awase 02

Round Two

Left

鶯は春をしりてもなきぬなる我が身は春をしらでこそなけ

uguisu wa
haru o shiritemo
nakinunaru
wa ga mi wa haru o
shirade koso nake
The warbler
Knowing of the springtime
Cries out, but
My sorry self, of spring
All unknowing, cries.

Masashige
3

Right (Win)

杣人よをののおとしばしとどめなん谷の鶯はつねなくなり

somabito yo
ono no oto shibashi
todomenan
tani no uguisu
hatsune nakunari
O, woodcutter,
Your axe’s sound, briefly
Won’t you stop?
For the warbler in the valley
Has let out his first call…

Kenshō
4

The Left’s poem, too, is smooth; the Right poem’s diction is halting, but its conception does not sound bad. It should win, I’d say.

Entō ōn’uta’awase 14

Round Fourteen

Left (Win)

ちりちらず花より外の色ぞなきかさなる山の嶺の春風

chiri chirazu
hana yori hoka no
iro zo naki
kasanaru yama no
mine no harukaze
Scattered, or not,
Other than the blossoms’
Hues are there none
Layered upon the mountain
Peaks by the breeze in springtime.[1]

Shō
27

Right

かづらきやたかまの山はうづもれて空に棚引く春のしら雲

kazuragi ya
takama no yama wa
uzumorete
sora ni tanabiku
haru no shirakumo
In Kazuragi
Takama Mountain
Is buried by
Trailing across the skies
Clouds of white in springtime.

Nagatsuna
28

The Left’s poem appears fine. The Right’s poem, having ‘Takama Mountain is buried’ is both pretentious and does not link to anything. The Left must win.


[1] An allusive variation on: On a folding screen for the Kamo Virgin, for the place showing people going along a mountain path. ちりちらずきかまほしきをふるさとの花見て帰る人もあはなん chiri chirazu / kikamahoshiki o / furusato no / hana mitekaeru / hito mo awanan ‘Are they scattered, or not, is / What I would ask, but / The ancient estate’s / Blossom having seen and returned— / Those folk I would have you meet.’ Ise (SIS I: 49)

Kinkai wakashū 104

On geese flying over a place where the blossom was scattering, for a folding screen picture.

雁がねのかへる翅にかをるなり花をうらむる春の山かぜ

kari ga ne no
kaeru tubasa ni
kaoru nari
hana o uramuru
haru no yamakaze
Geese cry, as
Homeward bound, their wings
Are fragrant with
Blossom borne by the regretful
Mountain breeze in springtime.
A kuzushiji version of the poem's text.
Created with Soan.