From a poetry contest at Sadafun’s house.
みねはもえふもとはこほるふじ川のわれもうき世を住みぞわづらふ
| mine Fa moe Fumoto Fa koForu FuzigaFa no ware mo ukiyo wo sumi zo waduraFu | At the peak it burns and At the foot does freeze: The Fuji River, just as I, too, in this cruel world Live and suffer. |
Fukayabu
This is the sole surviving poem from ‘Sadafumi’s Poetry Contest‘.
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.