Tag Archives: yoi

Kanpyō no ōntoki kisai no miya uta’awase 91

Left

しぬる命いきもやすると心みに玉のをばかりあはむといはなむ

shinuru inochi
iki mo ya suru to
kokoromi ni
tama no o bakari
awamu to iwanamu
I have died for love of you, but
Might life return?
Try, if only as
A fragile jewelled thread, and
Say that you will meet with me!

Okikaze
176[1]

Right

あかずして別れしよひのなみだ川よどみもなくもたぎつ心か

akazushite
wakareshi yoi no
namidagawa
yodomi mo naku mo
tagitsu kokoro ka
Still hungering for you
When we parted that night, did
The river of my tears
Not in a trickle, but
In a torrent run through my heart?

177


[1] Kokinshū XII: 568; a minor variant of this poem also occurs in Kokin rokujō (V: 3207): しぬるいのちいきもやすると心みに玉のをばかりあひみてしかな shinuru inochi / iki mo ya suru to / kokoromi ni / tama no o bakari / aimiteshi kana ‘I have died for love of you, but / Might life return? / Try, if only as / A fragile jewelled thread, and / Make an attempt to meet me!’

GSS V: 257

Topic unknown.

あき風のふきくるよひはきりぎりす草のねごとにこゑみだれけり[1]

akikaze no
fukikuru yoi wa
kirigirisu
kusa no ne goto ni
koe midarekeri
The autumn wind
Comes gusting late at night, when
The crickets
From every single blade of grass
Let out confused cries.

Anonymous


[1] This poem appears in the ‘Poetry Contest held at Prince Koresada’s House’ (Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase (42).

Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase 21

あきのよにたれをまつとかひぐらしのゆふぐれごとになきまさるらん

aki no yo ni
tare o matsu to ka
higurashi no
yūgure goto ni
nakimasaruran
On an autumn night
Who is it that you await, I wonder?
The sundown cicadas
With each evening
Cry ever louder…

41

あき風のふきくるよひはきりぎりす草のねごとにこゑみだれけり[1]

akikaze no
fukikuru yoi wa
kirigirisu
kusa no ne goto ni
koe midarekeri
The autumn wind
Comes gusting late at night, when
The crickets
From every single blade of grass
Let out confused cries.

42


[1] This poem was included in Gosenshū (V: 257).

Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase 5

久方の天照る月のにごりなく君が御代をばともにとぞ思ふ

hisakata no
ama teru tsuki no
nigorinaku
kimi ga miyo oba
tomo ni to zo omou
The eternal
Heaven-shining moon is
So clear that
My Lord’s reign
Lives together with it in my thoughts!

9

宵よひに秋の草葉におく露の玉にぬかむととれば消えつつ[1]

yoiyoi ni
aki no kusaba ni
oku tsuyu no
tama ni nukamu to
toreba kietsutsu
Night after night
Upon the blades of autumn grass
Fall dewdrops;
I would thread those jewels, but
At a touch, ever do they vanish away…

10


[1] This poem is also Shinsenzaishū 316, where it is attributed to Ōshikōchi no Mitsune.

Love VIII: 26

Left
さりともと待べき程の情かは人頼めなる蛛のふるまゐ

sari tomo to
matsubeki hodo no
nasake ka wa
hito tanomenaru
kumo no furumai
However faint, I thought,
Through all my waiting hours
Were his feelings,
He can be trusted,
Says the spider’s spinning!

Lord Ari’ie
1071

Right (Win)
はかなくぞさもあらましに待たれぬる頼めぬ宵の蜘蛛のふるまゐ

hakanaku zo
sa mo aramashi ni
matarenuru
tanomenu yoi no
kumo no furumai
Fleeting, but
So be it, then, I thought,
Awaiting;
How unreliable is this night’s
Spider’s spinning…

Lord Takanobu
1072

Left and Right together: both poems are about spiders, and have no faults to mention.

In judgement: both poems seem elegant in their reference to ‘spider’s spinning’ (kumo no furumai). However, the Left’s central section recalls ‘Men are not trees or stone – they have feelings’ – while this is elegant diction in Chinese composition, it does not seem so in our own poetry. The Right’s ‘so be it then, I thought’ (sa mo aramashi) is fine, but ‘unreliable is this night’ (tanomenu yoi) sounds as if the night is already over. Princess Sotōri, too, has ‘must surely come tonight’ (kubeki yoi nari), but then appears to have ‘a certain sign’ (kanete shirushi mo). Still, this is surely describing a situation where one once had doubts, but feel that tonight is reliable. The Right is slightly superior.

Love VIII: 12

Left (Tie)
思ひかねうち寢る宵もありなまし吹だにすさめ庭の松風

omoikane
uchineru yoi mo
arinamashi
fuki dani susame
niwa no matsukaze
Unable to bear the pains of love, and
Dozing through the night –
That happens sometimes;
O, just blow gently,
Breeze through the garden pines!

A Servant Girl
1043

Right
思ひかねながむれば又夕日さす軒端の岡の松もうらめし

omoikane
nagamureba mata
yūhi sasu
nokiba no oka no
matsu mo urameshi
Unable to bear the pains of love,
When I gaze out, once more
The evening sun shines
Past my eaves, where on the hillside
Even the pines seem resentful…

Ietaka
1044

Same as the previous round.

In judgement: here we have ‘O, just blow gently’ (fuki dani susame), and the Right has ‘Past my eaves, where on the hillside’ (nokiba no oka no): these recollect the poems ‘in the depths of sleep I tread to you’ (uchinuru naka ni yukikayou) and ‘the beams strike the hillside through the pine needles’ (sasu ya okabe no  matsu no ha); both sound elegant. I make this round a tie.