When a woman who had long been an acquaintence of Left Middle Captain Naritoki departed for Tsukushi, Lord Sanekata, went as a messenger to Usa, and she gave this to him out of concern.
今日迄は生の松原いきたれど我身のうさに歎てぞふる
keFu made Fa
iki no matubara
ikitaredo
wa ga mi no usa ni
nagekite zo Furu
Up until today
Among the pine groves of Iki
Have I lived, yet
In my desolation
Am I drowned in grief.
The Gentlemen of the Left and Right state the opposing team’s poem lacks thought.
Shunzei’s judgement: The Left draws excessively on conceits of Kyushu. In the Right’s poem, ‘confusion in the fields’ (nobe no mayoi) does not seem to lead anywhere. Both of these poems lack any real conception other than their use of conceits. The round ties.