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)
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)
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)
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.
uchikirashi amagiru sora to mishi hodo ni yagate tsumoreru yuki no shirayama
Suddenly concealed By mist, the skies I glimpsed and In a moment drifted Snow covered Shira Mountain with white.
Controller’s Graduate 51
Right
としをへてふし見の山にふるゆきはとこめづらにもおもしろきかな
toshi o hete fushimi no yama ni furu yuki wa tokomezura ni mo omoshiroki kana
Through all the passing years Upon Fushimi Mountain The falling snow Feels ever fresh And full of charm!
Kerin’in Graduate
52
The poem of the Left’s ‘Suddenly concealed / By mist, the skies’ is a clear case of repeating the same meaning. In addition, ‘snow covered Shira Mountain’ is one which is snow-capped regardless of whether it’s summer or winter. It’s not a mountain where one would be startled at seeing it ‘suddenly concealed’. The poem of the Right says that ‘through all the passing years the estate at Fushimi…feels ever fresh’, which seems as if this poem is specifying a period when this applies. It’s certainly a bit of a reach to say that this would be charming, but it’s not incongruous. Thus, I make this a tie.
I am unable to grasp the sense of the Left poem’s ‘suddenly concealed’. If it had been ‘concealed with falling’ then that would be better. In addition, I don’t understand the final ‘snow covered Shira Mountain’ either. I would have preferred it if the order had been ‘Shira Mountain’s snow’, but putting the ‘snow’ first seems to lack fluency and so, regretfully I would change this.
The Right’s ‘Fushimi Mountain’ is difficult to understand. It seems that ‘estate’ is a more standard composition, and ‘mountain’ is a novel usage. Having ‘Fushimi’ ‘feel fresh’ is evidence of thought, but even so, ‘mountain’ is vague.
