Left (Win).

影宿す程なき袖の露の上に馴れても疎き宵の稲妻

kage yadosu hodo naki sode no tsuyu no ue ni naretemo utoki yoi no inazuma

The light dwells But for an instant on my sleeves Where dewdrops rest; Accustomed to it though I am, how distant is Lightning in the evening.

Lord Sada’ie.

325

Right.

むば玉の闇をあらはす稲妻も光の程ははかなかりけり

mubatama no yami o arawasu inazuma mo hikari no hodo wa hakanakarikeri

Lily-seed Dark, broken by Lightning; The flash, So brief.

Lord Takanobu.

326

Neither team can find fault with the other’s poem this round.

Shunzei feels, ‘The spirit of “an instant on my sleeves” (hodo naki sode) is particularly fine, is it not? Prefacing “dark, broken by” (yami o arawasu) with “lily-seed” (mubatama no), seems somewhat overblown, and then concluding with “so brief” (hakanakarikeri) contradicts the initial statement. “Lightning in the evening” (yoi no inazuma) should win.’