Left.
契あらばあひ見て後ぞ知らるべき語りしさまの氣色なりとも
| chigiri araba aimite nochi zo shirarubeki katarishi sama no keshiki naritomo |
Should we have a bond, After meeting I would, no doubt, know it; And that the tales Of her appearance are true… |
625
Right.
人づてに何か心を盡すらん戀ざめならば悔しからじや
| hitozute ni nani ka kokoro o tsukusuran koizame naraba kuyashikaraji ya |
Via go-betweens Why should I my heart Pour out? For should I lose interest in loving you, How vexing it would be! |
The Provisional Master of the Empress Household Office.
626
The Gentlemen of the Right state: we find no faults worth mentioning in the Left’s poem. The Gentlemen of the Left state: the Right is overly frivolous.
Shunzei’s judgement: the Left, by beginning ‘Should we have a bond’ (chigiri araba) gives an impression that that the poem will be fine, but the final section has little depth, and is only lightly linked with the conception. As for the Right’s poem, if one has ‘lost interest’, there would be no gain in truly pouring out one’s heart! Neither poems sounds like a winner, or a loser.