On the autumn moon by the sea, for the poetry match held at the Poetry Office on the night of the Fifteenth of the Eighth Month.
わすれじな難波の秋の夜半の空ことうらにすむ月はみるとも
| wasureji na naniwa no aki no yowa no sora koto’ura ni sumu tsuki wa miru tomo | Never would I forget Naniwa’s autumn Midnight skies, though Clear above another distant bay The moon I see… |
Gishūmon’in no Tango
Left (Tie)
ひとのうへとおもひしものをわがこひになしてやきみがただにやみぬる
| hito no ue to omoishi mono o wa ga koi ni nashite ya kimi ga tada ni ya minuru | Upon me The coals of passion have lain, yet After my love has been So clear, why, my lady Do you seem so calm? |
Mitsune
55
Right
あしまよふなにはのうらにひくふねのつなでながくもこひわたるかな
| ashi mayou naniwa no ura ni hiku fune no tsunade nagaku mo koi wataru kana | Lost among the reeds Of Naniwa Bay, Pulling a boat with Tug-ropes stretching long As my love endures! |
56
Left (Win)
誰となく寄せては返る浪枕浮きたる舟の跡もとどめず
| tare to naku yosete wa kaeru namimakura ukitaru fune no ato mo todomezu | To no one Cleaving, they return; Pillowed on the waves The drifting boats’ Wakes fail to linger long… |
A Servant Girl
1151
Right
何方を見ても忍ばむ難波女の浮き寝の跡に消ゆる白浪
| izukata o mitemo shinobamu naniwame no ukine no ato ni kiyuru shiranami | Whither Should I look in longing? With a girl from Naniwa I slept briefly, but her Wake vanishes among the whitecaps… |
Jakuren
1152
Both Left and Right together state: neither poem is bad.
In judgement: both poems seem elegant in configuration and diction, but the Right’s ‘girl from Naniwa’ (naniwame) raises the same issue as ‘diving girl’, only more so – there is not even evidence on this from inclusion in the Collection of Poems to Sing, is there? The Left’s ‘cleaving, they return; pillowed on the waves’ (yosete wa kaeru namimakura) really does seem like a pleasure girl, so I must say it is superior.
Topic unknown.
難波潟潮満ちくらしあま衣たみのの島に鶴鳴き渡る
| naniFagata siFo mitikurasi amagoromo tamino no sima ni tadu nakiwataru | At the shore of Naniwa With high tide in the twilight, In rain-gear At Tamino Isle The cranes cross, calling. |
Anonymous
Left (Tie).
これやこの心ある人のながむべき難波わたりの春の明ぼの
| kore ya kono kokoro aru hito no nagamubeki naniwa watari no haru no akebono |
Is this what That man with soul Should gaze upon? Close by to Naniwa – The dawn at springtime… |
113
Right (Tie).
あはれさは古りゆくまゝにそへてけり高津の宮の春の明ぼの
| awaresa wa furiyuku mama ni soetekeri takatsu no miya no haru no akebono |
How moving! As it ages, it Affects one more: The Palace at Takatsu, In the dawn at Springtime. |
The Provisional Master of the Empress’ Household Office.
114
Neither team has any particular remarks to make about the other’s poems this round.
Shunzei, too, merely says, ‘Both poems make splendid use of places such as ‘the Palace at Takatsu’ (takatsu no miya), ‘close by to Naniwa’ (naniwa watari) and ‘dawn’ (akebono). It is difficult to decide on which is better. The round must, therefore, be a tie.’