Round Six

Left (T- Tie)

かれ行くをなげきやすらん初霜のきくのゆかりに置くと思へば

kareyuku o nageki ya suran hatsujimo no kiku no yukari ni oku to omoeba

On withering Do they grieve, perhaps? The first frosts upon The chrysanthemums feel they form a bond When falling, so…

Lady Shōshō
35

Right (M – Win)

わが宿の籬にやどる菊なくはなににつけてか人もとはまし

wa ga yado no magaki ni yadoru kiku naku wa nani ni tsukete ka hito mo towamashi

If at my home’s Brushwood fence lodging There were no chrysanthemums, Why, indeed, Would any folk come to call?

Lord Nobutada
36

Toshiyori states: the first poem is redolent of prior compositions and so does not appear to have anything novel about it; nor does the situation it refers to arise. The second poem, too, is hackney and lacking in interest, and the central phrase ‘there were no chrysanthemums’ is prosaic. I say these, too, should tie.

Mototoshi states: as frost is not sentient, it is not the case that it could grieve and feel regret in connection to chrysanthemums. The poem of the Right has as final section resembling that of the poem sent by the Later Prince of the Central Secretariat to the Shijō Major Counsellor:

花もみな散りなん後はわが宿のなににつけてか人をまつべき

hana mo mina chirinan nochi wa wa ga yado no nani ni tsukete ka hito o matsubeki

After the blossoms, every one, Have scattered, then At my house Why, indeed, Should I folk await?[1]

This makes it slightly more poetic, so I would say the Right is superior.

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[1] When Major Counsellor Kintō said, ‘You should come to see the profusion of blossoms,’ and he was unable to visit. (GSIS I: 127)