Left (Win).
旅人や夏野の草を分けくらん菅の小笠の見え隱れする
| tabibito ya natsuno no kusa o wakekuran suge no ogasa no miekakuresuru |
Does a traveller Through the grasses on the summer plains Come forging? A woven hat of sedge Revealed and then concealed… |
193
Right.
夏草の茂みを行ば何となく露分け衣袖ぞ濡れける
| natsu kusa no shigemi o yukeba nani to naku tsuyu wake koromo sode zo nurekeru |
Through the summer grass’ Lush growth a’going Somehow My robe’s dew breaking Sleeves are drenched. |
194
The Right have no criticisms to make of the Left’s poem, but the Left remark that, ‘the phrase “somehow” (nani to naku) is obscure and discordant.’
Shunzei comments, ‘While the style [fūtei] of the Left’s poem is somewhat lacking, it otherwise has no faults. The Right’s “robe’s dew breaking” (tsuyu wake koromo) is superb, but as a whole the expression in the poem is insufficient. The Left wins.’