When he presented a Hundred Poem Sequence.
ひとりぬるやまどりのをのしだり尾にしもおきまよふとこの月影
| hitori nuru yamadori no o no shidario ni shimo okimayou toko no tsukikage | Sleeping alone, The mountain pheasant’s tail Hangs down, Mistaking for fallen frost The moonlight on his bed.[i] |
Lord Fujiwara no Sada’ie
[i] An allusive variation on SIS XIII: 778.
Left
山鳥のはつおの鏡掛けねども見し面影に音は泣かれけり
| yamadori no hatsuo no kagami kakenedomo mishi omokage ni ne wa nakarekeri |
A mountain pheasant’s Tail of hempen cord this mirror Does not suspend, yet The face I saw there once Makes me weep out loud… |
Kenshō
1053
Right (Win)
面影をほの三嶋野に尋ぬれば行衛知られぬ鵙の草ぐき
| omokage o hono mishimano ni tazunureba yukue shirarenu mozu no kusaguki |
Her face I did but briefly see at Mishimano When I visited there; I know not where has gone The shrike hiding in the grasses. |
Lord Takanobu
1054
The Gentlemen of the Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults to mention. The Gentlemen of the Left state: we wonder about the appropriateness of combining ‘Mishima Plain’ (mishimano) with ‘the shrike hiding in the grasses (mozu no kusaguki). Is there a poem as a precedent for this? If not, is it suitable?
In judgement: both poems have the conception of love: of imagining the pheasant and his mirror, and weeping at the memory of a lover’s face; and thinking of the shrike hiding in the grasses, visiting Mishima Plain, and recalling the past. However, what should we do about the matter of whether there is a precedent poem for ‘the shrike hiding in the grasses’ on Mishima Plain? Surely, it could be any plain, so there is no reason not to use this. The configuration of ‘I know not where has gone’ (yukue shirarenu) sounds better than that of ‘makes me weep out loud’ (ne wa nakarekeri). The Right, again, must win, I think.
Left (Tie)
人心常は卯月の時鳥ことかたらはん聲を聞かばや
| hito kokoro tsune wa uzuki no hototogisu koto kataran koe o kikaba ya |
Her heart is Ever chill; O, for the Fourth Month Cuckoo To tell me With a gentle song! |
Lord Suetsune
1047
Right
足引の遠山鳥の一聲は我つまながらめづらしき哉
| ashihiki no tōyamadori no hitogoe wa ware tsumanagara mezurashiki kana |
Leg-wearying The distant mountain pheasant’s Call is Even for his mate A rare thing, indeed! |
Lord Tsune’ie
1048
The Gentlemen of the Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults. The Gentlemen of the Left state: the initial part of the Right’s poem has an antiquated feel.
In judgement: the Left’s ‘cuckoo’ (hototogisu) and the Right’s ‘mountain pheasant’ (yamadori) are of the same level.