Left.
年月ぞ思かひなく過にける君をきませの山のふもとに
toshitsuki zo
omou kainaku
suginikeru
kimi o kimase no
yama no fumoto ni |
For many years and months
I yearned to no end,
Passing time
Calling you on Kimase
Mountain’s foot. |
Lord Suetsune.
967
Right (Win).
吉野山戀のあまりに思入ぬなかなかさらば人や訪ふとて
yoshinoyama
koi no amari ni
omoi’irinu
nakanaka saraba
hito ya tou tote |
As Mount Yoshino
Is my love’s extent,
So deeply do I feel it;
But were I to do so,
Perhaps he would visit me there? |
Nobusada.
968
Both Right and Left together state the opposing poem has no faults to indicate.
In judgement: in the Left’s poem, would it really be to no end to pass the time calling on Mount Kimase? The Right’s poem, on Mount Yoshino, has ‘but were I to do so’ (naka saraba), which sounds charming. Thus, the Right wins.
紅葉ばの散る木のもとに宿借りて旅寝の床に錦をぞ敷く
momijiba no
chiru ko no moto ni
yado karite
tabine no toko ni
nishiki o zo shiku |
Scarlet leaves
Fall at the tree’s foot where
I find my lodging;
My traveller’s bed is
Scattered all with brocade! |
Sent to the house of someone who had gone to Shinano.
月影は飽かず見るとも更級の山の麓に長居すな君
tukikage Fa
akazu miru tomo
sarasina no
yama no Fumoto ni
nagawisu na kimi |
The moonlight can
Never sate your gaze, but
In Sarashina
At the mountain’s foot
Stay not too long, my lord! |
Ki no Tsurayuki
紀貫之
足引きの山元茂き夏草の深くも君を思ふころかな
asiFiki no
yamamoto sigeki
natu kusa no
Fukaku mo kimi wo
omoFu koro kana |
Leg-wearying
The mountain’s foot is lush
With summer grasses
Deeply of you, my love
Am I thinking now… |
吾妹子はさかよふ山の背はちかばあはじと人にかねてきかする
wagimoko wa
sakayou yama no
se wa chikaba
awaji to hito ni
kanete kikasuru |
My darling,
If I cross the mountains
And to the foot draw near,
“I will not meet you,” to him
I would long hear you say… |
Minamoto no Yorimasa
源頼政
'Simply moving and elegant'