Left.
鯨取るさかしき海の底までも君だに住まば浪路しのがん
kujira toru
sakashiki umi no
soko made mo
kimi dani sumaba
namij shinoga |
The whale-hunting
Savage sea’s
Depths: even there,
Should it be your dwelling,
Would I endure the waves… |
Kenshō.
973
Right (Win).
石見潟千尋の底もたとふれば淺き瀬になる身の恨かな
iwamigata
chihiro no soko mo
tatoureba
asaki se ni naru
mi o urami kana |
Iwamigata:
Your thousand fathom depths
I take as
A shallow shoal
For my despite. |
Jakuren.
974
The Right state: the Left’s poem leaves a fearsome impression, does it not? The Left state: we find no fault with the Right’s poem.
In judgement: The Left’s ‘whale hunting’ (kujira toran) I remember occurring in the Man’yōshū, but among many of that collection’s oddly-styled poems. However, it does sound extremely fearsome. When Emperor Qin Shihuang sought Mount Penglai, although he said to ‘shoot’ (iyo) great fish, I have not heard that he went so far as to ‘hunt’ (tore) them. Generally speaking, poems should evoke delicacy and charm, and what purpose is served, for the way of poetry, or for the individual, by frightening people deliberately? The Right’s Iwamigata and ‘For my despite’ (mi no urami kana) recalls an official complaining over being passed over for promotion. However, I cannot accept the Left’s poem. Thus, the Right wins.