Round Eighteen

Left (Tie)

神さぶるなげきの森の時鳥ひくしめなはもなくなくやこし

kamu saburu nageki no mori no hototogisu hiku shimenawa mo nakunaku ya koshi

In divine Nageki’s sacred grove Does the cuckoo to Where the holy garlands   Are hung not, come to sing?[1]

The Former Minister of the Centre
35

Right

さとわかずなけや五月の郭公忍びし比は恨みやはせし

sato wakazu nake ya satsuki no hototogisu shinobishi koro wa urami ya wa seshi

In every hamlet Sing, O, Fifth Month Cuckoo! For when you chirped before, I did not hate you for it…

Kozaishō
36

The Left’s poem is based on ‘Prayers / Alone I seem to hear at / This shrine, indeed, but / In the end, passion to grief’s / Grove will turn, no doubt…’ and sounds pleasant. The Right’s poem says ‘For when you chirped before, / I did not hate you for it’ and has a graceful style—thus, they tie.

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[1] An allusive variation on: Topic unknown. ねぎ事をさのみききけむやしろこそはてはなげきのもりとなるらめnegigoto o / sanomi kikikemu / yashiro koso / hate wa nageki no / mori to narurame ‘Prayers / Alone I seem to hear at / This shrine, indeed, but / In the end, passion to grief’s / Grove will turn, no doubt…’ Sanuki (KKS XIX: 1055)