Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 37

Round Twelve

Left

しぐれにはいほりもささじくさまくらおときくとてもぬれぬそでかは

shigure ni wa
iori mo sasaji
kusamakura
oto kiku tote mo
nurenu sode ka wa
Caught in a shower,
I’d not erect my hut, for
Upon a grassy pillow
Listening to the sound, still
Would my sleeves be soaked!

Tsunemasa
73

Right (Win)

たまもふくいそやがしたにもるしぐれたびねのそでもしほたれよとや

tamamo fuku
isoya ga shita ni
moru shigure
tabine no sode mo
shiotareyo to ya
Thatched with gemweed is
My roof upon the rocky shore, beneath it
Drips a shower, so
My sleeves, as I doze upon my travels,
Wet with the salty tides – should I say that?

Nakatsuna
74

The Left wonders whether his sleeves would be soaked, listening to the sound of a shower after abandoning all thought of a hut and grassy pillow—this seems extremely charming, but the configuration and sequencing of the Right, beginning with ‘thatched with gemweed’ and continuing with ‘my sleeves, as I doze upon my travels, / Wet with salty tides’, is extremely moving, isn’t it! Thus I have to award a win, once more, to the poem of the Right.

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