Left
人しれずしたにながるる涙川せきとどめなむかげは見ゆると
| hito shirezu shita ni nagaruru namidagawa seki todomenamu kage wa miyuru to | Unknown to all Beneath there flows A river of tears; O, for a dam to halt it, that I could glimpse her face… |
192[1]
Right
もえもあはぬこなたかなたの思ひかな涙の河の中にゆけばか
| moe mo awanu konata kanata no omoi kana namida no kawa no naka ni yukeba ka | Burning, unmatched, are My multitude of Passion’s fires! For into a river of tears Have I plunged? |
Tsurayuki
193
[1] Shokugosenshū XI: 640/Shinsen man’yōshū 227.
Left
白玉のきえて涙と成りぬれば恋しきかげを袖にこそ見れ
| shiratama no kiete namida to narinureba koishiki kage o sode ni koso mire | Pearls Vanish and to tears Have turned, so Her beloved face I will see upon my sleeves. |
160
Right
人を見ておもふ事だに有るものを空にこふるぞはかなかりける
| hito o mite omou koto dani aru mono o sora ni kōru zo hakanakarikeru | I saw her, and Thoughts simply Filled me, but In the skies, love is Fleeting, indeed! |
161
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Dowager Empress during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.
人しれずしたにながるる涙川せきとどめなむかげは見ゆると
| hito shirezu shita ni nagaruru namidagawa seki todomenamu kage wa miyuru to | Unknown to all Beneath there flows A river of tears; O, for a dam to halt it, that I could glimpse her face… |
Anonymous
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Dowager Empress during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.
夏の夜は水まさればやあまのがはながるる月のかげもとどめぬ
| natsu no yo wa mizu masareba ya ama no kawa nagaruru tsuki no kage mo todomenu | On a summer night Perhaps, because the waters are so fine Of the River of Heaven? Drifting, the moon’s Face, too, tarries not. |
Anonymous
Round Twelve
Left
冬の夜の月はとほくやわたりけんかげみしみづのまづしこほれば
| fuyu no yo no tsuki wa tōku ya watariken kage mishi mizu no mazu shi kōreba | On a winter’s night Does the moon distantly Pass by? For The waters where I saw its face Are the first to freeze… |
22
Right
ながれくるみづこほりぬる冬さへやなほうき草のあとはさだめぬ
| nagarekuru mizu kōrinuru fuyu sae ya nao ukikusa no ato wa sadamenu | Flowing down The waters have frozen With the winter, so will The drifting waterweed still Leave little trace? |
23
あきのむしなどわびしげにこゑのするたのめしかげに露やもりくる
| aki no mushi nado wabishige ni koe no suru tanomeshi kage ni tsuyu ya morikuru | Why do the autumn insects And more let out plaintive Cries; Is your trustworthy face Drenched in dew? |
67
もみぢばのながれてゆけば山がはのあさきせだにもあきはふかみぬ
| momijiba no nagareteyukeba yamagawa no asaki se dani mo aki wa fukaminu | The scarlet leaves Have come flowing, so The mountain stream’s Shallow rapids—even they Are deep in autumn! |
68
Left (Tie)
東路や萱津の原の朝霧に起き別るらん袖はものかは
| azumaji ya kayatsu no hara no asagiri ni okiwakaruran sode wa mono ka wa | On the eastern roads, Upon the field of Kayatsu With the morning mists Does he rise and part, but Are his sleeves as mine? |
Lord Ari’ie
1161
Right
さまざまにうつる心も鏡山影見ぬ人を恋ふるものかは
| samazama ni utsuru kokoro mo kagamiyama kage minu hito o kouru mono ka wa | Many Hearts does she attract upon Mirror Mount, But with one whose face remains unseen Would I fall in love? |
Lord Takanobu
1162
The Right state: the Left’s poem is fine. The Left state: the Right’s poem has no faults to mention.
In judgement: both poems are certainly by men entranced by thoughts of player-girls. The configuration and diction of ‘are his sleeves as mine?’ (sode wa mono ka wa) and ‘would I fall in love?’ (kouru mono ka wa) are both not unpleasant. Thus, I make this a tie.