omoiwabi koiji ni mayou shirube ni wa namida bakari zo saki ni tachikeru
Suffering with passion, and Lost upon the paths of love My guide is Simply my tears that Set out before me.
Consultant and Middle Captain Tadanori 9
The reply, written in a style to blend in with the picture on the paper, of a many-petalled safflower, and attached to a stem of bellflower, made from metal.
恋路をばふみだに見じと思ふみに何かはかかる涙なるらん
koiji oba fumi dani miji to omou mi ni nani ka wa kakaru namida naruran
Upon the path of love I’ve not seen you take even one step I feel, so Why might you show such Tears, I wonder?
The Right state: we wonder about the appropriateness of the expression ‘our hearts’ love’ (kokoro no koi)? The Left state: the Right’s poem has no faults to mention.
In judgement: the Left’s ‘our hearts’ love’ is something I am completely unaccustomed to hearing. The Right’s poem does have ‘my heart upon the path’ (kokoro no michi), but the use of ‘more and more’ (itodoshiku) means it is difficult to make it a winner. The round should tie.
