iwanuma no shitahau ashi no ne o shigemi himanaki koi o kimi shirurame ya
Silently beneath the marsh rocks Creep the reeds’ Roots in such profusion, Not a space free from love, but Does my lady know, I wonder?
A Court Lady 53
Right
身をつみて思ひや知るとこころみにながためつらき人もあらなん
mi o tsumite omoi ya shiru to kokoromi ni na ga tame tsuraki hito mo aranan
Pinching flesh, Would you know passion’s fire? To test it, I wish For you there was a cruel One, too…
Lord Masakane 54
Toshiyori states: the first poem is extremely charming. It seems to have no faults to mention. In the second poem, ‘For you there was a cruel one’ would be something quite impolite if said by a woman. Court ladies may lose their composure, yet they still appear to speak with dignity. In the absence of a prior poem as precedent, the first poem should win, I think.
Mototoshi states: this poem seems to have no faults to mention, and of the two, ‘beneath creep the reeds’ seems a bit more gently refined at present.
[1] An allusive variation on Gosenshū IV: 209; and a poem which Kenshō cites in his judgement of the poems in Round 1310 of Sengohyakuban uta’awase 千五百番歌合 (‘Poetry Contest in 1500 Rounds’): あめふればのきのたま水つぶつぶといはばやものを心ゆくまで ame fureba / noki no tamamizu / tsubutsubu to / iwaba ya mono o / kokoro yuku made ‘The rain falls and / Jewelled droplets from my eaves / Drip one by one: / Should I ponder on that / Until my heart is eased?’
