sumiyoshi to kikoyuru sato ni itowazu wa okidokoro naki mi o yadosaba ya
A pleasant place to live is Sumiyoshi’s Estate, or so I’ve heard, but If it provide no comfort, then My restless Self might it attract…
Lord Kinshige 103
Right
すぎていにしあきにおくれてしもがるるきくやわがみのたぐひなるらむ
sugite inishi aki ni okurete shimogaruru kiku ya wa ga mi no tagui naruramu
Past and gone is Autumn, but lingering, Frost-burned Chrysanthemums—is my sorry self Just like them, I wonder?
Enjitsu 104
Neither the poem of the Left, nor of the Right, sound as if they have any particular faults. Nevertheless, in the case of such poems the assessment varies depending upon the speaker. While the poem of the Left is, indeed, pitiful, it also sounds a bit crude. It would be elegant, I think, if it were a woman’s poem. As for the Right’s poem, if we take it as an expression of grief over orphanhood, then in the final analysis it’s charming as it matches the conception of a scion of a noble house picturing himself as the monarch of the flowers. Then again, we do have the poem by the Enkyū Third Prince:
うゑおきしきみもなきよにとしへたる花は我が身のここちこそすれ
ueokishi kimi mo naki yo ni toshi hetaru hana wa wa ga mi no kokochi koso sure
You planted them here, My Lord, though gone from this world, These many years past— The flowers and my sorry self Both feel the same…[1]
This would seem to be in the same vein. Given that the speaker of both poems is unclear, for the moment, these tie.
[1] Composed when viewing the blossom at the Enshūji and recalling former Emperor Gosanjō (KYS IX: 518).
hatsu shigure furinishi sato o kitemireba mikaki ga hara wa momijinishikeri
The first showers Have fallen on this ancient estate I have come to see: Mikaki Field has All turned to autumn hues.
Suketaka 78
While the Left displays great technical skill in juxtaposing ‘deeply dyed with scarlet hues’ and ‘Yashio Hill’, the Right at present is conclusively composed with a somewhat more decorous configuration relaxed manner. In this it conveys emotion as poems of old did, and so I believe it should certainly win.
sanomi ya wa kokoro arubeki hototogisu nezame no sora ni hitogoe mogana
Not much of The heart can you know, O, cuckoo, but On waking from the sky I would hear a single call.
A Court Lady 33
Right
やはた山むかひの里の郭公しのびしかたの声もかはらず
yawatayama mukai no sato no hototogisu shinobishi kata no koe mo kawarazu
By Yawata Mountain, At the estate of Mukai, A cuckoo, Fondly remembers someone With a changeless song!
Lord Ietaka 34
The Left’s poem would seem to fail to reflect the essential meaning of the topic of cuckoos by having it not yet being heard, and thus its overall technique seems dreadful. The Right’s poem also lacks any superlative elements, they must tie.
