Left.
立ちかはる年のはじめは豊御酒にかさねてたまふ広幡の衣
| tachikawaru toshi no hajime wa toyo miki ni kasanete tamau hirohata no kinu |
Newly arrived is The year, and at its head, A goodly draught of wine, Once more, bestowed with A broad bolt of silken cloth! |
Right (Win).
松が崎たえぬ氷室に皇の千世にためしをけふぞたてける
| matsugasaki taenu himuro ni suberaki no chiyo ni tameshi o kyō zo tatekeru |
In Matsugasaki, Unenduring ice-houses: within, Of His Majesty’s Thousand ages, a sign Stands there this day. |
The Right state that there is not doubting the conception of the Left’s poem as a Festival poem [sechie no kokoro wa utagainashi]. The final section, though, does not fit this [kokoro yukazu]. The Left state that the first five syllables of the Right’s poem are grating to hear [mimi ni tachite kikoyu].
Shunzei’s judgement: The Left’s poem is truly completely in keeping with the conception of the topic [dai no kokoro wa makoto ni kagirinaku], but ‘A broad bolt of silken cloth!’ (hirohata no kinu) really does seem unsuited. The Right’s poem concerns the Ice Testing on New Year’s Day, and so does have the conception of a festival poem, but [en no kokoro mo habaramedo] on the face of it the poem feels more like one on the topic of Ice-Houses. However, it is still the case that hirohata sounds poor [yoshikarazu kikoe]. I will make ‘Ice Houses’ the winner.