The scent of orange blossom incense on the breeze[i]
Left
ふくかぜに花たちばなぞにほふなるむかしのそでにあやまたれつつ
| fuku kaze ni hanatachibana zo niou naru mukashi no sode ni ayamataretsutsu | With the gusting breeze Orange blossom’s Fragrance comes— For those sleeves of bygone days Do I ever mistake it… |
13
Right
つねよりもことにもあるかなけふをまつはなたちばなのかぜのにほひは
| tsune yori mo koto ni mo aru kana kyō o matsu hanatachibana no kaze no nioi wa | More than ever So special it is! For today have I awaited, Orange blossom’s Scented breeze… |
14
In general, orange blossom is scented during early summer showers or has its fragrance carried on the evening breeze, so I wonder about the folk of bygone days: there’s nothing to compare it with, making the Left’s poem as hackneyed as one on Isonokami, yet there’s nothing special about it, like a weed growing under the eaves. The Right’s poem has ‘for today have I awaited’, which I think requires a reference to sweet-flags. My overall impression of both poems is that their conceptions are unclear.
[Judge’s poem missing]
[i] Rōkitsu bōfū 盧橘芳風
Love and tales.[i]
| wakarenishi mukashi wa tsuyu ka asajiwara ato naki nobe ni akikaze zo fuku | Since they were parted, Were those ancient times dewdrop brief? Across the cogon grass Upon the trackless plain The autumn wind is blowing! |
546
[i] The ‘tale’ here is the Song of Everlasting Woe about the doomed love between Yang Guifei and Emperor Xuanzong
From the poetry match at Tsurayuki’s house in the Second Month, Tengyō 2 – The end of summer.
むかしより思ふ心はみな月のみそぎの神ぞ空にしるらん
| mukashi yori omou kokoro wa minazuki no misogi no kami zo sora ni shiruran | For a long time now, Yearning has filled my heart: In the Sixth Month The purifying deity Seems to know it well, within the skies. |
Anonymous
Recalling love beneath the moon.
春やあらぬ月は見しよの空ながらなれし昔の影ぞ恋しき
| haru ya aranu tsuki wa mishi yo no sora nagara nareshi mukashi no kage zo koishiki | Is this not that spring? The moon is as I beheld it that night Within the skies, yet I had grown accustomed, long ago, to Her face, so much more dear to me… |
496
Personal Grievances
Round One
Left
むかしとてみのおもひではなけれどもきみしのびねぞたえずなかるる
| mukashi tote mi no omoide wa nakeredomo kimi shinobine zo taezu nakaruru | Bygone days— Memories of me then Have I none, yet Thinking fondly of my Lord I weep constantly. |
Hyōenosuke
101
Right
いくよしもありへむものとしらぬみはうきもつらきもなにかなげかむ
| iku yo shimo ariemu mono to shiranu mi wa uki mo tsuraki mo nanika nagekamu | However many ages I may live through I know not, so For the coldness and cruelties Why should I grieve so? |
Lord Naganori
102
The configuration of the Left’s poem, beginning ‘Memories of me then / Have I none, yet’ appears elegant. The conception of self-effacingly not recalling oneself but thinking fondly of one’s former master seems sadly moving. The Right’s poem appears splendidly direct in its emotional stance. With that being said, the Right lacks clear source of grief, whereas the Left has its fond recollections, and thus I have to say it wins.
