Left (Tie)
ふくかぜにとまりもあへずちるときはやへやまぶきのはなもかひなし
| fuku kaze ni tomari mo aezu chiru toki wa yaeyamabuki no hana mo kainashi | The gusting wind Does never cease, so Scattering time has come upon The eightfold kerria Blooms—so little good they are! |
Okikaze
35
Right
をしめどもたちもとまらずゆくはるをなこしのやまのせきもとめなむ
| oshimedomo tachi mo tomarazu yuku haru o nakoshi no yama no seki mo tomenamu | How I regret it, yet Cannot halt the departure of Parting spring— O, that Nakoshi Mountain’s Barrier would hold it! |
Tsurayuki
36
Left
おとはやまおとにききつつあふさかのせきのこなたにひとをまつかな
| otowayama oto ni kikitsutsu ausaka no seki no konata ni hito o matsu kana | As wing-beats in the mountains Do I hear tell: That on Meeting Hill Barrier’s inner side Someone does await me! |
Motokata
29
Right
そのはらやふせやにおふるははきぎのありとてゆけどあはぬきみかな
| sonohara ya fuseya ni ouru hahakigi no ari tote yukedo awanu kimi kana | At Sonohara By the rest-stop grows A sacred tree, they say; I catch a glimpse, yet Cannot meet with you! |
30
Left
人しれずしたにながるる涙川せきとどめなむかげは見ゆると
| hito shirezu shita ni nagaruru namidagawa seki todomenamu kage wa miyuru to | Unknown to all Beneath there flows A river of tears; O, for a dam to halt it, that I could glimpse her face… |
192[1]
Right
もえもあはぬこなたかなたの思ひかな涙の河の中にゆけばか
| moe mo awanu konata kanata no omoi kana namida no kawa no naka ni yukeba ka | Burning, unmatched, are My multitude of Passion’s fires! For into a river of tears Have I plunged? |
Tsurayuki
193
[1] Shokugosenshū XI: 640/Shinsen man’yōshū 227.
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Dowager Empress during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.
人しれずしたにながるる涙川せきとどめなむかげは見ゆると
| hito shirezu shita ni nagaruru namidagawa seki todomenamu kage wa miyuru to | Unknown to all Beneath there flows A river of tears; O, for a dam to halt it, that I could glimpse her face… |
Anonymous
Left (Win)
主やたれ見ぬ世の色を写しをく筆のすさびにうかぶ面影
| nushi ya tare minu yo no iro o utsushioku fude no susabi ni ukabu omokage |
Who painted you? Unseen in this present world, hues, Reflected by A comforting brush, Bring her visage before me… |
Lord Sada’ie
1105
Right
水茎の跡に堰きをく瀧津瀬をまことに落とすわが涙かな
| mizukuki no ato ni sekioku taki tsu se o makoto ni otosu wa ga namida kana |
Faint brush-strokes Traces place a barrier, but A cataract in torrents Truly drops – My tears… |
Jakuren
1106
The Right state: the Left’s poem is rather casual about the person whom he loves. The Left state: the Right’s poem has no faults we can identify.
In judgement: the Gentlemen of the Right have stated that the Left seems somewhat blasé about the object of his affections, and this is certainly true. The Right’s poem, though, says that the poet is looking at a painting on something like a folding screen, where a waterfall is depicted, and he weeps in reality – this seems like he was simply moved by the painting. I feel that there is a stronger conception of love in seeing a painting and fondly recalling the face of one now long gone, than there is in being moved by the sight of a mountain stream.