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Nishinomiya uta'awase

Nishinomiya uta’awase 06

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Round Six

Left

雲かかる高志のやまの明暮に妻まどはせるを鹿鳴くなり

kumo kakaru
takashi no yama no
akegure ni
tsuma madowaseru
oshika naku nari		All hung about with cloud
On Takashi Mountain
In the gloaming
Having lost his mate
A stag bells out.

Nakamasa
11

Right

山がつの先あかつきをしりがほに裾野に出でて鹿ぞ鳴くなる

yamagatsu no
mazu akatsuki o
shirigao ni
susono ni idete
shika zo naku naru		A mountain man
First of all, that ‘tis dawn
Knows plain upon his face,
As he sets out upon the slopes
As a stag bells out!

Head
12

The Left poem’s conclusion, ‘Having lost his mate / A stag bells out’ seems no different from that of a poem by Gō no Jijū in poetry match held by the First Princess.[1] As for the poem of the Right’s ‘A mountain man / Awaits the dawn / Knowing plain upon his face’—what on earth might a mountain man look like while waiting for dawn? There is the tale of Hangu Pass in Cathay, where the barrier guard was waiting for dawn and opened the gate after hearing a cock’s crow, but the expression ‘a mountain man awaits the dawn’ has never appeared before in a poem—either one of Cathay or in the words of Yamato, so I feel that both Left and Right lack any superlative qualities.

[1] Stags. をぐら山たちどもみえぬゆふぎりにつままどはせるしかぞなくなる　ogurayama / tachidomo mienu / yūgiri ni / tsuma madowaseru / shika zo nakunaru ‘On gloomy Ogura Mountain / Stands unseen / Among the evening mists / Having lost his mate / A belling stag.’ (Yūshi naishinnō-ke uta’awase eishō go-nen 27). This event was held at the residence of Imperial Princess Sukeko (Yūshi) on the 5th day of the Sixth Month, Eishō 5 [26.10.1050]. The poem won its round, and was later included in Goshūishū (IV: 292).

Entō ōn'uta'awase

Entō ōn’uta’awase 40

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Round Forty

Left (Win)

山もとの杜のしめ縄ながきよを秋のをしかの鳴きあかすらん

yamamoto no
mori no shimenawa
nagaki yo o
aki no oshika no
nakiakasuran		At the mountains’ foot lies
A sacred grove with garlands
Long as the nights
In autumn when the stag
Bells in the dawn.

Tomoshige
79

Right

なよ竹のよながき秋の山風に幾たび鹿のね覚しつらん

nayotake no
yo nagaki aki no
yamakaze ni
ikutabi shika no
nezameshitsuran		Green bamboo with
Knots as apart as the autumn night is long,
While with the mountain wind
How many times might the stag
Have awakened?[1]

Dharma Master Zenshin
80

The Left’s poem has ‘at the mountains’ foot lies a sacred grove with garlands long as the nights’ which sounds pleasant. The Right has ‘knots as apart as the autumn night is long, while with the mountain wind’—these, too, seem to have no clear winner or loser, yet still, the Left should be superior and should win.[2]

[1] An allusive variation on: Composed when the gentlemen in the Crown Prince’s service were presented with wine, on the occasion of Tadafusa being appointed Secretary of an embassy to China, during the reign of the Kanpyō emperor. なよ竹のよながきうへにはつしものおきゐて物を思ふころかな nayotake no / yo nagaki  ue ni / hatsushimo no / oki’ite mono o / omou koro kana ‘Green bamboo with / Knots as far apart as the night is long / While the first frost settles on my active / Thoughts these days!’ Fujiwara no Tadafusa (KKS XVIII: 993)

Entō ōn'uta'awase

Entō ōn’uta’awase 39

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Round Thirty-Nine

Left (Tie)

さをしかのふしどをあさみ吹く風に夜半に鳴く音ぞふかくなりゆく

saoshika no
fushido o asami
fuku kaze ni
yowa ni naku ne zo
fukaku nariyuku		The stag’s
Resting place disturbed by
The gusting wind
At midnight his belling cry
Comes from deeper in the mountains.

Chikanari
77

Right

さらでだにね覚かなしき秋風に夜しもなどか鹿の鳴くらん

sarade dani
nezame kanashiki
akikaze ni
yoru shimo nado ka
shika no nakuran		Even were it not so,
To waken is so sad
With the cruel autumn wind;
Why is it that above all at night
The stag should cry so?

Ie’kiyo
78

The Left poem’s ‘at midnight his belling cry comes from deeper’ does not sound especially elegant. The Right poem composes ‘why is it that above all at night the stag should cry so’, sounding like it is only at night that stags bell, but stags do this all the time in autumn. The Ancient and Modern also has the composition, ‘Mud-daubers buzzing / In the autumn bush clover; / Leaving with morning’.[1] The poems of Left and Right have no merits or faults between them—they should tie.

[1] This is a quotation from: Topic unknown. すがるなく秋のはぎはらあさたちて旅行く人をいつとかまたむ sugaru naku / aki no hagiwara / asa tachite / tabi yuku hito o / itsu to ka matan ‘Mud-daubers buzzing / In the autumn bush clover; / Leaving with morning, / Away on a journey: for him, / How long must I wait?’ Anonymous (KKS VIII: 366)

Entō ōn'uta'awase

Entō ōn’uta’awase 38

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Round Thirty-Eight

Left

今更にふしもさだめぬ鹿の音よ木葉の数のつもるよごとに

ima sara ni
fushi mo sadamenu
shika no ne yo
ko no ha no kazu no
tsumoru goto ni		At around this time,
With his bedding undecided,
The stag bells out!
Just as the leaves’ from on the trees numbers
Do mount up…

Shō
75

Right (Win)

木葉ちる夜半の嵐の月影に心すみてや鹿も鳴くらん

ko no ha chiru
yowa no arashi no
tsukikage ni
kokoro sumite ya
shika mo nakuran		Leaves scatter from the trees
In the midnight storm
In the moonlight
From his wild and earthy thoughts
Does the stag, too, cry out?

Nagatsuna
76

The Left’s ‘just as the leaves from on the trees numbers do mount up’ at night and so forth, appears to be a novel style, yet the Right poem sounds more gorgeous, so it wins.

Entō ōn'uta'awase

Entō ōn’uta’awase 37

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Round Thirty-Seven

Left (Tie)

むば玉のよやふけぬらんさをしかの声すみのぼるをのの草ぶし

mubatama no
yo ya fukenuran
saoshika no
koe suminoboru
ono no kusabushi		Might lily-seed dark
Night have fallen?
The stag’s
Cry clearly climbs
From where he lies among the meadow grasses.

Takasuke
73

Right

秋のよはつまどふ鹿の深山出でていまだ旅なるをのの草ぶし

aki no yo wa
tsumadou shika no
miyama idete
imada tabi naru
ono no kusabushi		On an autumn night,
Seeking his bride, the stag
Emerges from the mountains’ depths,
And now on his travels
Lies among the meadow grasses.

Shimotsuke
74

Left and Right’s ‘lies among the meadow grasses’ have no merits or faults between them. A pleasant tie.

Entō ōn'uta'awase

Entō ōn’uta’awase 36

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Round Thirty-Six

Left

秋をおもふ涙やもろき夕月夜木葉がくれに鹿ぞ鳴くなる

aki o omou
namida ya moroki
yūzukuyo
ko no hagakure ni
shika zo nakunaru		Filled with autumn feelings
Do tears drip down?
On a moonlit evening
Hidden ‘mong the leafy trees,
A stag does call.

Dōchin
71

Right (Win)

を山田に風の吹きしくいなむしろよなよな鹿のふしどなりけり

oyamada ni
kaze no fukishiku
inamushiro
yonayona shika no
fushidonarikeri		Across the mountain paddies
The wind blows, spreading
The rice into a coverlet, where
Night after night, the stag
Does lay his head.

Dharma Master Nyokan
72

The Left’s poem does not appear to have any faults worth indicating, yet the Right’s poem is still more pleasant. It should win.

Entō ōn'uta'awase

Entō ōn’uta’awase 35

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Round Thirty-Five

Left (Tie)

おのがすむ嶺の木がらし寒き夜は鹿も紅葉の衣きるらし

ono ga sumu
mine no kogarashi
samuki yo wa
shika mo momiji no
koromo kirurashi		Where he dwells upon
The peak, the bitter wind
On a night so chill, for
The stag, of scarlet leaves
Does seem to make a robe.

The Supernumerary Major Counsellor
69

Right

すみのぼる月にうらむる声すなりねられぬ鹿や夜寒なるらん

suminoboru
tsuki ni uramuru
koesunari
nerarenu shika ya
yozamu naruran		Climbing clearly
At the moon, in despair
Does he cry—
Sleepless, does the stag
Feel night’s chill, perhaps?

Nobunari
70

The Left’s poem has ‘the stag, of scarlet leaves does seem to make a robe’ which sounds charming, and the Right’s poem has ‘sleepless, does the stag feel night’s chill, perhaps’, which appears refined. Thus, they tie.

Entō ōn'uta'awase

Entō ōn’uta’awase 33

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Round Thirty-Three

Stags in the Night[1]

Left

久方のかつらの陰に鳴く鹿は光をかけて声ぞさやけき

hisakata no
katsura no kage ni
naku shika wa
hikari o kakete
koe zo sayakeki		In the eternal
Silver trees’ glow
The belling stag
Is limned with light, and
His voice sounds clear, indeed!

A Court Lady
65

Right (Win)

天川秋の一夜のちぎりだにかた野に鹿の音をや鳴くらん

ama no kawa
aki no hitoyo no
chigiri dani
katano ni shika no
ne o ya nakuran		By the River of Heaven
For a single autumn night’s
Brief bond—
Is that why a stag at Katano
Does cry out so?

Ietaka
66

The Right’s poem, by beginning with ‘By the River of Heaven / For a single autumn night’s / Brief bond’ and then continuing with ‘a stag at Katano’ sounds particularly refined, evoking memories of bygone days when Prince Koretaka sought lodging from the Weaver Maid when hunting at Katano—how charming it is.[2] The Left’s poem overall is not particularly bad and seems to lack any obvious faults, but the Right’s poem surpasses it in every way: it is not one of the normal run of compositions and thus, it must win.

[1] 夜鹿 – there are early examples of poems on related topics in Kin’yōshū and Senzaishū.

[2] Gotoba is referring to a pair of poems in Kokinshū which are contextualized by an account of a hunting expedition by Prince Koretaka 惟喬 (844-897): Once, when he had gone hunting in the company of Prince Koretaka, they dismounted by the banks of a river called Ama no Gawa (River of Heaven), and while they were tippling, the Prince commanded that Narihira offer him a wine cup with a poem expressing the feelings of a hunter arriving at the river of Heaven, so he composed the following: かりくらしたなばたつめにやどからむあまのかはらに我はきにけり kari kurashi / tanabatatsume ni / yado karamu / ama no kawara ni / ware wa kinkeri  ‘While hunting night is falling, / So from the Weaver Maid / Let us beg lodging / For to the Riverbank of Heaven / Have we come!’ Ariwara no Narihira (KKS IX: 418); The prince recited the above poem many times, but was unable to think of a reply so, being one of the party, Aritsune composed this: ひととせにひとたびきます君まてばやどかす人もあらじとぞ思ふ hito tose ni / hito tabi kimasu / kimi mateba / yado kasu hito mo / araji to zo omou ‘In a single year / But once comes / The Lord she awaits, so / One who provides lodging / She is not, I’d say!’ Ki no Aritsune (KKS IX: 419). These poems were famously incorporated into chapter 82 of Ise monogatari with four others to provide an expanded context. See Horiuchi and Akiyama (1997, 157-160) for the original text and Mostow and Tyler (2010, 175-179) for an English translation and commentary.