風寒みはだれ霜降る秋の夜は山下とよみ鹿ぞ鳴くなる
kaze samumi
hadarejimo furu
aki no yo wa
yamashita toyomi
shika zo nakunaru |
How chill the wind
Dusting frost
On this autumn night;
The foothills echoing with
The belling of the stags… |
Fujiwara no Mototoshi
藤原基俊
This poem is also included in the Horikawa Hyakushū.
Left (Tie).
秋の夜に幾度ばかり照らむ稲葉の露に宿る稲妻
aki no yo ni
ikutabi bakari
terasuramu
inaba no tsuyu ni
yadoru inazuma |
On an autumn night
How many times does
It flash, I wonder?
In the dewfall on the seedling rice
Lightning has found a home. |
Lord Kanemune.
329
Right (Tie).
山の端に殘れる雲の絶え間より鳥羽田の面に通ふ稲妻
yama no ha ni
nokoreru kumo no
taema yori
tobata no omo ni
kayou inazuma |
On the mountains’ edge
Rest clouds, and
From the space between
Across the face of Tobata field
Passes lightning. |
Nobusada.
330
The Right state that they find the Left’s poem ‘commonplace’ [mezurashikarazu], while the Left remark that the Right’s poem ‘ has no faults, but we wonder about the utility of “Tobata”?’
Shunzei’s judgment: While the Left’s poem recalls the verse ‘How many times have I awakened’ (ikutabi bakari nezameshite), in form, I certainly feel it is good [utazama, yoroshiku koso haberumere]. As for the Right’s poem, though there is no particular wording which calls for the use of ‘Tobata’, as a large paddy field which is close to the capital, it does not seem that there is a reason not to use it. Thus, this round is a tie.
'Simply moving and elegant'