The End of Summer
Left
なくこゑはするものからに身はむなしあなおぼつかなうつせみのよや
| naku koe wa suru mono kara ni mi wa munashi ana obotsukana utsusemi no yo ya | Their voices sing And yet Their flesh is empty— O, how strange is A cicada shell world! |
Tadamine
9
Right (Win)
ほととぎすをちかへりなけうなゐこがうちたれがみのさみだれのこゑ
| hototogisu ochikaeri nake unaiko ga uchitaregami no samidare no koe | A cuckoo Calls again and again; A child’s shoulder-brushing Hair dangling down: The song of a summer shower. |
Mitsune
10
Round Five
Left (Win)
なつの夜のふすかとすればほととぎす鳴く一声に明くるしののめ
| natsu no yo no fusu ka to sureba hototogisu naku hitogoe ni akuru shinonome | On summer nights, I’m wondering whether to go to bed, when A cuckoo’s Single call Brightens the dawn. |
Ki no Tsurayuki
9
Right
郭公をちかへりなけうなゐこがうちたれがみの五月雨の空
| hototogisu ochikaerinake unaiko ga uchitaregami no samidare no sora | A cuckoo Calls again and again; A child’s shoulder-brushing Hair dangling down: A summer shower fills the skies. |
Ōshikōchi no Mitsune 10[1]
[1] Shūishū II: 116: For a poetry contest at Sadafun’s house.
Left (Tie).
年を經て遂に逢べき中ならば齢ばかりを歎かざらまし
| toshi o hete tsui ni aubeki naka naraba yowai bakari o nagekazaramashi |
If the years go by, and Finally, that we meet Should come to pass, Just our youth Should not be a source of grief! |
Lord Suetsune.
859
Right.
比べ來し振分髪のそのかみも終の思やなを遊びけん
| kurabekoshi furiwakegami no sono kami mo tsui no omoi ya nao asobiken |
We did match Our hair, bunched on either side: Back then, That, at last, our passions would Join – I wonder, did we know it? |
Nobusada.
860
The Right state: the conception of youth is lacking. The Left state: the initial part simply resembles the original poem.
In judgement: the Left’s poem, from beginning to end, uses nothing but commonplace diction. The Right’s poem, too, really says nothing beyond the sense of its origin poem. The poems are of the same quality.
Left (Win).
見し人のねくたれ髪の面影に涙かきやる小夜の手枕
| mishi hito no nekutare kami no omokage ni namida kakiyaru sayo no tamakura |
One I once loved: Her sleep-tangled hair Comes to mind, and My tears drop upon My pillowed arm this night. |
A Servant Girl.
839
Right.
見せばやな夜床に積もる塵をのみあらましごとに拂ふ氣色を
| miseba ya na yodoko ni tsumoru chiri o nomi aramashi goto ni harau keshiki o |
Hoping to see him, From my bed the piled Dust at least, Wishing it would be, Sweeping away – that’s me! |
Nobusada.
838
Left and Right both state there are no faults to indicate.
In judgement: even though both the Left’s ‘pillowed arm this night’ (sayo no tamakura) and the Right’s ‘dusty bed’ (yodoko no chiri) are elegant, the combination of ‘my tears drop upon my pillowed arm this night’ (namida kakiyaru sayo no tamakura) is particularly moving. The Left should win.