Round Five

Left (Win)

きく人の袖もぬれけり秋ののの露分けて鳴くさをしかのこゑ

kiku hito no sode mo nurekeri aki no no no tsuyu wakete naku saoshika no koe

Folk who hear him Have dampened sleeves, too— Across the autumn meadows As he forges through the dewdrops The stag’s bell.

Lord Kinshige
33

Right

鹿の音の吹きくるかたにきこゆるはあらしやおのがたちどなるらん

shika no ne no fukikuru kata ni kikoyuru wa arashi ya ono ga tachidonaruran

The stag’s bell Comes, blown, I do hear— Has the storm, himself, Arisen there, I wonder?

Lord Kiyosuke
34

I do wonder about the Left, which implies that one would soak one’s sleeves with tears on hearing a stag belling, given that I am unable to bring to mind any prior poems composed in this vein. What are we to make of the fact that, while the poem by Toshiyori, which I mentioned earlier, was composed about tears, there is still no trace of this usage in any other poetry match? It does seem poetic overall, though. The Right’s ‘Has the storm, himself, arisen’ is remarkably startling, so it’s a personal poem. While it’s not the case that there are no prior compositions in this manner, poems for poetry matches have a certain way about them and that’s simply how it is. Thus, the Left wins.