Left (Win).
思ヘどもまだ見ぬ程は滿つ潮に入りぬる磯のためしだになし
omoedomo
mada minu hodo wa
mitsu shio ni
irinuru iso no
tameshi dani nashi |
I love her, yet
Have not caught a glimpse;
The rising tide
Flooding the rocky shore –
There’s not even a case of that! |
Lord Kanemune.
977
Right.
岩根打つ荒磯浪の高きこそまだよそながら袖は濡るなれ
iwane utsu
ara’iso nami no
takaki koso
mada yosonagara
sode wa nuru nare |
Crashing on the crags by
The rocky shore, the waves
Are high, indeed;
Distant, perhaps, but
Still my sleeves are soaked… |
Lord Takanobu.
978
Both Left and Right state that the opposing poem lacks a strong conception of the sea.
In judgement: I wonder whether the suggestion by both Left and Right that the poems lack a strong conception of the sea is correct. The Left has ‘the rising tide flooding the rocky shore’ (mitsu shio ni irinuru iso), while the Right has ‘crashing on the crags by the rocky shore’ (iwane utsu ara’iso). If these expressions do not strongly convey the conception of the sea, then I ask you, what would? I wonder, though, how one’s sleeves can get soaked if the waves, though high, are distant. The final section of the Left’s poem is elegant. It wins.
Love on Sight
風吹けば磯打つ波の立ち返り見れども飽かぬ君にもあるかな
kaze Fukeba
iso utu nami no
tatikaFeri
miredomo akanu
kimi ni mo aru kana |
When the wind does blow
Waves strike the rocky shore
Again and yet again
I see you, yet unsated
Of you am I! |
Minamoto no Nakazane
源仲実
Sent to the residence of her wet nurse, to say that he wished to converse to a lady.
かくなむと蜑の漁火ほのめかせ磯べの波の折もよからば
kaku namu to
ama no isaribi
Fonomekase
isobe no nami no
wori mo yokaraba |
Say “It is here,”
As the fisher folk’s fires
Faintly
With the waves toward the rocky shore
Draw near, in time… |
Minamoto no Yorimitsu
源頼光
Left (Tie).
象潟や妹戀ひしらにさ寢る夜の磯の寢覺に月傾きぬ
kisakata ya
koishirani
sanuru yo no
iso no nezame ni
tsuki katabukinu |
In Kisakata and
In love;
I sleep the night away, and
Awaking on the rocky shore
Behold the moon descending. |
Kenshō
897
Right.
清見潟岩敷く袖の浪の上に思ふもわびし君が面影
kiyomigata
iwa shiku sode no
nami no ue ni
omou mo wabishi
kimi ga omokage |
At Kiyomigata
Sleeves spread atop the rocks,
Waves breaking atop them;
Heart filled with pain
At the memory of your face… |
Jakuren
898
Left and Right both state that the opposing poem is pretentious.
In judgement: the Left’s poem seems well-constructed in its initial and final sections. However, as in Mototoshi’s poem long ago, ‘breaking a stem of miscanthus on the beach at Ise’, this seems to be a case of poetic allusion. The Right’s ‘Sleeves spread atop the rocks, waves breaking atop them’ (iwa shiku sode no nami no ue) seems to have been newly composed and seems elegant, but the final section is somewhat inferior. The Left has beginning and end matching. The Right has a superior initial section, but an inferior final one. Thus, the round ties.
Topic unknown.
潮みてば入ぬる磯の草なれや見らく少く戀ふらくの多き
siFo miteba
irinuru iso no
kusa nare ya
miraku sukunaku
koFuraku no oFoki |
When the tide is high
Flooding the rocky shore,
As the seaweed is he?
Seldom glimpsed, but
Much desired! |
Lady Ōtomo of Sakanoue
坂上郎女
'Simply moving and elegant'