Round Thirty-Four

Left

もののふもあはれとおもへあづさ弓ひきのの夜半のさをしかの声

mononofu mo aware to omoe azusayumi hikino no yowa no saoshika no koe

Let even a warrior Feel pity! A catalpa bow drawn On Hiki Plain at a midnight Stag’s call.

The Former Minister of the Centre
67

Right (Win)

つれもなきつまをやたのむ秋風の身にさむき夜は鹿も鳴くなり

tsure mo naki tsuma o ya tanomu akikaze no mi ni samuki yo wa shika mo nakunari

Is it his heartless Bride he seeks? The autumn wind Chills the bones at night As the stag, too, does cry.[1]

Kozaishō
68

The Left’s poem seems to have no faults worth mentioning, but the Right’s poem is composed with the poem ‘The autumn wind / Chills my bones / As cold as / The woman I hope for / In the dark, night after night’ in mind and seems particularly pleasant, so it wins.

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[1] An allusive variation on: Topic unknown. 秋風の身にさむければつれもなき人をぞたのむくるる夜ごとに aki kaze no / mi ni samukereba / tsuremonaki / hito o zo tanomu / kururu yo goto ni ‘The autumn wind / Chills my bones / As cold as / The woman I hope for / In the dark, night after night.’ Dharma Master Sosei (KKS XII: 555)