Round Seven

Left (Win)

あしひきのやまがくれなるさくらばなちりのこれりと風にしらすな

ashihiki no yamagakure naru sakurabana chirinokoreri to kaze ni shirasu na

Within the leg-wearing Mountains concealed, O, cherry blossom, That you linger and not scatter, Do not tell the wind!

Shōni no myōbu
14[1]

Right

としごとにきつつわがみるさくらばなかすみもいまはたちなかくしそ

toshi goto ni kitsutsu wa ga miru sakurabana kasumi mo ima wa tachi na kakushi so

Every single year I hear of and gaze upon Cherry blossom: The haze, too, now Arising, don’t hide them!

Nakatsukasa

15

The Left’s poem is extremely charming – that really is how things are.

The Right’s poem: where is it that you always hear of and then see them? This is a bit rough. There’s also no reason to include the expression ‘now’ here. Thus, the Left wins.

---

[1] A variant of this poem was later included in Shūishū (I: 66).