Left (Win).
幾年に我なりぬらん椎柴のしばしはせても嬉しかりしを
| ikutose ni ware narinuran shiishiba no shibashi wa setemo ureshikarishi o |
How many years Has it been since I Broke the brushwood to reach Fourth Rank? I has been a while, and yet I was happy then… |
571
Right.
位山道の椎柴年ふりて超え行く人ぞ羨まれける
| kuraiyama michi no shiishiba toshi furite koeyuku hito zo urayamarekeru |
Rank is a mountain Trail; the brushwood I broke to reach the Fourth Some years ago, and Those men who cross to greater heights, How I do envy them! |
572
Both teams say that their poems are ‘no more than an expression of personal dissatisfaction’.
Shunzei’s judgement: Both poems are, indeed, similar personal laments [jukkai]. The Right’s ‘trail; the brushwood’ (michi no shiishiba) sounds more modern. The Left’s poem, though, should win.