Left
きみをわれおきてしゆけばあさつゆのきえかへりてもあはむとぞおもふ
| kimi o ware okiteshi yukeba asatsuyu no kiekaerite mo awamu to zo omou | With you, my love, I Having risen and departed With the morning dew, Vanishing away, only To meet once more, I feel. |
28
Right
あさぼらけあかぬわかれをわびつつもゆふぐれをこそなぐさめにすれ
| asaborake akanu wakare o wabitsutsu mo yūgure o koso nagusame ni sure | At the pale edge of dawn, Unsatisfied, parting Leaves me ever desolate— The evening is sure to be My consolation! |
29
Round Eight
Left
風さむみゆふかげ草にかくろへてはたおる虫の声聞ゆなり
| kaze samumi yūkage kusa ni kakuroete hataorumushi no koe kikoyu nari | Chill the wind Upon the evening grasses, from Whence, concealed, The crickets’ Cries I hear. |
Chikafusa
15
Right
誰がためとあやめも見えぬ夕ざれにはたおる虫の声聞ゆらん
| ta ga tame to ayame mo mienu yūzare ni hataorumushi no koe kikoyuran | For whose sake Amidst the gloam Of eventide, might The crickets’ Cries I hear? |
Lady Hȳoe
16
At present, ‘Amidst the gloam / Of eventide’ appears to have a bit more conception than ‘the evening grasses, from / Whence, concealed, / The crickets’.
Insect and Evenings
Round Seven
Left
はふりこがしめゆふ野べの鈴虫は夕つけてこそふりたててなけ
| hōriko ga shimeyū nobe no suzumushi wa yū tsukete koso furitatete nake | The priests have Garlanded the meadows where The bell crickets With the fall of evening Sing out so loud. |
Major Archbishop
13
Right
神がきのいはねにさせる榊葉にゆふかけてなく鈴虫のこゑ
| kamigaki no iwane ni saseru sakakiba ni yū kakete naku suzumushi no koe | Within the sacred precincts At the crags’ foot thrust Are leaves from the sacred tree To the garlands clinging, as crying Come the bell crickets’ songs. |
Tadasue, Senior Assistant Minister of the Sovereign’s Household
14
I would say that both of these, Left and Right, are of the same quality in terms of diction and configuration.
Round Thirty
Left (Tie)
玉をぬく真野の糸萩かたよりにおのれみだるる秋の夕暮
| tama o nuku mano no itohagi katayori ni onore midaruru aki no yūgure | Strung with gems The bush-clover twigs at Mano All align together In their own tangles On an autumn evening. |
Shō
59
Right
待ちわたる時や来ぬらん白露の玉しく庭の秋はぎの花
| machiwataru toki ya konuran shiratsuyu no tama shiku niwa no akihagi no hana | Has that long-awaited Time arrived, perhaps? When silver dewdrop Pearls will spread o’er the grounds From the autumn bush clover blooms… |
Nagatsuna
60
The poems of Left and Right have different diction, but the same configuration.
Round Twenty-Eight
Left
故郷の萩の下葉も色づきぬ露のみふかき秋のうらみに
| furusato no hagi no shitaba mo irozukinu tsuyu nomi fukaki aki no urami ni | In this old, familiar place The bush clover’s underleaves, too, Have changed their hue— Only the dew is deep As autumn’s misery…[1] |
Dōchin
55
Right (Win)
白露の玉ぬきみだる萩が枝に涙かずそふ秋の夕暮
| shiratsuyu no tama nukimidaru hagi ga e ni namida kazusou aki no yūgure | Silver dewdrop Pearls are strung in tangles on The bush clover’s branches— Innumerable tears added On an autumn evening… |
Dharma Master Nyokan
56
Left and Right both have a refined style, yet the Right has a better tone and sounds elegant. Thus, it wins.
[1] An allusive variation on: 比日之 暁露丹 吾屋前之 芽子乃下葉者 色付尓家里 kono koro no / akatoki tsuyu ni / wa ga yado no / hagi no shitaba wa / irozukinikeri ‘Around thus time near / Dawn, the dewfall on / My dwelling’s / Bush clover underleaves / Has changed their hue!’ Anonymous (MYS X: 2182)
