Composed when he went to Michinoku.
ゆふさればしほかぜこしてみちのくの野田のたまがは千鳥鳴くなり
| yū sareba shiokaze koshite michinoku no noda no tamagawa chidori naku nari | When the evening comes Tidewinds cross to Michinoku, where At the Tama River in Noda The plovers are crying. |
Monk Nōin
Left (Win)
潮風の吹こす海人の苫ひさし下に思ひのくゆる頃かな
| shiokaze no fukikosu ama no toma hisashi shita ni omoi no kuyuru koro kana | The tidewinds Blow across the fisher girl’s Rush-woven roof; Below, in fires of passion Does she smoulder… |
A Servant Girl
1165
Right
みさごゐる磯良が崎にあさりする海士もみるめを猶求めけり
| misago iru isora ga saki ni asarisuru ama mo mirume o nao motomekeri | Ospreys hunt Along the strand at Isora; Digging for clams, The fisherman, a seaweed-strewn chance at love Is seeking still… |
The Supernumerary Master of the Empress’ Household Office
1166
Left and Right together state: we find no faults to mention.
In judgement: the Left’s ‘blow across the fisher girl’s rush-woven roof’ (fukikosu ama no toma hisashi) is certainly elegant. The Right’s ‘ospreys hunt along the strand at Isora’ (misago iru isora ga saki) seems a kind of overblown style, yet the Left seems particularly pleasant in form. I make it the winner.
Left (Win).
與謝の海の沖つ潮風浦に吹けまつなりけりと人に聞かせん
| yosa no umi no oki tsu shio kaze ura ni fuke matsunarikeri to hito ni kikasen |
By the sea at Yosa, Tidewinds on the offing, Blow across the bay! That I am waiting without end, Tell him! |
A Servant Girl
983
Right.
浪かくるさしでの磯の岩根松ねにあらはれてかはくまもなし
| nami kakuru sashide no iso no iwane matsu ne ni arawarete kawaku ma mo nashi |
Waves beat Upon the shore at Sashide, where The pine trees on the crags Roots are bared and Never dry for but a moment. |
The Supernumerary Master of the Empress’ Household Office
984
The Right state: the Left’s poem lacks any faults. The Left state: the Right’s poem is pedestrian.
In judgement: the configuration of the Left’s ‘Blow across the bay!’ (ura ni fuke) and its links with the preceding and subsequent lines, sounds charming. The Right’s poem is stylistically elegant, but the poem more closely resembles a poem on the topic of ‘Love and Pine Trees’. Thus, the Left wins.
Left (Tie).
遠ざかる人の心は海原の沖行く舟の跡の潮風
| tōzakaru hito no kokoro wa unabara no oki yuku funa no ato no shiokaze |
Ever more distant grows His heart: Into the sea-plains of The offing goes a boat, Wake touched by the tidewinds… |
Lord Sada’ie
981
Right.
わたつ海の浪のあなたに人は住む心あらなん風の通ひ路
| wata tsu umi no nami no anata ni hito wa sumu kokoro aranan kaze no kayoiji |
The endless sea: Beyond its waves Does my love live; Had they any pity, The winds would make my path to her! |
Nobusada
982
The Gentlemen of the Right state: there are too many uses of no. Would it not have been better to reduce their number with, for example, ‘o, sea-plains!’ (unabara ya)? We also wonder about the use of ‘wake touched by the tidewinds’ (ato no shiokaze). The Gentlemen of the Left state: ‘does my love live’ (hito wa sumu) is grating on the ear.
In judgement: saying that the Left’s poem has too many identical words is clearly relying upon the long-established hornet-hip or crane-knee faults. In today’s poetry there are countless poems in which these faults can be identified. In addition, ‘into the sea-plains’ (unabara no) and ‘o, sea-plains’ (unabara ya) are the same. I may be wrong here, but it seems to me that in this poem, it has to be ‘into the sea-plains’. Finally, ‘wake touched by the tidewinds’ is elegant. As for the Right’s ‘beyond its waves does my love live’ (nami no anata ni hito wa sumu), this is not grating, is it? It seems that the Gentleman of the Right, being so well-read in Chinese scholarship, has required revisions to the faulty poem of the Left in the absence of the judge. Thus, what can a grand old fool do but make the round a tie.