Left (Tie).
妹が住むとをちの里の煙だになど我方へなびかざるらん
imo ga sumu
tōchi no sato no
kemuri dani
nado wa ga kata e
nabikazaruran
My darling lives
In far distant Tōchi;
Even the smoke,
Somehow, will not
Stream my way…
Lord Suetsune .
949
Right.
つれなさに絶ずなりなん煙をも我ゆへとやはながめゝしもせん
tsurenasa ni
taezu narinan
kemuri o mo
ware yue to ya wa
nagamemeshi mo sen
Her cruelty
I can endure no more!
That the smoke
Is for her sake – will she
Find that consolation? No, surely not!
Lord Takanobu .
950
Both Left and Right together state that their opponent’s poem lacks anything unusual.
In judgement: that ‘far distant Tōchi’s smoke’ (tōchi no sato no kemuri ) will not stream my way really has no significance. ‘Her cruelty I can endure no more! That the smoke’ (tsurenasa ni taezu narinan kemuri ) must be being used to avoid mentioning dying of love as unpropitious, and certainly lacks clarity of expression. This is clearly insufficient. The round ties.
まきかへすほどにやあるらむ唐衣とをちのさとはうちたゆむなり
makikaesu
hodo ni ya aruramu
karakoromo
tōchi no sato wa
uchitayumunari
To fold it up
I wonder is there enough to
My Cathay robe;
In far distant Tōchi
Have I been remiss, indeed!
よもすがらとをちのさとにうち渡す砧の音か轟の橋
yomosugara
tōchi no sato ni
uchiwatasu
kinuta no oto ka
todoroki no hashi
All through the night
To far distant Tōchi
Comes across
The sound of fulling cloth, perhaps
Echoing from Todoroki Bridge!
旅寝するとをちのさとに月すみて都はるかに衣うつなり
tabine suru
tōchi no sato ni
tsuki sumite
miyako haruka ni
koromo utsunari
Sleeping on my travels in
Far distant Tōchi, where
The moon shines clearly,
In the capital, so far away
You are fulling cloth.
見わたせばとをちのさとのうづきばらうづきになれや花白く見ゆ
miwataseba
tōchi no sato no
uzukibara
uzuki ni nare ya
hana shiroku miyu
When I look across
Far distant Tōchi’s
Deutzia fields,
When the Fourth Month comes, I wonder
Will the blooms be white?
Minamoto no Yorimasa
源頼政
雲かかるとをちのさとのかやりびは煙たつとも見えぬなりけり
kumo kakaru
tōchi no sato no
kayaribi wa
keburi tatsutomo
mienunarikeri
Draped with cloud
In far distant Tōchi
From the smudge pots
Smoke rises, yet
Indeed, I see it not!
Minamoto no Moritoki
源師時
(1077-1136)
He went as a messenger to Kasuga, and sent this to a woman promptly on his return.
くればとく行きてかたらむあふ時のとをちのさとのすみうかりしも
kureba toku
yukite kataramu
aFu toki no
towoti no sato no
sumi ukarisi mo
At sunset, swiftly
Will I come to call;
When we meet
That in far distant Tōchi
Life was hard, I will recall…
[Fujiwara no] Koremasa, The Ichijō Regent
伊尹 一条摂政
(924-972)
When a lady had gone to Hase and was returning, I sent someone to say that we could meet where she was and, indeed, we did.
こゝながら袖ぞつゆけき草枕十市の里の旅寢とおもへば
koko nagara
sode zo tuyukeki
kusamakura
towoti no sato no
tabine to omoFeba
Here,
My sleeves are dew-drenched, indeed:
Pillowed on the grasses,
At Tōchi hamlet and
Slumbering on your travels—how you fill my thoughts…
Composed on the conception of longing for intervening clouds.
とをちにはゆふだちすらしひさかたのあまのかぐ山くもがくれゆく
tōchi ni wa yūdachi surashi hisakata no ama no kaguyama kumogakure yuku Upon the estate of Tōchi
Showers fall, I’d say:
Eternal
Heaven’s Mount Kagu
Vanishes behind the clouds.
Minamoto no Toshiyori
源俊頼
'Simply moving and elegant'