The grasses’ fragrance.
床夏の露うちはらふ宵ごとに草のかうつるわがたもとかな
| tokonatsu no tsuyu uchiharau yoigoto ni kusa no kōtsuru wa ga tamoto kana | From the pinks The dewdrops I do brush Every single night, so The grasses’ fragrance has Shifted to my sleeves! |
Saemon
Tag Archives: yoi
SGSIS VI: 520
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
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.
Kurōdo no tō-ke uta’awase 4
SZS III: 173
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.