The Right state: the conclusion of the Left is unacceptable given its beginning. The Left state: there is no natural flow in ‘those feelings – Abe’ (kokorozashi abe).
In judgement: with regard to the Left’s poem, the Gentlemen of the Right have already stated that the conclusion is unacceptable given its beginning. The Right’s poem, too, lacks natural flow in ‘those feelings – Abe’. Furthermore, the Left’s diction of stating ‘if I were he’ (sore naraba) and then ‘I would trade places – for I would meet you!’ (kaete awamashi) sounds rather tense, but ‘life for love’ (koi ni inochi) certainly has impact. Thus, the Right should win.
Left and Right together state: no faults to mention.
In judgement: the Left has a profound conception of love. The Right’s ‘homeward bound’ (kaeru ieji) and ‘unable to meet with you grief’ (awanu nageki) are extremely difficult to grasp, I think. The Left should win.
The Right state: in the Left’s poem, ‘hatchets’ (sasuga) fails to match properly. The Left state: the Right’s poem lacks faults to indicate.
In judgement: indeed, in the Left’s poem ‘hatchets’ does not sound like it matches properly. The Right’s poem has the initial ‘into autumn’ (aki kakete), but the conception of autumn does not sound necessary here. They are of the same quality.
Left and Right together state: we find no faults to mention.
In judgement: For the Left, I wonder how long a ‘brief love’ (shibashi no koi) lasts? For one’s sleeves to have rotted, surely a certain amount of time must have passed, but in configuration the poem is certainly elegant. The Right’s woodcutter (yamabito) sounds like he is saying rather too much about himself. The Left should win.