When people were commanded to compose a seventeen poem sequence.
冬の空日影みじかき比なればいとどほどなく暮るる年かな
| fuyu no sora hikage mijikaki koro nareba itodo hodo naku kururu toshi kana | The winter sky’s Sunlight hours are Brief, so Shortly, very shortly The year will reach its evening. |
Dharma Seal Kakkan
Gosechi 五節
日影さすとよのあかりにみつるかな我がすべらぎの千世のかざしを
| hikage sasu toyo no akari ni mitsuru kana wa ga suberagi no chiyo no kazashi o | Sunlight falls on The Festival of New Grain Perfecting it! My Sovereign’s Thousand generations capped… |
Higo
Gosechi 五節
日影さすをみのあかひもうちとけて立ちまふ人をもてはやすなり
| hikage sasu omi no akahimo uchitokete tachimau hito o motehayasunari | Sunlight falls on Scarlet purification cords, Undone as The dancing folk do Shine so bright! |
Toshiyori
Gosechi 五節
をとめ子が雲のうへにて袖ふれば日影にまがふあまの羽衣
| otomego ga kumo no ue nite sode fureba hikage ni magau ama no hagoromo | The maidens are Above the clouds Sleeves waving, so Indistinguishable from sunlight are Their heavenly gossamer robes! |
Akinaka
Left.
ひとり寢の袖の名殘の朝じめり日影に消えぬ露もありけり
| hitorine no sode no nagori no asajimeri hikage ni kienu tsuyu mo arikeri |
Sleeping solo My sleeves remain Damp in the morning; The sunlight leaves untouched The dewfall there. |
A Servant Girl.
803
Right (Win).
道芝を分けて露けき袖ならば濡れても暮を待たまし物を
| michishiba o wakete tsuyukeki sode naraba nuretemo kure mo matamashi mono o |
If the roadside grasses, Have brushed dewfall On these sleeves, May to dampen them again, ‘til evening I would wish to wait… |
Ietaka.
804
The Right state: we find no faults in the Left’s poem. The Left state: there is a very recent poem, ‘If he would be wet with waves should surely wait for evening?’.
In judgement: simply saying, ‘Sleeping solo my sleeves remain damp in the morning’ (hitorine no sode no nagori no asajimeri) seems to lack the conception of love. I wonder who might have written the ‘recent poem’, ‘If he would be wet with waves should surely wait for evening?’ mentioned by the Right? How, indeed, can we avoid poems which are not in the anthologies? In any case, the poem here is ‘May to dampen them again, ‘til evening I would wish to wait’ and the initial line is different. This level of resemblance between poems is not uncommon. The Right’s poem is pleasant. It should win.
Left.
空晴れて山の端出づる日影にも乾きもやらぬ袖の上かな
| sora harete yama no ha izuru hikage ni mo kawaki mo yaranu sode no ue kana |
The sky clears and From the mountains’ edge appears The sunlight, yet It cannot even dry The surface of my sleeves… |
Lord Ari’ie.
797
Right (Win).
澤に出て朝菜摘むとも覺えぬあやしきほどに濡るゝ袖哉
| sawa ni idete asana tsumu tomo oboenu ayashiki hodo ni nururu sode kana |
Going out to the marshes and Gathering greens for breakfast – I cannot recall at all; How strange it is that My sleeves are then so drenched… |
Lord Tsune’ie.
798
The Right state: we find no faults to mention in the Left’s poem. The Left state: recalling gathering greens for breakfast is something one can do in the afternoon or the evening. In addition, ‘I cannot recall’ (oboenu) is prosaic in content.
In judgement: the Left’s poem simply says that the sunlight is unable to dry one’s sleeves, and contains little conception of love. The Right’s ‘sleeves’ sound as if they have been most extraordinarily drenched, so the Right should win.
Left.
人目こそ離れも果てなめ山里に日影も見えず霙降るころ
| hitome koso kare mo hatename yamazato ni hikage mo miezu mizore furu koro |
The bustle of folk Seems so far away, In a mountain home Where no sunlight but Sleet does fall… |
521
Right (Win).
かき曇りみぞるゝ空や冴えそめて氷も果てぬ時雨なるらん
| kakikumori mizoruru sora ya saesomete kōri mo hatenu shigure naruran |
Gathering clouds, Sleeting, fill the sky; The first chill of Endless ice In the coming shower… |
522
The Right state that they are unable to understand the point of ‘Sleet does fall’ (mizore furu koro). The Left state that ‘sleeting’ (mizoruru) is grating on the ear [kikinikushi]. In addition, the initial 5-7-5 structure is inconsistent [kiregire nari].
Shunzei’s judgement: In the Left’s poem what is the problem with understanding ‘sleet does fall’? However, what I would want it to say next is that the sunlight always falls. In the Right’s poem, one could have said ‘sleeted sky’ (mizoreshi sora), but ‘sleeting sky’ is also unproblematic [nan ni oyobubekarazu]. ‘Endless ice in the coming shower’ (kōri mo hatenu shigure naruran) is an unusual conception [kokoro mezurashiku], and ‘the first chill’ (saesomete) is also well positioned. The Right is slightly better and should win.
Left.
打ち寄する浪より秋の龍田川さても忘れぬ柳陰かな
| uchiyosuru nami yori aki no tatsutagawa satemo wasurenu yanagikage kana |
Approaching on The waves, comes autumn to The Tatsuta River; And yet, I cannot forget The willows’ shade. |
311
Right.
秋淺き日影に夏は殘れども暮るゝ籬は荻の上風
| aki asaki hikage ni natsu wa nokoredomo kururu magaki wa ogi no uwakaze |
Faintly autumnal is The sunlight, with summer Yet remaining; At evening by the rough-woven fence Blows a breeze o’er the silver-grass. |
312
The Right say the Left’s poem is ‘particularly good.’ The Left state that, ‘“Faintly autumnl” (aki asaki) grates on the ear, and we also cannot grasp the use of “evening by the rough-woven fence” (kururu magaki).’
Shunzei states, ‘The Left’s “approaching on the waves” (nami yori aki no), seems particularly charming, but when taken together with “willows’ shade” (yanagi kade)– the Tatsuta River has long been the subject of composition on “flowing scarlet autumn leaves”, and even now this gives a slightly poetic effect; “willows’ shade” has been used in composition, both in ancient times and more recently, but does it not seem commonplace now? The Right’s poem is in the same vein as that of the Right in Round One Hundred and Fifty-Two, yet I do not find “faintly autumnal” to be unpleasant. “Evening by the rough-woven fence”, too, has charm. The Left’s poem has vocabulary in accordance with the contents; the Right unusual expressions. In this combination, the round must tie.’
Left (Win).
面影に千里をかけて見するかな春のひかりに遊ぶいとゆふ
| omokage ni chisato o kakete misuru kana haru no hikari ni asobu itoyū |
A vision from Across a thousand leagues Appears, In the spring sunlight Wavering ‘midst the haze. |
105
Right.
見わたせばあるかなきかに亂れつゝ心ぼそくも遊ぶいとゆふ
| miwataseba aru ka naki ka ni midaretsutsu kokorobosoku mo asobu itoyū |
When I look out Is it there, or not? Disordered and Forlorn, Wavering haze. |
The Provisional Master of the Empress’ Household Office.
106
The Right say they have nothing particular to remark upon about the Left’s poem, but the Left wonder whether ‘forlorn’ (kokorobosoku mo) forms an appropriate linkage with the final line. (The point they are making is that in the original poem the final line starts asobu, which literally means ‘enjoy oneself’ or ‘play’, and thus ‘forlorn’ seems an incongruous prequel to it. In all the ‘Heat Haze’ poems I’ve translated asobu as ‘wavering’, as it’s use in this context is not for its sense, but as an addition piece of orthographic wordplay, as ‘heat haze’ (itoyū), is written with the characters for ‘threads’ (ito 糸) and ‘play’ (yū 遊).)
Shunzei’s judgement is: ‘One has to wonder about the suitability of the final line of the Right’s poem, as is the gist of the Left’s remarks; by contrast, the ending of the Left’s poems seems particularly good. It has to be the winner.’