With the passage of the day, so life falls into decline.
けふくれぬいのちもしかとおどろかす入あひのかねの音ぞかなしき
| kyō kurenu inochi mo shika to odorokasu iriai no kane no oto zo kanashiki | The day has turned to twilight, and so Does life before you Notice it; The sunset bell’s Toll is sad, indeed. |
Monk Jakunen
Left (Win).
玉ほこの道行き人も心ありて來んと頼めよこの夕卜には
| tamahoko no michi yukibito mo kokoro arite kon to tanomeyo kono yūke ni wa |
Jewelled spear straight The road for this traveller: If he longs for me, Let it say, ‘Come with me!’, This evening’s fortune! |
Lord Kanemune.
819
Right.
逢ことを頼むる暮と思せば入相の鐘も嬉しからまし
| au koto o tanomuru kure to omoiseba iriai no kane mo ureshikaramashi |
‘We will meet, On that you can rely, at dusk,’ He made me think, so The sunset bell, too, Does seem full of joy! |
The Provisional Master of the Empress’ Household Office.
820
The Right state: evening fortune-telling and crossroad divination are different things. The Left state: the Right’s poem has no faults.
In judgement: both evening fortune-telling and crossroad divination are conducted in the evening, and with either one could wish ‘Let it say, “Come with me!”’ (kon to tanomeyo), so this does not seem to be a mistake does it? The Right has the fault of having both ‘We will meet’ (au koto o) and ‘sunset bell, too’ (iriai no kane mo). The Left should win.
Left.
入相の音につけても待たれし寢よとの鐘に思ひ弱りぬ
| iriai no oto ni tsukete mo matareshi neyo to no kane ni omoiyowarinu |
For the sunset bell’s Toll Have I waited, and Thought to go to sleep, but a further chime Leaves me distraught. |
685
Right (Win).
宵の鐘を聞すぐすだに苦しきに鳥の音を鳴袖の上哉
| yoi no kane o kikisugusu dani kurushiki ni tori no ne o naku sode no ue kana |
The night’s bells I hear, in passing, but More painful is The birdsong falling Upon my sleeves… |
686
The Gentlemen of the Right state: in the Left’s poem the use of ‘have I waited’ (matareshi) gives the impression that the wait has been very long, indeed! In addition, ‘thought to go to sleep, but a further chime’ (neyo to no kane) is unsatisfactory. ‘Sunset bell’ (iriai no oto) and ‘sleep, but a further chime’ (neyo to no kane) – both these expressions have the same meaning. The Gentlemen of the Left state: in the Right’s poem ‘painful’ (kurushiki ni) sounds weak.
Shunzei’s judgement: the statement by the Gentlemen of the Right concerning ‘sunset bell’ and ‘sleep, but a further chime’ is correct. As for the faults of the Right’s poem, using painful or ‘sorrowful’ (wabishi) forcefully certainly does not sound weak. Having said, ‘I hear, in passing, but’ (kikisugusu dani) makes it more painful. The final line sounds charming. Thus, the Right wins.