かりなきてさむきあさけの露霜にやののかみ山色づきにけり
| kari nakite samuki asake no tsuyujimo ni yano no kamiyama irozukinikeri | The geese cry and At a dawn so chill Frosted dewfall turns Divine Mount Yano To autumn hues. |


Round Seven
Left (Tie)
けさはまたそれともみえず淡路島霞のしたに浦風ぞ吹く
| kesa wa mata sore tomo miezu awajishima kasumi no shita ni urakaze zo fuku | This morning, once again, I cannot that clearly see Awaji Isle, but Beneath the haze The winds are blowing o’er the beach! |
Chikanari, Ranked without Office
13
Right
春霞なびく朝けの塩風にあらぬけぶりや浦に立つらん
| harugasumi nabiku asake no shiokaze ni aranu keburi ya ura ni tatsuran | Spring haze Trails over with the morn— Salt-fire breezes It is not, yet does smoke Seem to rise across the bay? |
Ie’kiyo, Ranked without Office
14
Both Left and Right don’t seem bad. I make them a tie.




After I had had various people compose on the scent of plum carried on the breeze.
このねぬるあさけの風にかをるなり軒ばの梅の春のはつ花
| kono nenuru asake no kaze ni kaoru nari nokiba no ume no haru no hatsubana | Having slept The dawntime breeze Is scented: Beneath my eaves the plum Shows spring’s first blossom. |

Left
頼むなるあさけ神しも幣はせん君が心やわれになびくと
| tanomu naru asake kami shimo nusa wa sen kimi ga kokoro ya ware ni nabiku to | Worship she does The goddess Asake, so should even I make her an offering? Then might my lady’s heart Trail in my direction… |
Kenshō
1153
Right (Win)
鏡山君に心やうつるらむいそぎ立たれぬ旅衣かな
| kagamiyama kimi ni kokoro ya utsururamu isogi tatarenu tabigoromo kana | Upon Mirror Mount Has my heart Found lodging? For In haste to rise and don My travelling garb, I am not! |
Lord Tsune’ie
1154
Left and Right state: there are no faults to mention in either poem.
In judgement: both Left and Right here refer to a ‘person’ (kimi), with the Left’s ‘making her an offering’ (nusa wa sen) that she might ‘trail in my direction’ (ware ni nabiku ya), while the Right’s has left his heart on Mirror Mount and ‘is not in haste to rise and don his travelling garb’ (isogi tatarenu tabigoromo): each of these poems is evocative, and makes effective use of wordplay, with the Left’s ‘make her an offering’ certainly resembling something I have come across previously, but the initial ‘goddess Asake’ is poor. The Right’s ‘Mirror Mount’ (kagami yama) is something I am familiar with, and this has a gentle tone. Thus, the Right wins.