夜をかさね戸無瀬の方に見ゆる火は鵜舟に灯すか篝なりけり
| yo o kasane tonase no kata ni miyuru hi wa ubune ni tomosu kagari narikeri |
Night upon night Towards Tonase Can I see the lights; Kindled upon the cormorant boats Are torches. |
Tag Archives: torches
Tametadake shodo hyakushu 239
篝火のかげをうつして大堰川鵜舟くださぬよははあらじな
| kagaribi no kage o utsushite ōigawa ubune kudasanu yo wa araji na |
The torches’ Light reflects from The River Ōi: Cormorant boats do not drift downstream On no night at all… |
Tametadake shodo hyakushu 237
鵜川には皐月の闇もなかりけりくだればくだす舟の篝火
| ukawa ni wa satsuki no yami mo nakarikeri kudareba kudasu fune no kagaribi |
To the cormorant river The Fifth Month’s dark Has not come; For when it falls, also do The boats’ torches! |
Shunzei
Tametadake shodo hyakushu 236
夏の日の暮れば灯す篝火の幾夜か川にかげ浮かぶらむ
| natsu no hi no kurureba tomosu kakaribi no ikuyo ka kawa ni kage ukaburamu |
When to summer days’ Dusk comes, kindled Torches, Every night upon the river Do seem to float their light. |
Fujiwara no Tametada (? – 1136)
藤原為忠
Tametadake shodo hyakushu 235
篝火の見えぬ夜ぞなき大堰川おなじ鵜舟やおりのぼるらむ
| kagaribi no mienu yo zo naki ōikawa onaji ubune ya orinoboruramu |
Torches Never go unseen at night On the River Ōi: Is it always the same cormorant boat That plies back and forth? |
Fujiwara no Tametada (? – 1136)
藤原為忠
Eikyū hyakushu 189
Cormorant Fishing on the River(鵜河)
大井河う舟にともすかがり火のかかる世にあふあゆぞはかなき
| ōigawa ubune ni tomosu kagaribi no kakaru se ni au ayu zo hakanaki | On the River Ōi The cormorant boats’ kindled Torches Reflect off the rushing rapids; What sorrow for the sweetfish! |
Daishin
Wakan rōeishū 190
草深く荒たる宿の灯火の風にきえぬは蛍なりけり
| kusa Fukaku aretaru yado no tomosibi no kaze ni kienu Fa Fotaru narikeri |
Deep within the grasses A ruined house has Torches Not guttering in the breeze: Fireflies. |
Winter II: 28
Left.
あまたたび竹の灯し火かゝげてぞ三世の佛の名をば唱る
| amata tabi take no tomoshibi kakagete zo miyo no hotoke no na oba tonaeru |
Many times The torches of bamboo Are flourished, and The three worlds’ Buddhas’ Names proclaimed. |
595
Right.
明やらぬ夜の間の雪は積もるとも氷れる罪や空に消らん
| akeyaranu yo no ma no yuki wa tsumoru tomo kōreru tsumi ya sora ni kiyuran |
There’s no light Within this night of snowfall Drifting, yet My frozen sins Do vanish into the skies… |
596
The Gentlemen of the Right state: we must say that the Left’s poem has no faults. The Gentlemen of the Left state: we wonder about the expression ‘frozen sins’ (kōreru tsumi).
Shunzei’s judgement: saying ‘torches of bamboo’ (take no tomoshibi) in order to refer to the ‘three worlds’ Buddhas’, is a somewhat unusual expression. The Right’s ‘my frozen sins do vanish into the skies’ (kōreru tsumi ya sora ni kiyuran) seems elegant [yū ni miehaberu], but refers only to the sins vanishing, and the conception of the Buddhas’ names seems somewhat lacking. Comparing the two poems, they must tie.
Autumn I: 11
Left (Win).
星合の空の光となる物は雲井の庭に照らす灯し火
| hoshiai no sora no hikari to naru mono wa kumoi no niwa ni terasu tomoshibi |
The stars meeting in The sky is lit By The Palace gardens’ Shining torches. |
321
Right.
七夕は雲の上より雲の上に心を分けて嬉しかるらん
| tanabata wa kumo no ue yori kumo no ue ni kokoro o wakete ureshikaruran |
At Tanabata Above the heavens’ clouds, and Above the clouds on earth Between them is the heart divided In joy, no doubt! |
322
The Right state that the Left’s poem has no faults. The Left, on the other hand, say, ‘The Right’s poem seems to have very little of celebration about it. In addition, the expression “Above the heavens’ clouds, and above the clouds on earth” (kumo no ue yori kumo no ue ni) seems to have reversed the proper sense.’ (‘Above the clouds’ was a standard euphemism for the palace, and by association, the Emperor. Putting him in a secondary position here was perceived as a fault.)
Shunzei’s judgement: ‘“Above the heavens’ clouds, and above the clouds on earth” can be criticised, I think, for repeating the same phrase twice. And, what might one make of it having “reversed the proper sense”? The Left’s poem is faultless. The Right’s does, indeed, lack a conception of celebration, so the Left, again, win this round.’