Love III: 3

Left (Tie).

袖の上にかかる涙の白玉を包まねばこそよそに散るらめ

sode no ue ni
kakaru namida no
shiratama o
tsutsumaneba koso
yoso ni chirurame
To my sleeves
Cling tears
As pearls:
I could not cover them, so
They have scattered far as wide, it seems…

Lord Ari’ie.

725

Right.

よしさらば逢はで重ぬる濡れ衣の恨みに朽る妻もあらなん

yoshi saraba
awade kasanuru
nureginu no
urami ni kutsuru
tsuma mo aranan
I care not if it’s so!
Without meeting, laid atop each other
Our dampened clothes
From despair will decay
At the hem – that is my desire!

Nobusada.

726

The Right state: in the Left’s poem, it sounds as if the tears are being scattered by some other person. The Left state: we cannot understand the Right’s poem at all.

Shunzei’s judgement: the entirety of the final section of the Left’s poem is inappropriate [kashinserarezaru]. While the configuration of the Right is elegant, it does, indeed, seem somewhat difficult to grasp. Compared, the round is a tie.

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