Left
あまのがはわたりてのちぞたなばたのふかきこころもおもひしるらむ
| ama no gawa watarite nochi zo tanabata no fukaki kokoro mo omoishiruramu | After the River of Heaven She has crossed, The Weaver Maid The depths of her heart’s Feelings seems to know too well. |
17
Right (Win)
あふよなきたなばたなればいまはとてかへるくもぢにまどはれしかな
| au yo naki tanabata nareba ima wa tote kaeru kumoji ni madowareshi kana | Were there no night’s meeting For the Weaver Maid, then Now, Upon her homeward path among the clouds Would she have wandered, lost! |
18
Round Nine
Left (Win)
女郎花いづれの秋かみえざりし野原の霧に立ちなかくれそ
| ominaeshi izure no aki ka miezarishi nohara no kiri ni tachi na kakure so | O, maidenflower, In which autumn is it, that You have remained unseen? In the mists upon the meadow Stand and don’t hide yourself! |
Kataoka Shrine Priest Kamo no Masahira
17
Right
心から夜のまの露にしほたれてあさじめりする女郎花かな
| kokoro kara yo no ma no tsuyu ni shiotarete asajimerisuru ominaeshi kana | Her heart Throughout the night with dewdrops Drenches her, Dripping with morning tears is The maidenflower! |
Fujiwara no Koreyuki, Supernumerary Junior Assistant Minster of the Sovereign’s Household
18
The Left is extremely absorbingly composed. As for the Right, though, I wonder about the use of being ‘drenched with dewdrops’—while it does put me in mind of fisherfolk at Ise, because it fails to indicate anything in the conception of the topic, it should lose, I think.
Round Two
Left (Win)
花すすき誰ともわかずまねくにも心をとむる我やなになり
| hanasusuki tare tomo wakazu maneku ni mo kokoro o tomuru wa ya nani nari | The silver grass fronds Care not who They beckon, yet Entranced What am I to them them? |
Lord Taira no Tsunemori, Assistant Master of the Dowager Empress’ Household
3
Right
あだにおく夜のまの露にむすぼほれて思ひしほるる女郎花かな
| ada ni oku yo no ma no tsuyu ni musubōrete omoishioruru ominaeshi kana | Faithlessly falling In the night, the dewdrops Have drenched The dejected Maidenflower! |
Former Minor Captain, Lord Fujiwara no Kinshige
4
This round the poems, again, are equal in quality, but the Right’s use of ‘dejected’ as a piece of diction is vague, and in the absence of a prior example of usage, the Left should win.
When the Minamoto Minister had visited her, but then lately had not come to call, she caught a faint glimpse of him through a hole in the wall of her chamber, and sent him this.
まどろまぬかべにも人を見つるかなまさしからなん春の夜の夢
| madoromanu kabe ni mo Fito wo mituru kana masasikaranan Faru no yo no yume | Unable to sleep, Through my wall him I did glimpse! O, how I wish were true My dream this brief spring night… |
Suruga
Left (Tie)
あふことをまつとなげきしときよりもたなばたつめはいまやわぶらむ
| au koto o matsu to nagekishi toki yori mo tanabatatsume wa ima ya waburamu | For a meeting Did she pine and grieve, But from that moment The Weaver Maid Now seems filled with lonely sadness. |
5
Right
ながきよにつくすともなきたなばたのこひはそらにやもりわたるらん
| nagaki yo ni tsukusu tomo naki tanabata no koi wa sora ni ya moriwataruran | The long night through Did not exhaust at all The Weaver Maid’s Love into the skies Seems to overflow. |
6
Left
あかずしてわかれにしかばあまのがはこひしきせのみおもほゆるかな
| akazushite wakarenishikaba ama no gawa koishiki se nomi omohoyuru kana | Unsatisfied Have they parted, so At the River of Heaven’s Rapids, their loving meeting alone Does fill their thoughts! |
3
Right (Win)
たなばたのまれにあふよのしののめのみえぬばかりぞきりはふらまし
| tanabata no mare ni au yo no shinonome no mienu bakari zo kiri wa furamashi | The Weaver Maid Has but a rare night’s meeting, so At the edge of dawn That it simply not be seen She wishes for the fog to fall. |
4
Round Nineteen
Left (Win)
うちはらふ枕のちりもかくれなくあれたる宿をてらす月影
| uchiharau makura no chiri mo kakurenaku aretaru yado o terasu tsukikage | Needing to be swept away, The dust upon my pillow Cannot be concealed In my dilapidated dwelling, when The moonlight shines within… |
Taifu
37
Right
秋の夜の月みる袖におく露やひるにかはれるしるしなるらん
| aki no yo no tsuki miru sode ni oku tsuyu ya hiru ni kawareru shirushi naruran | On an autumn night Upon my sleeves, when gazing at the moon, Fall dewdrops— That all is changed from daytime Might they be a sign? |
Yorisuke
38
In both the moon is bright, and I feel they reflect the essential meaning of the topic, but as its diction is currently slightly more familiar, I make the Left the winner. It would be possible to call this a tie, too, though.
Round Seventeen
Left
夜もすがらをばすて山の月をみて昔にかよふ我がこころかな
| yomosugara obasuteyama no tsuki o mite mukashi kayou wa ga kokoro kana | All night long At Mount Obasute Gazing upon the moon— Drifting back to days gone by Goes my heart! |
Lord Kiyosuke
33
Right (Win)
山のはに雲のよこぎるよひのまは出でても月ぞ猶またれける
| yama no ha ni kumo no yokogiru yoi no ma wa idete mo tsuki zo nao matarekeru | Along the mountains’ edge Trail clouds Throughout the night, so Even as it rises, the moon I am yet awaiting! |
Atsuyori
34
