Love X: 13

Left (Win)
潮風の吹こす海人の苫ひさし下に思ひのくゆる頃かな

shiokaze no
fukikosu ama no
toma hisashi
shita ni omoi no
kuyuru koro kana
The tidewinds
Blow across the fisher girl’s
Rush-woven roof;
Below, in fires of passion
Does she smoulder…

A Servant Girl
1165

Right
みさごゐる磯良が崎にあさりする海士もみるめを猶求めけり

misago iru
isora ga saki ni
asarisuru
ama mo mirume o
nao motomekeri
Ospreys hunt
Along the strand at Isora;
Digging for clams,
The fisherman, a seaweed-strewn chance at love
Is seeking still…

The Supernumerary Master of the Empress’ Household Office
1166

Left and Right together state: we find no faults to mention.

In judgement: the Left’s ‘blow across the fisher girl’s rush-woven roof’ (fukikosu ama no toma hisashi) is certainly elegant. The Right’s ‘ospreys hunt along the strand at Isora’ (misago iru isora ga saki) seems a kind of overblown style, yet the Left seems particularly pleasant in form. I make it the winner.

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