Composed at a place called Higurashino, when he was in attendance upon the former Teishi Emperor who had gone to view Miyataki.
ひぐらしのゆきすぎぬともかひもあらじひもとくいももまたじとおもへば
higurashino yukisuginu tomo kai mo araji himo toku imo mo mataji to omoeba Sundown at Higurashino Has passed, yet ‘Tis pointless, for My darling girl to undo her belt Has waited not, I fear…
Major Counsellor Noboru
Fulling cloth late at night (深夜擣衣)
Left
わぎもこがうつ唐衣さよふけてほのかにきこゆいづこなるらん
wagimoko ga utsu karakoromo sayo fukete honoka ni kikoyu izuko naruran My darling girl Is fulling my Cathay robe; As brief night breaks Faintly I hear The echoes from somewhere.
Ki no Sukezane 29
Right
手もたゆく成りやゆくらんさ夜ふかみ衣しでうつ音ののどけさ
ta mo tayuku nari ya yukuran sayo fukami koromo shideutsu oto no nodokesa Is it that her hands so weary Have become? Late on a brief night Fulling clothing— How faint that sound…
Taira no Sadamoto 30
Topic unknown. 風にちるはなたちばなに袖しめてわがおもふいもが手枕にせん
kaze ni chiru hanatachibana ni sode shimete wa ga omou imo ga tamakura ni sen Scattered on the breeze Orange blossoms’ scent Has sunk into my sleeves, So to my darling girl My arm as a pillow will I proffer.
Fujiwara no Mototoshi
Expressing true feelings.
恋ひ死なば恋ひも死ねとか我妹子が我家の門を過ぎて行くらむ
kopisinaba
kopi mo sine to ka
wagimoko ga
wagipe no kadeo wo
sugite yukuran
“If one can die of love, then
Do so!” says
My darling girl
As before my dwelling’s gate
She seems to go by!
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
柿本人麻呂歌集
Left (Win).
さらでだに恨みんと思ふ我妹子が衣の裾に秋風ぞ吹く
sarade dani
uramin to omou
wagimoko ga
koromo no suso ni
akikaze zo fuku
That is not it, yet even so,
I do think to hate
My darling girl,
Her robe hem
Blown by the autumn wind…
Lord Ari’ie .
935
Right.
いかなれば露をば払ふ風の音に物思ふ袖の濡れまさるらん
ika nareba
tsuyu o harau
kaze no oto ni
mono’omou sode no
nuremasaruran
For some reason
Dewdrops blown by
The wind – the mere sound
Brings to my gloomy sleeves
A dampness most extreme…
Jakuren .
936
The Right state: the Left’s poem is most admirable. The Left state: the Right’s poem is definitely not!
In judgement: to give the gist of the comments by the Gentlemen of the Left and the Right, the Left’s poem is admirable, and the Right’s poem is not admirable at all. I see no need to make much more of this round that that, so, the Left wins.
'Simply moving and elegant'