Round Five

Left

あさひ山みねの紅葉をみわたせばよもの木末に照りまさりけり

asahiyama mine no momiji o miwataseba yomo no kozue ni terimasarikeri

When upon Asahi Mountain’s Peak of scarlet leaves I turn my gaze, All over, the treetops Shine most bright!

Tamechika
81

Right (Win)

紅のやしほの色にめかれすなおなじはもりの神といへども

kurenai no yashio no iro ni mekaresu na onaji hamori no kami to iedomo

From the scarlet, Deeply dyed, hues O, avert not your eyes! Though the same leaves’ guardian Deity you are called…

Moromitsu
82

The Left has nothing particular to say and its expression is awkward. As for the Right, a number of learned men seem to have said that one does not compose about the guardian deity of the leaves in relation to trees in general, but about oak trees, yet a great many things have deities to protect them, so I wonder if the guardian deity of the leaves could be a deity for all types of tree—couldn’t it protect any of them? Thus, in this poem, too, couldn’t that be the case? While the concluding ‘though you are called’sounds overly direct, it appears it should win.