Round Thirty-Six

Left

秋をおもふ涙やもろき夕月夜木葉がくれに鹿ぞ鳴くなる

aki o omou namida ya moroki yūzukuyo ko no hagakure ni shika zo nakunaru

Filled with autumn feelings Do tears drip down? On a moonlit evening Hidden ‘mong the leafy trees, A stag does call.

Dōchin
71

Right (Win)

を山田に風の吹きしくいなむしろよなよな鹿のふしどなりけり

oyamada ni kaze no fukishiku inamushiro yonayona shika no fushidonarikeri

Across the mountain paddies The wind blows, spreading The rice into a coverlet, where Night after night, the stag Does lay his head.

Dharma Master Nyokan
72

The Left’s poem does not appear to have any faults worth indicating, yet the Right’s poem is still more pleasant. It should win.