For a painting on a sliding door where there was a pine growing on the crags.
岩のうへにおふる小松の年もへぬいく千代までと契り置きけん
| iwa no ue ni ouru komatsu no toshi mo henu ikuyo made to chigiri okiken | Atop the crag Growing, a pine seedling: that ‘Twould pass through the years, Until it reach however many ages— It seems a vow was made. |
663
ゆくすゑもかぎりはしらずすみよしの松にいくよの年かへぬらん
| yukusue mo kagiri wa shirazu sumiyoshi no matsu ni ikuyo no toshi ka henuran | Even the future’s Limits are unknown for Sumiyoshi’s Pines—how many ages and Years might they pass through?[i] |
659
[i] See: Topic unknown. 我見てもひさしく成りぬ住の江の岸の姫松いくよへぬらむ ware mite mo / hisashiku narinu / suminoe no / kishi no himematsu / ikuyo henuramu ‘Even to my sight / Eternal are / Suminoe’s / Princess pines upon the shore: / How many ages have they passed through?’ Anonymous (Kokinshū XVII: 905)
On the conception of felicitation.
ひめしまの小松がうれにゐるたづは千とせふれども年おいずけり
| himeshima no komatsu ga ure ni iru tazu wa chitose furedomo toshi oizukeri | Among Himeshima’s[i] Pine seedling shoots Rest cranes: A thousand year may pass, yet They’ll not age through the years.[ii] |
655
[i] Himeshima 姫島 (‘Princess Isle’) was a small island which is believed to have lain in the mouth of the Yodo River where it entered the inland sea south of modern Osaka. Due to changes in topography and the river’s course since ancient times, however, its exact location is now unknown.
[ii] See: [One of] two poems composed to express his grief and sorrow by Kawabe no Miyahito when he saw the coffin of a young girl in the pine groves of Himeshima in Wadō 4 [711]. 妹之名者 千代尓将流 姫嶋之 子松之末尓 蘿生万代尓 imo ga na wa / chiyo ni nagaremu / himeshima no / komatsu ga ure ni / kokemusu made ni ‘This maiden’s name / Will drift down a thousand ages / Until Himeshima’s / Pine seedling shoots are / Choked with hanging moss.’ (Man’yōshū II: 228)
Round Two
Left
しらつゆのこのはをわきておくやまのふかきもみぢはいろもうつらじ
| shiratsuyu no ko no ha o wakite okuyama no fukaki momiji wa iro mo utsuraji | Silver dewfall Marks out the leaves upon the trees; In the mountains’ heart, Deep scarlet the autumn leaves Hues, too, will never fade away. |
3[i]
Right (Win)
くれなゐのやしほのいろはもみぢばに秋くははれるとしにざりける
| kurenai no yashio no iro wa momijiba ni aki kuwawareru toshi ni zarikeru | With vermillion Dippings eight, hue is laid Upon the scarlet leaves with Autumn added To the year! |
4[ii]
[i] This poem is included in Gyokuyōshū (V: 794/795) with the headnote, ‘For the scarlet leaves match during the reign of the Tenryaku emperor’.
[ii] This poem is included in Gyokuyōshū (V: 795/796) with the headnote, ‘For the scarlet leaves match during the reign of the Tenryaku emperor’. It is also included in Mandaishū (V: 1223) with the headnote, ‘A poem from the autumn leaves match held at the palace in the intercalary Ninth Month, Tenryaku 9’ and in Kiyotada-shū (38), with the headnote ‘From an autumn leaves match at the palace, in a year when there were two ninth months’.
Snow at a shrine.
年つもるこしの白山しらずともかしらの雪をあはれとはみよ
| toshi tsumoru koshi no shirayama shirazu tomo kashira no yuki o aware to wa miyo | How years has it drifted upon The mountains white at Shirayama in Koshi I know not, but The snow above my brow, O, behold with pity![i] |
636
[i] See: Composed at Hiroshi Marōdo Shrine, recalling a visit to Shirayama, when he was Governnor of Kaga. としふともこしの白山わすれずはかしらのゆきをあはれともみよ toshi futomo / koshi no shirayama / wasurezu wa / kashira no yuki o / aware tomo miyo ‘The years have passed, yet / The mountains white at Shirayama in Koshi / Never will I forget! So, / The snow above my brow, / O, behold with pity!’ Master of the Left Capital Office Akisuke (Shinkokinshū XIX: 1912)
Composed at Hiroshi Marōdo Shrine, recalling a visit to Shirayama, when he was Governnor of Kaga.
としふともこしの白山わすれずはかしらのゆきをあはれともみよ
| toshi futomo koshi no shirayama wasurezu wa kashira no yuki o aware tomo miyo | The years have passed, yet The mountains white at Shirayama in Koshi Never will I forget! So, The snow above my brow, O, behold with pity! |
Master of the Left Capital Office Akisuke
Round Ten
Left
秋はぎの下葉の露にあらねども消えぬばかりぞ人は恋しき
| akihagi no shitaba no tsuyu ni aranedomo kienu bakari zo hito wa koishiki | Upon the autumn bush clover’s Underleaves a dewdrop I am not, yet Simply will I fade away So much do I love him! |
Taiyu no Suke
19
Right
わすられて年ふる里の浅茅生に誰がためしける萩の錦ぞ
| wasurarete toshi furu sato no asajū ni ta ga tame shikeru hagi no nishiki zo | All forgotten Through the passing years, at my home Among the tangled mugwort, For whose sake is spread The bush clover’s brocade? |
The Daughter of His Excellency, the Head
20
I feel that the poem of the Left is conspicuously poetic, saying ‘Simply will I fade away / So much do I love him!’ while the poem of the Right’s ‘Through the passing years, at my home / Among the tangled mugwort, / For whose sake is spread / The bush clover’s brocade?’ makes me want to ask the bush clover the same question! The pull my heart in more than one direction, so here, too, I feel it’s not possible to decide on a winner or loser.
