Round One

Deer

Left (Tie)

さをしかも秋をかなしとおもへばやときしも声をたてて鳴くらん

saoshika mo aki o kanashi to omoeba ya toki shimo koe o tatete nakuran

Does the stag, too, Autumn’s sadness Feel? That at this time, of all, his cry Should ring out so…

Lord Shige’ie
25

Right

嶺になく鹿の音ちかくきこゆなり紅葉吹きおろす夜はのあらしに

mine ni naku shika no ne chikaku kikoyu nari momiji fuki’orosu yowa no arashi ni

Crying upon the peak The stag’s bell close by Sounds, carried With blown down scarlet leaves On the midnight storm…

Lord Tsunemori
26

The Left truly sounds as if it grasps the conception with its use of ‘of all, his cry’. The Right, too, is poetic with ‘blown down scarlet leaves’. There may be some who say that one should not compose using a subsidiary topic, yet in the poetry match held in Tentoku[i] and the poetry match held by Emperor Kazan[ii], this was judged not to be a fault.

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[i] This was the Dairi uta’awase Tentoku yo-nen 内裏歌合　天徳四年 (‘Palace Poetry Match Tentoku 4’) held by Emperor Murakami on the 30^th day of the Third Month, Tentoku 4 [28.4.960].

[ii] This was the Dairi uta’awase Kanna gan-nen 内裏歌合　寛和元年 (‘Palace Poetry Match Kanna 1’) held by Emperor Kazan the 10^th day of the Eighth Month, Kanna 1 [28.8.985].