Left
頼むなるあさけ神しも幣はせん君が心やわれになびくと
| tanomu naru asake kami shimo nusa wa sen kimi ga kokoro ya ware ni nabiku to | Worship she does The goddess Asake, so should even I make her an offering? Then might my lady’s heart Trail in my direction… |
Kenshō
1153
Right (Win)
鏡山君に心やうつるらむいそぎ立たれぬ旅衣かな
| kagamiyama kimi ni kokoro ya utsururamu isogi tatarenu tabigoromo kana | Upon Mirror Mount Has my heart Found lodging? For In haste to rise and don My travelling garb, I am not! |
Lord Tsune’ie
1154
Left and Right state: there are no faults to mention in either poem.
In judgement: both Left and Right here refer to a ‘person’ (kimi), with the Left’s ‘making her an offering’ (nusa wa sen) that she might ‘trail in my direction’ (ware ni nabiku ya), while the Right’s has left his heart on Mirror Mount and ‘is not in haste to rise and don his travelling garb’ (isogi tatarenu tabigoromo): each of these poems is evocative, and makes effective use of wordplay, with the Left’s ‘make her an offering’ certainly resembling something I have come across previously, but the initial ‘goddess Asake’ is poor. The Right’s ‘Mirror Mount’ (kagami yama) is something I am familiar with, and this has a gentle tone. Thus, the Right wins.