さをしかのしがらみふする秋はぎはたまなす露ぞつつみたりける
saoshika no shigarami fusuru akihagi wa tama nasu tsuyu zo tsutsumitarikeru Ah, the stag, Entangled, tripped On the autumn bush clover; Dewdrops turned gemlets Have wrapped him all around.
21
かみなみのみむろの山をわけゆけばにしきたちきる心ちこそすれ
kaminami no mimuro no yama o wakeyukeba nishiki tachikiru kokochi koso sure Deities dwell Upon Mount Mimuro, where I forge my way, Cutting and sewing the brocade of leaves, I feel!
22
Left (Tie)
この比の心の底をよそに見ば鹿鳴く野邊の秋の夕暮
kono koro no
kokoro no soko o
yoso ni miba
shika naku nobe no
aki no yūgure
Of late
Of the depths of my heart
Were you to catch a distant glimpse:
A stag belling in the meadow
On an autumn evening…
A Servant Girl
1067
Right
暮れかゝる裾野の露に鹿鳴きて人待つ袖も涙そふ也
kurekakaru
susono no tsuyu ni
shika nakite
hito matsu sode mo
namida sou nari
Twilight
Drapes dewfall on the mountains’ skirts,
With a stag’s sad cry;
Awaiting him, my sleeves, too,
Are wet with tears.
Nobusada
1068
Left and Right together: we find no faults to mention.
In judgement: it would be impossible to ever exhaust the overtones of feeling in ‘a stag belling in the meadow on an autumn evening’ (shika naku nobe no aki no yūgure ) in the Left’s poem; in the Right’s poem the configuration and conception of ‘awaiting him, my sleeves, too, are wet with tears’ (hito matsu sode mo namida sou nari ) is richly evocative. I find it extremely hard to put both poems down, so this round, again, is a tie of quality.
Composed when there was much disturbance in the world.
朝な朝な鹿の柵む萩がえの末葉の露のありがたのよや
asana asana
sika no sikaramu
Fagi ga e no
suweba no tuyu no
arigata no yo ya
Every morning
The stag is tangled in
Bush clover branches,
Dew upon the leaf-tips –
Such is the length of life…
Zōki
増基
On blossom.
奥山に棲むといふ鹿の夕さらず妻どふ萩の散らまく惜しも
wokuyama ni
sumu to ipu sika no
yopi sarazu
tumadopu pagi no
tiramaku wosimo
Deep within the mountains
Lives a stag;
Every evening
He calls upon his bride, the bush clover, but
That it is scattered, brings him only regret…
心すむ尾上の松の風にまた鹿の音たぐふ秋の夕暮
kokoro sumu
onoe no matsu no
kaze ni mata
shika no ne taguu
aki no yūgure
Across the enlightened
Pines of Onoe
The wind, once more
Resembles a stag’s cry
On an autumn evening.
Topic unknown.
宮城野の萩や雄鹿の妻ならん花咲きしより声の色なる
miyagino no
Fagi ya wosika no
tuma naran
Fana sakisi yori
kowe no iro naru
On Miyagi plain
Has the bush clover the stag’s
Bride become?
For since the blossom bloomed
His cry takes on its passionate hue.
Fujiwara no Mototoshi
藤原基俊
Topic unknown.
宮城野に妻とふ鹿ぞ叫ぶなる本あらの萩に露やさむけき
miyagino ni
tuma toFu sika zo
sakebu naru
motoara no Fagi ni
tuyu ya samukeki
On Miyagi plain
Seeking a mate, a stag
Cries out
Among the speckled bush clover
The dew feels chill, indeed.
Fujiwara no Nagayoshi
藤原長能
On deer.
さを鹿の小野の草伏いちしろく我がとはなくに人の知れらく
sawosika no
wono no kusabusi
itisiroku
wa ga topanaku ni
pito no sireraku
The stag
Lying in the meadow grass
Stands out, so
Not I but
Others will come to know!
Anonymous
On deer.
さを鹿の朝伏す小野の草若み隠らひかねて人に知らゆな
sawosika no
asa pusu wono no
kusa wakami
kakurapikanete
pito ni sirayu na
The stag
Lies in the meadow in the morn,
The grass so fresh
He cannot hide –
O, don’t let others know!
Anonymous
[One of] two poems composed by Lord Ōtomo, the Governor-General.
我が岡にさを鹿来鳴く初萩の花妻どひに来鳴くさを鹿
wa ga woka ni
sawosika kinaku
patuagi no
pana tumadopi ni
kinaku sawosika
To my hill
The stag comes and calls;
The first bush clover
Blooms for his bride
Has come to call, the stag!
Ōtomo no Tabito
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