Left.
夏草のなかを露けみかき分けて刈る人なしにしげる野辺かな
| natu kusa no naka o tuyukemi kakiwakete karu Fito nasi ni sigeru nobe kana |
The summer grasses Midst is dew-drenched; Forging through, With no one to reap them This meadow is lush, indeed! |
Tadami
Right.
夏ふかくなりぞしにけるおほあらきの杜の下草なべて人かる
| natu Fukaku nari zo sinikeru oFoaraki no mori no sitagusa nabete Fito karu |
Deep within the summer It is now: At Ōaraki In the sacred groves, the undergrowth Is arrayed for men to reap it! |
Kanemori
A poem composed on the 17th day of the Eighth Month Tempyō 4 by Takahashi no Mushimaro, when Fujiwara no Umakai was sent into the west to inspect the military forces there.
白雲の 龍田の山の 露霜に 色づく時に うち越えて 旅行く君は 五百重山 い行きさくみ 敵守る 筑紫に至り 山のそき 野のそき見よと 伴の部を 班ち遣はし 山彦の 答へむ極み たにぐくの さ渡る極み 国形を 見したまひて 冬こもり 春さりゆかば 飛ぶ鳥の 早く来まさね 龍田道の 岡辺の道に 丹つつじの にほはむ時の 桜花 咲きなむ時に 山たづの 迎へ参ゐ出む 君が来まさば
| sira kumo no tatuta no yama no tuyusimo ni iroduku toki ni utikoete tabi yuku kimi pa ipopeyama iyukisakumi adamamoru tukusi ni itari yamanosoki no nosoki miyo to tomo no be wo akati tukapasi yamabiko no kotapemu kipami taniguku no sawataru kipami kunikata wo misitamapite puyugomori paru sariyukaba tobu tori no payaku kimasane tatsutadi no wokabe no miti ni nitutuzi no nipopamu toki no sakurabana sakinamu toki ni yamatadu no mukaemawidemu kimi ga kimasaba |
Clouds of white On Tatsuta Mountain When the frosty dewfall Shades it, Across it You will go, my Lord, Many mountains Passing, and At foe-warding Tsukushi arrive; On the mountains end, On the plains end, gazing; Sentry squads Dividing for despatch; Echoes from the mountains’ Bounds, Toad Testing limits Of the land A’viewing; Sealed in winter, then When spring comes once more As a soaring bird Swiftly return! When upon the trails of Tatsuta Upon the hillside paths Ochre azaleas Bloom brightly; When cherry blossom Blooms, Bearing elder flowers Will we come to greet you! Should you come home again… |
Shun’e
俊恵
Left (Win).
大方の露は干る間ぞ別れける我が袖一つ殘る雫に
| ōkata no tsuyu wa hiruma zo wakarekeru wa ga sode hitotsu nokoru shizuku ni |
In general, The dew would daytime dry become While we are parted, but On my sleeves alone Remain droplets… |
Lord Sada’ie.
813
Right.
明ぬればひると聞しをいかなれば戀する袖は濡れまさる覧
| akenureba hiru to kikishi o ika nareba koisuru sode wa nuremasaruran |
When daylight comes Dry they should be, I heard, but Why is it, then, that The sleeves of one in love are So exceedingly damp? |
Lord Tsune’ie.
814
The Right state: the conception of the Left’s poem is somewhat unclear. The Left state: the contents of the Right’s poem are pedestrian.
In judgement: is the conception of the Left’s poem, of the droplets remaining on one’s sleeves throughout the day being dewfall really that unclear? On hearing the Right’s akenureba hiru, I wondered what had happened to the morning? In addition, just having hiru and not hiruma is confusing. The poem does not say enough.
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.
つれなさの類までやはつらからぬ月をも愛でじ在明の空
| tsurenasa no tagui made ya wa tsurakaranu tsuki o mo medeji ariake no sora |
Heartless on parting are you, And just so is the Indifferent Moon – no more will I care for it! – In the sky at dawn. |
Lord Ari’ie.
787
Right (Win).
逢ふと見る情もつらし暁の露のみ深き夢の通い路
| au to miru nasake mo tsurashi akatsuki no tsuyu nomi fukaki yume no kayoiji |
We met, I saw, and How fond were you, but how cruel The dawn, when I was drenched with dew alone from The path of dreams… |
Lord Takanobu.
788
The Gentlemen of the Right state: if the Left allude to the poem ‘At the dawning / How cruel it seemed / To part’, then this poem refers to the cruelty of a lover, but their poem suggests that the moon is the cruel one. Is this appropriate? In response: ‘At the dawning / How cruel it seemed’ can also be interpreted as referring to the moon. The Gentlemen of the Left state: the Right use the diction ‘fond’ (nasake), but the sense of this does not follow in the poem.
In judgement: the Left builds on the poem which starts ‘At the dawning / How cruel it seemed / To part, but’ and then says more than the lover’s heartlessness, ‘The fading moon / Cared not at all.’ So, given that this is the case, it’s not really saying anything different from ‘No more will I care for the moon!’ As for the Right, it sounds as if the lover’s fondness appears in the ‘dream’ (yume), but the final section seems good. The Right’s poem is somewhat superior.
Left.
引かへて荒き氣色をみだらおのこまごまとこそ恨かけつれ
| hikikaete araki keshiki o midarao no komagoma to koso uramikaketure |
You have changed, and Dishevelled in appearance As a piebald Colt, you are not, yet I hate you still! |
Kenshō
757
Right (Win).
露しげき秋の野も狭の眞葛原いつまでよその物と聞きけん
| tsuyu shigeki aki no no mo se no makuzubara itsu made yoso no mono to kikiken |
Dew drenched, The autumn field is all Covered with kuzu, For how long will such distant Whispers reach me? |
Lord Takanobu
758
The Right state: the Left’s poem sounds pretentious. We are also unable to accept the use of ‘colt, you are not’ (komagoma). The Left state: the Right’s poem sounds archaic.
In judgement: ‘Dishevelled in appearance as a piebald’ (araki keshiki o midarao) is entirely unacceptable style. As for ‘covered with kuzu’, while ‘field is all’ (no mo se) is also undesirable, the final section is elegant. It should win over ‘piebald’.
Left (Win).
変れただ別るる道の野辺の露命に向ふ物も思はじ
| kaware tada wakaruru michi no nobe no tsuyu inochi ni mukau mono mo omowaji |
O, change Upon our parting! The path Through the dew dropped fields – How like life: I would not think such thoughts! |
713
Right.
別れ路のありける物を逢坂の關を何しに急ぎ越えけん
| wakareji no arikeru mono o ōsaka no seki o nani shi ni isogikoeken |
The path after parting Is such a thing, so Why to Meeting Hill’s Barrier Gate do we Rush to pass in haste? |
714
The Gentlemen of the Right state: the diction in the Left’s poem fails to link. The Gentlemen of the Left state: what novelty there is in the Right’s poem!
Shunzei’s judgement: in the Left’s poem it does not appear to me that the diction of the initial section links poorly. ‘How like life’ (inochi ni mukau) does, indeed, appear in the Man’yōshū and other works, but it does not seem that desirable. As for the Right, while it seems that the appearance of Meeting Hill is well understood, saying ‘why to the barrier gate’ (seki o nani shi ni) is inferior to ‘how like life’.
Left (Tie).
堪ふまじき明日より後の心かな馴れて悲しき思ひ添ひなば
| taumajiki asu yori nochi no kokoro kana narete kanashiki omoisoinaba |
Unendurable will be Tomorrow, and then To my heart henceforth Kindness brings sorrow Or so I feel… |
705
Right.
逢見てはまづと思し言の葉に心の露のなを重きかな
| aimite wa mazu to omoishi koto no ha ni kokoro no tsuyu ni nao omoki kana |
A meeting and the sight of you: My heart thought That I would speak, yet Dew falls on my heart, Growing ever heavier. |
706
The Gentlemen of the Right state: the initial section of the Left’s poem sounds poor. The Left state: the sense of ‘dew falls on my heart’ (kokoro no tsuyu) in the Right’s poem is unclear.
Shunzei’s judgement: the Left’s ‘kindness brings sorrow’ (narete kanashiki) seems little different from ‘The full extent of our love was this night alone’ (koi no kagiri wa koyoi narikeri) in an earlier poem. The Right’s poem ‘dew falls on my heart’ ‘growing ever heavier’ (nao omoshi) sounds charming, but ‘A meeting and the sight of you: my heart thought that I would speak’ (aimite wa mazu to omoishi koto no ha) is somewhat unclear. I do, indeed wonder about the initial section of the Left. Again, the round ties.