Left (Win).
思ヘどもまだ見ぬ程は滿つ潮に入りぬる磯のためしだになし
| omoedomo mada minu hodo wa mitsu shio ni irinuru iso no tameshi dani nashi |
I love her, yet Have not caught a glimpse; The rising tide Flooding the rocky shore – There’s not even a case of that! |
Lord Kanemune.
977
Right.
岩根打つ荒磯浪の高きこそまだよそながら袖は濡るなれ
| iwane utsu ara’iso nami no takaki koso mada yosonagara sode wa nuru nare |
Crashing on the crags by The rocky shore, the waves Are high, indeed; Distant, perhaps, but Still my sleeves are soaked… |
Lord Takanobu.
978
Both Left and Right state that the opposing poem lacks a strong conception of the sea.
In judgement: I wonder whether the suggestion by both Left and Right that the poems lack a strong conception of the sea is correct. The Left has ‘the rising tide flooding the rocky shore’ (mitsu shio ni irinuru iso), while the Right has ‘crashing on the crags by the rocky shore’ (iwane utsu ara’iso). If these expressions do not strongly convey the conception of the sea, then I ask you, what would? I wonder, though, how one’s sleeves can get soaked if the waves, though high, are distant. The final section of the Left’s poem is elegant. It wins.