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. |
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. |
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.