The Right state: it sounds as if the man is enduring on the treetops. The Left state: ‘I will listen no more!’ (kikaji tada) is extremely coarse.
In judgement: while it may sound as if the man is enduring on the treetops in the Left’s poem, this is no more than a standard use of metaphorical expression, and the configuration of ‘accustomed to his being here, now, he comes not and from the treetops’ (suminareshi hito wa kozue ni) sounds fine, with the latter part of the poem also being elegant. The initial line of the Right’s poem has a conception of closing up the ears to block one’s auditory sense, which seems excessive. Clearly, the Left’s ‘my zither’s strains’ (koto no ne ni nomi) must win.
The Chrysanthemum Match during the reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.
The Gentlemen of the Left. For the chrysanthemum in the initial round, Kotategimi, a young courtier lad, was dressed as a woman, and brought in the flower, hiding his face with it. A further nine blooms were planted in a suhama. The form of the suhama was certainly very charming. The chrysanthemums had their names written on long strips of paper, which were twined about them in places to show them to their best advantage.
Initial Round: a chrysanthemum from Minase in Yamazaki
うちつけに水瀬は匂ひまされるをり人からか花の常かも
uchituke ni
minase Fa nioFi
masareru
wori Fito kara ka
Fana no tune kamo
Suddenly
Minase, with scent
Superb is filled –
Is it from a lady there, or
Are the blooms ever so?